Are protected areas good for the human species? Effects of protected areas on rural depopulation in Spain.

Protected areas (PAs) seek to conserve valuable genes, species and ecosystems by applying a legal regime that restricts some socioeconomic activities and also offers opportunities for new ones. As a result, PAs have been claimed by some authors to boost socioeconomic conditions in rural areas mainly through tourism activities. However, others have claimed that PAs contribute to rural depopulation through the worsening of living conditions of local residents because of restrictions resulting from protection regulations. Here, we applied a multiple-paired Before-After-Control-Impact (BACI) research design on a census on protected rural municipalities (cases; N = 52) versus unprotected rural municipalities (controls; N = 55) in Spain to ascertain whether PAs had positive or negative effects on rural populations using three indicators on depopulation with official municipal data from 1996 until 2019: Compound annual growth rate (CAGR); Proportion of reproductive individuals (REP); and Proportion of reproductive females (WREP). We controlled for some confounders such as biophysical characteristics and regional regulations by carefully selecting our sample of municipalities spatially. Our results show that depopulation figures were worse in cases than in controls, with some exceptions whose characteristics should be further explored. Municipalities in Sites of Community Importance (SCIs) performed best against rural depopulation and generally better than their controls, whereas municipalities in Biosphere Reserves and Special Protection Areas (SPAs) showed mostly worse figures. Our findings suggest that, while necessary and important for biodiversity, multiple-use PAs generally entailed negative consequences for Spanish rural populations that need to be offset by State's intervention.

Benefits of adding forestry clearance residues for the soil and vegetation of a Mediterranean mountain forest.

Desertification is occurring throughout the mountainous areas of the Mediterranean. These processes lead to reduced soil fertility, increased soil loss, and reduced vegetation cover and species richness. To prevent further damage, it is recommendable to use low-cost approaches that are compatible with the European Strategy of Circular Economy guidelines. We investigated the systemic benefits from recycling of forest clearance residue by adding it to a dry Mediterranean mountainous area. More specifically, we performed afforestation without addition of residue in two control plots (C plots), and afforestation with addition of 10Mgha-1 of clearance residue from a nearby region dominated by Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis Mill.) in two other plots (PM plots). We conducted the experiments throughout 30months after the afforestation process. Eighteen months after the intervention, the PM plots had significant increases in the soil organic carbon (SOC), and related increases in ecosystem productivity and stability. More generally, addition of clearance residues improved soil and vegetation recovery, and contributed to more successful afforestation. The improvements may be explained by an increase of infiltration process due to the physical changes in the soil following bio-waste addition. Addition of the forest residues increased the formation of soil macrochannels, and also increased the sink area, thereby improving the hydrodynamics of the ecosystem. Thus, soil loss was reduced by 98.2% in the PM plots relative to the C plots. Our study indicates that application of forest clearance residues to Mediterranean mountainous areas is an effective land management practice that produces very little waste, and it is in accordance with European policy.

Topsoil moisture mapping using geostatistical techniques under different Mediterranean climatic conditions.

Soil mapping has been considered as an important factor in the widening of Soil Science and giving response to many different environmental questions. Geostatistical techniques, through kriging and co-kriging techniques, have made possible to improve the understanding of eco-geomorphologic variables, e.g., soil moisture. This study is focused on mapping of topsoil moisture using geostatistical techniques under different Mediterranean climatic conditions (humid, dry and semiarid) in three small watersheds and considering topography and soil properties as key factors. A Digital Elevation Model (DEM) with a resolution of 1×1m was derived from a topographical survey as well as soils were sampled to analyzed soil properties controlling topsoil moisture, which was measured during 4-years. Afterwards, some topography attributes were derived from the DEM, the soil properties analyzed in laboratory, and the topsoil moisture was modeled for the entire watersheds applying three geostatistical techniques: i) ordinary kriging; ii) co-kriging considering as co-variate topography attributes; and iii) co-kriging ta considering as co-variates topography attributes and gravel content. The results indicated topsoil moisture was more accurately mapped in the dry and semiarid watersheds when co-kriging procedure was performed. The study is a contribution to improve the efficiency and accuracy of studies about the Mediterranean eco-geomorphologic system and soil hydrology in field conditions.

Quantitative comparison of initial soil erosion processes and runoff generation in Spanish and German vineyards.

The aim of this study was to enable a quantitative comparison of initial soil erosion processes in European vineyards using the same methodology and equipment. The study was conducted in four viticultural areas with different characteristics (Valencia and Málaga in Spain, Ruwer-Mosel valley and Saar-Mosel valley in Germany). Old and young vineyards, with conventional and ecological planting and management systems were compared. The same portable rainfall simulator with identical rainfall intensity (40mmh(-1)) and sampling intervals (30min of test duration, collecting the samples at 5-min-intervals) was used over a circular test plot with 0.28m(2). The results of 83 simulations have been analysed and correlation coefficients were calculated for each study area to identify the relationship between environmental plot characteristics, soil texture, soil erosion, runoff and infiltration. The results allow for identification of the main factors related to soil properties, topography and management, which control soil erosion processes in vineyards. The most important factors influencing soil erosion and runoff were the vegetation cover for the ecological German vineyards (with 97.6±8% infiltration coefficients) and stone cover, soil moisture and slope steepness for the conventional land uses.