J. For. Sci., 2013, 59(1):1-7 | DOI: 10.17221/42/2012-JFS

Land-use legacies: multi-centuries years-old management control of between-stands variability at the landscape scale in Mediterranean mountain forests, FranceOriginal Paper

S. Chauchard1,2, F. Guibal3, C. Carcaillet4,5
1 Faculté des Sciences et Technologies, Ecologie et Ecophysiologie Forestière, Université de Lorraine, Vandœuvre-lès-Nancy, France
2 INRA, Ecologie et Ecophysiologie Forestière, Champenoux, France
3 Institut Méditerranéen de Biodiversité et d'Ecologie marine et continentale, Aix-Marseille Université, France
4 Centre de Bio-Archéologie et d'Écologie, Institut de Botanique, Université Montpellier Sud de France, Montpellier, France
5 Paléoenvironnements et Chronoécologie, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Institut de Botanique, Montpellier, France

Traditional land use has shaped the Mediterranean region for a long time and has resulted in present-day complex landscapes. The land abandonment dating from the 19th century at a site located in the southwestern Alps (France) makes it possible to analyse how present-day forest stands inherit from past land uses. Tree composition and tree age structure were analysed in three stands resulting from different former land uses, i.e. ancient coppice, formerly grazed area and formerly tilled area. The ancient coppice contains the densest tree cover and is dominated by Fagus sylvatica, whereas the formerly ploughed and grazed areas are less dense, both dominated by Pinus sylvestris. Forest stand in the ancient coppice is older than in the formerly grazed area, and forest stand is the youngest in the formerly ploughed area. These stand differences are largely explained by former land use and the abandonment process. Albeit strong changes result from the land abandonment, these landscapes inherit aspects of their land use during the 19thcentury at least and the dynamics does not match the expected pattern of soil fertility.

Keywords: age structure; dendrochronology; forest stand; landscape; land-use change

Published: January 31, 2013  Show citation

ACS AIP APA ASA Harvard Chicago Chicago Notes IEEE ISO690 MLA NLM Turabian Vancouver
Chauchard S, Guibal F, Carcaillet C. Land-use legacies: multi-centuries years-old management control of between-stands variability at the landscape scale in Mediterranean mountain forests, France. J. For. Sci. 2013;59(1):1-7. doi: 10.17221/42/2012-JFS.
Share...
Download citation
  • BibTeX (.bib)
  • Bookends (.ris)
  • EasyBib (.ris)
  • EndNote (.enw)
  • EndNote 8 (.xml)
  • ISI WoS (.isi)
  • Medlars (.medlars)
  • Mendeley (.ris)
  • MODS (.xml)
  • Papers (.ris)
  • RefWorks (.txt)
  • RefManager (.ris)
  • RIS (.ris)
  • MS Word (.xml)
  • Zotero (.ris)
    • Open full article

    References

    1. Atauri J.A., De Lucio J.V. (2001): The role of landscape structure in species richness distribution of birds, amphibians, reptiles and lepidopterans in Mediterranean landscape. Landscape Ecology, 16: 147-159. Go to original source...
    2. Aussenac G. (2002): Ecology and ecophysiology of circumMediterranean firs in the context of climate change. Annals of Forest Science, 59: 823-832. Go to original source...
    3. Benjamin K., Domon G., Bouchard A. (2005): Vegetation composition and succession of abandoned farmland: effects of ecological, historical and spatial factors. Landscape Ecology, 20: 627-647. Go to original source...
    4. Blondel J., Aronson J. (1999): Biology and Wildlife of the Mediterranean Region. Oxford, Oxford University Press: 352.
    5. Castro J., Gòmez J.M., García D., Zamora R., Hòdar J.A (1999): Seed predation and dispersal in relict Scots pine forests in the southern Spain. Plant Ecology, 145: 115-123. Go to original source...
    6. Castro J., Zamora R., Hòdar J.A. (2002): Mechanism blocking Pinus sylvestris colonization of Mediterranean mountain meadows. Journal of Vegetation Science, 13: 725-731. Go to original source...
    7. Chauchard S., Carcaillet C., Guibal F. (2007): Patterns of land-use abandonment control tree-recruitment and forest dynamics in Mediterranean mountains. Ecosytems, 10: 936-948. Go to original source...
    8. Foster D., Swanson F., Aber J., Burke I., Brokaw N., Tilman D., Knapp A. (2003): The importance of land-use legacies to ecology and conservation. Bioscience, 53: 77-88. Go to original source...
    9. Höchtl F., Lehringer S., Konold W. (2005): Wilderness: what it means when it becomes a reality - a case study from the southwestern Alps. Landscape and Urban Planning, 70: 85-95. Go to original source...
    10. Kulakowski D., Bebi P., Rixen C. (2011): The interacting effects of land use change, climate change and suppression of natural disturbances on landscape forest structure in the Swiss Alps. Oikos, 120: 216-225. Go to original source...
    11. Kunstler G., Curt T., Bouchaud M., Lepart J. (2005): Growth, mortality, and morphological response of European beech and downy oak along a light gradient in subMediterranean forest. Canadian Journal of Forest Research, 35: 1657-1668. Go to original source...
    12. Mouillot F., Ratte J.P., Joffre R., Mouillot D., Rambal S. (2005): Long-term forest dynamic after land abandonment in a fire prone Mediterranean landscape (central Corsica, France). Landscape Ecology, 20: 101-112. Go to original source...
    13. Nathan R., Muller-Landau H.C. (2000): Spatial patterns of seed dispersal, their determinants and consequences for recruitment. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 15: 278-285. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    14. Rinaudo Y. (1980): Note sur l'extension de la forêt varoise au XIXe siècle. Forêt Méditerranéenne, 1: 175-178.
    15. Tartary P. (2012): Document d'Objectifs du site Natura 2000 FR9301617 Montagne de Malay - Tome 1. Aix-enProvence, Cen Paca: 233.
    16. Vallejo R., Aronson J., Pausas J.G., Cortina J. (2005): Restoration of Mediterranean Woodlands. In: Van Andel J. (ed.): Restoration Ecology: A European Perspective. London, Blackwell Science: 183-190.

    This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY NC 4.0), which permits non-comercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original publication is properly cited. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.


    Return to the content