Hedgerows and Enclosures in Rural Areas: Traditional vs. Modern Land Use in Mediterranean Mountains

Fernando Allende Álvarez, Gillian Gómez-Mediavilla, Nieves López-Estébanez, Pedro Molina Holgado and Judith Ares Barajas
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Fernando Allende Álvarez: Department of Geography, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain
Gillian Gómez-Mediavilla: Department of Geography, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain
Nieves López-Estébanez: Department of Geography, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain
Pedro Molina Holgado: Department of Geography, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain
Judith Ares Barajas: Department of Geography, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain

Land, 2021, vol. 10, issue 1, 1-18

Abstract: The present paper highlights the importance of hedgerows and enclosures in the mountains of Central Spain. Now, these landscapes have suffered profound variations in terms of agroforestry practices, especially in the Mediterranean mountains where the characteristic multifunctional has largely been lost. The article analyzes land uses changes, dynamics, and their morphological features between the first half of the 20th Century (1956) and the second decade of the present time (2019). The paper was divided into three sections. First, the identification of land uses using orthophotograph and aerial photograph; after that the info was checked with fieldwork. Eleven categories were identified according to the dominant use and land use changes and size of land parcels were taken into consideration. Second, the configuration and the information collected through the type and intensity of change in land uses made it possible to recognise and quantify their distribution and trend between these two dates. Also, the kernel density algorithm available in the Arcgis 10.5 software was used to obtain density and changes in land parcels. Finally, an overview is given of the main role that this agroforestry plays due to the social, ecological, and economic benefits that they provide for allowing sustainable development.

Keywords: hedgerows; Mediterranean mountains; land use changes; rural development; cultural landscape (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jlands:v:10:y:2021:i:1:p:57-:d:477968

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