Advertisement
Published in:
2007 | OriginalPaper | Chapter
Driving Forces of Land-Use Change in a Cultural Landscape of Spain
A preliminary assessment of the human-mediated influences
Authors : J. Peña, A. Bonet, J. Bellot, J.R. Sánchez, D. Eisenhuth, S. Hallett, A. Aledo
Published in: Modelling Land-Use Change
Publisher: Springer Netherlands
Activate our intelligent search to find suitable subject content or patents.
Select sections of text to find matching patents with Artificial Intelligence. powered by
Select sections of text to find additional relevant content using AI-assisted search. powered by
The aim of this chapter is to examine the processes of change in land cover and land use over the last 44 years, at regional scale, in a traditional, rural south-eastern Spanish catchment. Land use has changed dramatically over recent decades throughout the Mediterranean. Much of this change has been driven by shifts in agricultural and socioeconomic policy. Analysis of aerial photography for the Marina Baixa catchment has revealed a significant decline in traditional agriculture and conversion to forestry or intensive croplands. The consequences of economic globalisation are reflected here in a shift from traditional to intensive agriculture and in human migration from rural to urban areas, as well as in the development of tourism. Land-use changes are correlated with socioeconomic structural forces in order to demonstrate how these changes affect the basic resources of the area and to provide a clearer understanding of possible future trends.