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Afforestation on agricultural land in southern Spain: an important driver to improve forest landscape connectivity

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Abstract

One of the research issues considered in landscape ecology is the fragmentation of landscapes, which is characterised by a great heterogeneity of land uses and shapes. The objective of this study was to investigate changes in landscape fragmentation and connectivity associated with the afforestation on agricultural land in two locations in southern Spain that was promoted by an EU scheme between 1990 and 2018. This was done using the Andalusia Land Cover Databases (1990 and 2018), along with the combination of two approaches with which to determinate the variation of fragmentation (Patch Analyst-ARCgis and LDTtool) and ecosystem connectivity (Graphab software). Afforestation on agricultural land represented significant change in land use in the two locations (Andevalo, Quercus ilex and Q. suber, 22,313.25 ha) and Guadix (Pinus halepensis, 2532.68 ha). Changes in fragmentation metrics reflected that landscape fragmentation increased as a consequence of afforestation, and a significate decrease in mean patch size (MPS) and mean patch edge (MPE) was observed over time in both locations in most land uses. Furthermore, afforestation increased connectivity for forest species, which was reflected in higher values of connectivity metrics (probability of connectivity and flux). The presence of low-cost pathways connecting patches suggested a reduction in the gap-crossing distance between forests, although the increase on fragmentation of forest patches there where an increase in forest connectivity that revealed favourable relationship between afforestation and landscape connectivity functions. The European Community policies aimed at the afforestation of marginal agricultural land could, therefore, play an important role in improving the ecological functions of agricultural landscapes.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the Andalucía Department of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Sustainable Development, and Fernando Piñón in particular, for providing access to and background information on the field site. Land-cover data were provided by the Red de Información Ambiental (REDIAM). We are very grateful to Rafael Sánchez de la Cuesta for his valuable assistance during field work and data acquisition and processing. We also acknowledge the institutional support of the University of Cordoba-Campus de Excelencia CeiA3. The authors would additionally like to thank the reviewers for their relevant suggestions that have improved the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Forest Engineering, Laboratory of Dendrochronology, Silviculture and Global Change – DendrodatLab – ERSAF, University of Cordoba, Campus de Rabanales, Crta. IV, km. 396, 14071, Córdoba, Spain

    Rafael M Navarro-Cerrillo, Carlos A. Rivas, ´María Ángeles Varo-Martínez & Palacios Palacios-Rodríguez

  2. Instituto de Ciencias Básicas, University Technological of Manabí, Portoviejo, Manabí, Ecuador

    Carlos A. Rivas

  3. Department of Soils and Water/Agroforestry, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, Darién Regional University Center, University of Panama, 3366, Pánama City, Panama

    Luis Quinto

  4. Department of Agricultural and Forestry Engineering, ETSIIAA, Universidad de Valladolid, 34004, Palencia, Spain

    Salvador Hernández Navarro

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  1. Rafael M Navarro-Cerrillo
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Correspondence to Rafael M Navarro-Cerrillo.

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Navarro-Cerrillo, R.M., Rivas, C.A., Quinto, L. et al. Afforestation on agricultural land in southern Spain: an important driver to improve forest landscape connectivity. New Forests 54, 1061–1084 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11056-022-09956-4

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