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Landscape dynamics in endangered cork oak woodlands in Southwestern Portugal (1958–2005)

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Abstract

Cork oak landscape dynamics were assessed over a 47-year period (1958–2005) in an endangered region of southwest Portugal using a GIS approach. The area of cork oak woodlands was maintained during this period, but shifts due to land abandonment were evident leading to transformation of cork oak agriculture areas into woodlands and of cork oak woodlands into shrublands (average yearly change rates of 0.6 and 0.1%, respectively). The multi-temporal landscape analyses showed that expansion and regression rates of cork oak forests were similar (15 and 16 ha year−1, respectively). The main factor determining oak woodlands expansion and regression was related to land-use changes, but slope, aspect and soil type were also significant factors. The substitution of agriculture lands and oak woodlands by shrublands has a determining role in periods of disturbance and recovery of these Mediterranean ecosystems.

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Acknowledgments

The first author thanks Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (Portugal) for a scholarship under the POCI 2010 Programme. Cooperation of Direcção Geral dos Recursos Florestais and of Núcleo Florestal do Alentejo Litoral (Portugal) is acknowledged. The authors thank the cooperation of Prof. Nuno Cortez regarding soil classification. The authors acknowledge the comments of one anonymous reviewer.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Estudos Florestais, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Universidade Técnica de Lisboa, Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-017, Lisbon, Portugal

    Augusta Costa & Helena Pereira

  2. Centro de Pedologia, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Universidade Técnica de Lisboa, Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-017, Lisbon, Portugal

    Manuel Madeira

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  1. Augusta Costa
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  2. Helena Pereira
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  3. Manuel Madeira
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Correspondence to Augusta Costa.

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Costa, A., Pereira, H. & Madeira, M. Landscape dynamics in endangered cork oak woodlands in Southwestern Portugal (1958–2005). Agroforest Syst 77, 83–96 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10457-009-9212-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10457-009-9212-3

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