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The effects of grazing management in montado fragmentation and heterogeneity

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Abstract

The Portuguese silvo-pastoral system montado is broadly classified as a High Nature Value (HNV) system since it corresponds to farmland hosting high biodiversity levels, and such biodiversity depends on specific land use practices. However, in recent decades a decline both in the total montado area and in the tree cover density within the montado has been observed, driven mainly by management changes. This decline may result in biodiversity loss. Grazing is a central aspect determining the long-term sustainability of the montado system and it has implications also on the montado structural diversity, particularly on connectivity and heterogeneity, which is crucial for the maintenance of montado HNV. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate how variations in montado structural diversity are correlated with grazing management and its implications on the value of the system for conservation. The empirical data derives from a case study composed of 41 montado farms in two municipalities of the Alentejo region. Data on grazing management, biophysical and spatial factors were collected and several metrics were calculated to assess montado fragmentation and heterogeneity. A multivariate analysis was performed using generalized additive models. Results show that different grazing patterns, depending on stocking density and grazing animal type, are correlated with variations in montado fragmentation and heterogeneity. Particularly, cattle’s grazing is shown to have adverse effects on the montado fragmentation, while sheep grazing is shown to have stronger impacts on the heterogeneity within the montado patches.

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Acknowledgments

This work is funded by FEDER Funds through the Operational Programme for Competitiveness Factors - COMPETE and National Funds through FCT - Foundation for Science and Technology under the Strategic Projects PEst-C/AGR/UI0115/2011 and PEst-OE/AGR/UI0115/2014. Research associated with this paper was also funded by the FCT as part of Project PTDC/CS-GEO/110944/2009 and by FEDER as part of the INALENTEJO (Project ALENT-07-0224-FEDER-001744). The authors are thankful to the two anonymous reviewers for the constructive comments on the earlier version of this manuscript and to Jorge Capelo for the clarifications provided on species nomenclature.

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  1. ICAAM - Instituto de Ciências Agrárias e Ambientais Mediterrânicas, Universidade de Évora, Núcleo da Mitra, Ap. 94, 7002-554, Évora, Portugal

    Mara Almeida, Carla Azeda & Nuno Guiomar

  2. ICAAM - Instituto de Ciências Agrárias e Ambientais Mediterrânicas; Departamento de Paisagem, Ambiente e Ordenamento, Escola de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade de Évora, Ap. 94, 7002-554, Évora, Portugal

    Teresa Pinto-Correia

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  1. Mara Almeida
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Almeida, M., Azeda, C., Guiomar, N. et al. The effects of grazing management in montado fragmentation and heterogeneity. Agroforest Syst 90, 69–85 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10457-014-9778-2

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