Conservation-development Duality: The Biosphere Reserve Sierra de Grazalema After 40 Years in the MaB Programme

Since 1971 the programme Man and the Biosphere (MaB) of UNESCO has been dedicated to promoting Protected Areas in which conservation of nature is closely linked to territorial development that is beneficial to local communities. In Spain the first area declared as a Biosphere Reserve was Sierra de Grazalema (1977). The history of the management of this Protected Area is now significant enough to analyze how the applied initiatives aimed at conservation have harmonized with those most directly committed to social and economic development. This paper provides an extensive review of the conservation and development programmes and associated measures implemented in the last ten years in Sierra de Grazalema

Assessing social-ecological connectivity of agricultural landscapes in Spain: Resilience implications amid agricultural intensification trends and urbanization

Supplementary data to this article can be found online at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2022.103525Acknowledgements Funding was provided through the following sources: a Fulbright Flex grant of the US-Spain Fulbright Commission that supported the first author’s main component of field research beginning in 2017 with funding for related research in 2018 and 2019; the 3-year E. Willard and Ruby S. Miller Professorship of Environment and Society Geography and Penn State's Department of Geography (2019-2022); the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, National Project I+D+i 2019, “Multifunctional and territorialized agri-food systems in Spain. Conceptualisation and governance. Analysis of cases in Madrid and Castilla-La Mancha,” ID2019-105711RB-C61/AEI/10.13039/501 100011033; the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation through the FEDER funds from the Spanish Pluriregional Operational Program 2014–2020 (POPE), LifeWatch-ERIC action line, with co-financing by the Provincial Council of Granada, for the project “Thematic Center on Mountain Ecosystem & Remote sensing, Deep learning-AI e-Services University of Granada-Sierra Nevada” (LifeWatch-2019-10-UGR-01); and ERDF/Ministry of Science and Innovation–State Research Agency for the project “Researching how to integrate sustainability and competitiveness in Agrifood Mediterranean Landscapes: Agrobiodiversity, climate change and local development” (AGROFOODSCAPES)" (PID2020-117198RB-I00). Initial versions of this work were presented to the Department of Geography at the Autonomous University of Madrid/ Universidad Autónoma de Madrid in 2017 and the Institute of Regional Development at the University of Granada/Universidad de Granada in 2018. The support of both these institutions, their collaborative institutional networks, and their faculty, students, and staff are gratefully acknowledged. Additional feedback occurred in the first author’s keynote addresses to the Permanent European Conference on Sustainable Rural Landscapes (PECSRL) in Jaén, Spain, in 2021 and 2022. Insights and support before and during the 2017-2019 period, which are gratefully acknowledged, were offered by Darla Munroe, William Doolittle, Medora D. Ebersole, Tobias Plieninger, María Garcia Martin, Claudia Bieling, Carlos Barahona, Sam Dumble, José Pepe Gonzalez, César López Santiago, Carlos Montes, Irene Iniesta-Arandia, and Samir Sayadi. Numerous research and practitioner colleagues and partners, the members of the GeoSyntheSES Lab at Penn State, and the reviewers and editors of the journal provided helpful inputs that have been incorporated.CONTEXT Accelerated intensification/disintensification and urbanization are changing agricultural systems and propel the need for spatial approaches to understand sustainability-enhancing resilience. Landscapes are key to this understanding though little is known of the broad-scale, cross-landscape connectivity of social-ecological factors amid changing agricultural systems. OBJECTIVE This study's goals are to identify broad-scale types of agricultural landscapes in Spain that are associated with intensification/disintensification and urbanization and then to use case studies to assess the types and extent of cross-landscape connectivity. It examines the social-ecological connectivity of environmental resources, resource users, and governance. The overarching purpose is to improve the understanding of social-ecological connectivity in strengthening the sustainability-enhancing resilience of agricultural landscapes amid global agri-food changes. METHODS To pursue these goals, we conducted a structured literature review of publications to identify major types of agricultural landscapes in Spain that reflect intensification/disintensification and urbanization trends. Case studies of agricultural landscapes and connectivity were undertaken in the Madrid and Granada regions. These case studies used a structured interview with experienced professional experts in fields of social-ecological sustainability and agricultural landscapes in each region. Analyses including Latent Block Modelling were applied to interview results on types and extent of cross-landscape connectivity in both conventional and alternative agriculture. RESULTS and CONCLUSIONS The structured literature review identified the predominance of three types of broad-scale agricultural landscapes in Spain: intensive, “traditional” rural, and peri-urban/urban. Analysis of case-study results revealed variation of the extent and structure of connectivity among clusters of landscape interactions and social-ecological factors. Landscape-level connectivity created both negative agricultural impacts (e.g., extensive water transfers and nutrient pollution in conventional agriculture) and positive impacts (e.g., knowledge system and seed exchanges in alternative agriculture). Interactions of alternative agricultural systems in peri-urban/urban and “traditional” rural landscapes have benefitted from cross-landscape connectivity amid accelerated agricultural change. SIGNIFICANCE Research and policy on the landscape-level connectivity of agricultural systems are needed to strengthen sustainability-enhancing resilience of both conventional and alternative agriculture. This study's approach and results are a strategic complement to existing emphasis on within-landscape cycles of social-ecological factors in alternative agriculture. This study's insights are important in the transition phases of alternative agriculture and associated food systems amid changes due to agricultural intensification/disintensification and urbanization. Understanding selective cross-landscape connectivity is important for spatial approaches to strengthen the sustainability-enhancing resilience of agricultural systems.Fulbright Flex grant of the US-Spain Fulbright CommissionPenn State's Department of Geography 2019-2022Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, National Project I+D+i 2019, “Multifunctional and territorialized agri-food systems in Spain. Conceptualisation and governance. Analysis of cases in Madrid and Castilla-La Mancha,” ID2019-105711RB-C61/AEI/10.13039/501 100011033Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation through the FEDER funds from the Spanish Pluriregional Operational Program 2014–2020 (POPE)LifeWatch-ERIC action line, with co-financing by the Provincial Council of Granada, for the project “Thematic Center on Mountain Ecosystem & Remote sensing, Deep learning-AI e-Services University of Granada-Sierra Nevada” (LifeWatch-2019-10-UGR-01)ERDF/Ministry of Science and Innovation–State Research Agency for the project “Researching how to integrate sustainability and competitiveness in Agrifood Mediterranean Landscapes: Agrobiodiversity, climate change and local development” (AGROFOODSCAPES)" (PID2020-117198RB-I00)Universidad Autónoma de MadridUniversidad de Granad

Agri-Food Land Transformations and Immigrant Farm Workers in Peri-Urban Areas of Spain and the Mediterranean

Spain is a global hotspot of transformations of agri-food land systems due to changing production intensity, diets, urbanization, market integration, and climate change. Characteristic of the Mediterranean, these expanding intersections with the migration, livelihoods, and food security strategies of immigrant farm workers urge new research into the “who,” “how,” and “why” questions of the transformation of agri-food land systems. Addressing this gap, we communicate preliminary results from field research in the Granada and Madrid areas. We use a novel conceptual framework of linkages among distinct agri-food land systems and the roles and agency of immigrant farm workers. Preliminary results integrating a combined land- and labor-centric approach address: (1) how the recent and ongoing transformations of specific agri-food land systems are indicative of close links to inexpensive, flexible labor of immigrant farm workers; (2) how the connectivity among transformations of multiple distinct agri-food land systems can be related to the geographic mobility of immigrant farm workers and livelihoods (non-farm work, gendered employment, peri-urban residential location, labor recruitment); and (3) how the struggles for food and nutrition security among immigrant farm workers are indicative of links to local sites and networked agrobiodiversity. This study can help advance the nexus of migration-land research with expanding ethical, justice, and policy concerns of land system sciences in relation to the new suite of agri-food interest and initiatives.Fulbright Scholarship BoardBureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs in Spain and the U.S

Metodología para el estudio evolutivo del paisaje: aplicación al espacio protegido de Sierra Nevada

En el último medio siglo las transformaciones de orden económico y social han propiciado grandes mutaciones en el paisaje que afectan tanto al ámbito urbano como al rural, alcanzando incluso a los escasos espacios naturales estén éstos o no amparados por alguna figura de protección. Dicha circunstancia obliga a plantearnos la necesidad de llevar a cabo estudios sobre el pasado reciente o lejano de nuestros paisajes. Este artículo constituye una propuesta metodológica que trata de dar respuesta a la necesidad de abordar estudios de carácter evolutivo. La conformación de los paisajes de un ámbito determinado en un periodo concreto depende estrechamente del modelo de explotación de los recursos y de ordenación del espacio que impone la sociedad local del momento, así como del modelo territorial considerado a escala regional. Es por ello que hemos diseñado un método de trabajo que, partiendo de los presupuestos del análisis sistémico del paisaje, utiliza la sucesión de los distintos modelos socio-territoriales como factor clave explicativo de la evolución temporal del mismo.The immense economic and social transformations of the last half century have caused significant changes to urban as well as rural landscapes that extend even to the ever-scarce natural spaces, regardless of whether or not they are legally protected. This set of circumstances makes it all the more necessary to embark on investigative work to explore our recent and distant landscape history. This article sets forth a methodological proposal to respond to the need of formal studies concerning landscape evolution. The adaptation of landscapes to specific spatial confines within concrete time periods depends greatly on the type of resource exploitation and land planning imposed by local society during specific time periods as well as on the territorial model considered at the regional level. For that reason, we have designed a method of investigation starting with the proposal of a systematic analysis that uses the succession of different socio-territorial models as the key element to explain landscape evolution within a certain time period.Durant la derniere moitié du siècle, les transformations d’ordre économique et sociale ont signifient des grandes mutations dans le paysages qui afectent aussi bien le milieu urbain et rurale, incluant de même les petits espaces naturels ayant eté preservés par un certain mode de protection ou sans l’être. Cette circonstance nous guide a mener une étude sur les passés recents ou lointains de notres paysages. Cet article constitue une proposition métodologique que esseye de repondre à la necessité d’aborder des études sur l’évolution des paysages. La conformation des paysages d’un milieu determiné en une periode concrete depend etroitement du modéle d’exploitation des ressources et de l’ordenation de l’éspace qui impose la société locale du moment, et ainsi que le modéle territorial consideré a echelle regionale. Pour cette raison, on a dessinié une méthode de travail qui part des principes d’analyse sistémique du paysage utilisant la succecion des differents modeles socio-territoriales comme facteur clé explicative de l’évolution temporelle du même.Este artículo recoge parte de los resultados obtenidos en el Proyecto de Investigación «Evolución del paisaje del Parque Nacional de Sierra Nevada y su entorno», subvencionado por el Ministerio de Medio Ambiente, 2005-2008, dentro del Plan de Investigación del Organismo Autónomo Parques Nacionales

Combining multiple geostatistical analyses to assess the past, present, and future of fragile Mediterranean deltaic environments

Littoral plains in general and those of the Mediterranean rivers and ramblas, are highly vulnerable territories. Understanding the past and present conditions of these areas is the best strategy to design efficient land management plans to prevent degradation such as pollutants, soil sealing, erosion, etc. in the near and medium future. In this research, different mapping techniques (land-use changes in twelve different years using manually digitalisation and field observations, from 1956 to 2019, and pattern analysis using ecological landscape indexes), multivariate statistical analyses (Spearman rank coefficient and Principal Component Analysis), and predictive models (Markov chain) are combined to assess the past, current, and future status of the V´elez River delta (M´alaga province, Southern Spain), a representative vulnerable territory situated in the popular touristic area of Costa del Sol. We also included a demographic analysis using annual population census data (current inhabitants and projections) and a climate trend analysis (Mann-Kendall test) considering temperatures, precipitations and wind data. Our results demonstrate that the drastic urbanization, including new settlements, roads, and ways, has negatively impacted the delta area, even the alluvial plain, beaches, and natural sand deposits. From 1956 to 2019, >70 ha of deltaic area have been lost. The largest category of land-use, cultivated fields, accounted for up to 72.4 % of the total delta area in 1984. However, this was reduced to 41.1 % by 2019. The alluvial plain and beaches/sand deposits started from 9.3 and 11.8 %, and decreased to 5.2 and 5.9 %, respectively. Also, climate change (especially in temperature) could affect some spatial patterns. Predictive models reveal that it is likely that abandoned spaces, sand deposits, and beaches, will be transformed into new urban areas and, to a lesser extent, into cultivated fields. We concluded that the conservation of the cultivated lands, although decreasing in the area over the studied period, obtained the highest correlation with the delta conservation. Therefore, we affirm that efficient plans, which promote specific changes in land use, would contribute to stopping the degradation of the delta such as pollution of natural areas or soil sealing. Specifically, a plan should be developed to preserve sustainable agriculture and control urban sprawlCOST Action LAND4FLOOD (No. 16209)COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology

A Systematic Review of EU-Funded Innovative Agri-Food Projects: Potential for Transfer between Territories

This research is part of the project "Thematic Center on Mountain Ecosystem & Remote sensing, Deep learning-AI e-Services University of Granada-Sierra Nevada" (LifeWatch-2019-10UGR-01), which has been co-funded by the Ministry of Science and Innovation through the FEDER funds from the Spanish Pluriregional Operational Program 2014-2020 (POPE), LifeWatch-ERIC action line. The project has also been co-financed by the Provincial Council of Granada.This article presents a systematic review of innovative projects funded by EU Rural Development Programs that were designed and implemented in rural areas of the European Union to facilitate the territorialized production of foodstuffs and their sale through alternative networks. On the basis of the results obtained in this review, we designed a model for the transfer of knowledge to the local community in the Alpujarra Granadina (Granada, Spain) within the framework of the LifeWatch project. This study uses two consecutive methodological approaches. We began by developing a protocol for the systematic search and analysis of successful rural development projects carried out in the European Union between 2007 and 2020. After that, we created a model for the transfer of results using a participative methodological approach. The results of our analysis of the group of projects selected for review show that the main innovations were made in different aspects of the product, process, sales and distribution. These innovative ideas were implemented by rural communities with a high degree of collective initiative and intelligence and could potentially be replicated in other areas. The sample analyzed contains a wide array of novel, alternative formulas, which are transversal to the projects, so provide significant contents that could be used to activate a space for participation and debate, which could itself become fertile ground for the creation of new projects. In conclusion, this study provides the stakeholders in rural areas, in particular farmers, with a wide, systematically organized knowledge base that proposes solutions to shared challenges.project "Thematic Center on Mountain Ecosystem & Remote sensing, Deep learning-AI e-Services University of Granada-Sierra Nevada" LifeWatch-2019-10UGR-01Spanish GovernmentProvincial Council of Granad

La inversión pública en medio ambiente en España, 2002-2014: Caracterización y dinámica territorial

Este artículo pretende analizar la evolución del gasto público destinado a la protección medioambiental en España desde 2002 hasta 2014. La finalidad de dicho documento es analizar, cuál ha sido la tendencia presupuestaria para esta partida en el periodo considerado; constatar la importancia relativa que tiene el gasto público en medio ambiente respecto al gasto público total; y comparar cómo ha incidido la crisis financiera y económica en los presupuestos, los gastos, las inversiones y las subvenciones destinadas para la protección, prevención, planificación e investigación en el Medio Ambiente.This article aims to analyze the evolution of public expenditure for environmental protection in Spain from 2002 to 2014. The purpose of this document is to analyze, what has been the budgetary trend for this item in the period considered; to note the relative importance of public expenditure on the environment in relation to total public expenditure; and to compare how the financial and economic crisis has affected budgets, expenditures, investments and subsidies for protection, prevention, planning and research in the environment

Spatio and temporal spread of Plum pox virus infecting European plum (Prunus domestica L. cv. D'agen) orchard in Mendoza, Argentina = Distribución espacial y temporal del Plum pox virus en un monte de ciruelo europeo (Prunus domestica L cv D'agen) de Mendoza, Argentina

Sharka, caused by Plum pox virus (PPV), is considered one of the most serious viral diseases of stone fruits worldwide due to the great yield losses in orchards. In Rama Caída, Mendoza, a 5-year study (2007-2011) was conducted on the degree of disease dispersion in a European plum cv D’agen orchard using samples from leaves and DAS-ELISA assay against PPV in order to determine incidence over time and spatial spread. Incidence significantly increased between 2007 and 2009 and during the next two years the increase was not statistically significant. Spatial point pattern of PPV at the plot was characterized by the occurrence of some heterogeneous clusters of infected trees located up to 65 m in the west-east direction of the rows over the five years. Point pattern and correlation type-approaches were undertaken using joint-count and Ripley's K function and showed that the detected infected plants had a disease aggregation pattern both in west-east and south-north directions, and within row and between rows across the plot. This short-distance local dispersion would be associated with diverse factors, such as vector aphids, that were not evaluated in this study. Hence, this work can serve as a basis for further studies in sharka dispersion in Cuyo region.Sharka causada por Plum pox virus (PPV) es considerada la enfermedad más nociva de los frutales de carozo debido a las pérdidas que produce en los montes frutales. En Rama Caída (Mendoza) se estudió la dispersión del PPV en un monte de ciruelo europeo cv D’agen durante 2007 a 2011 a través del análisis de muestras de hojas de árboles individuales por DAS-ELISA, para determinar la incidencia y distribución espacial de virus. Entre 2007 y 2009, el aumento en la incidencia fue estadísticamente significativo mientras que en 2010 y 2011 este no resultó significativo. El PPV se distribuyó en el lote, como un patrón de puntos caracterizado por agrupamientos heterogéneos de árboles infectados, ubicados hasta los 65 m en dirección oeste-este de las filas. A través del análisis de patrones de puntos y de correlación de árboles infectados, mediante la función K de Ripley y el estadístico Joint-count, se comprobó que las plantas infectadas presentaron un patrón espacial agregado, tanto en sentido oeste-este (entre filas), como sur-norte (dentro de fila), indicando una dispersión a corta distancia. Este escenario puede responder a múltiples factores no estudiados, como la presencia de áfidos vectores, y constituir las bases de futuros estudios de dispersión de PPV en Cuyo.Instituto de Patología VegetalFil: Dal Zotto, Angelica. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Instituto de Patología Vegetal; ArgentinaFil: Porcel, Laura Beatriz. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Rama Caída; ArgentinaFil: Marini, Diana Beatriz. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Junín; ArgentinaFil: Picca, Cecilia Nelida. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Rama Caída; ArgentinaFil: Córdoba, Mariano. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias. Cátedra de Estadística y Biometría; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Teich, Ingrid. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Instituto de Fisiología y Recursos Genéticos Vegetales; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Rendimiento académico en la asignatura "Álgebra y Geometría Analítica" de FACENA-UNNE EN 2018

La asignatura Algebra y Geometría Analítica de la Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales y Agrimensura de la Universidad Nacional del Nordeste, pertenece al plan de estudios de ocho de las carreras que conforman la oferta curricular de la mencionada Casa de Altos Estudios, a saber: Bioquímica, Licenciatura en Ciencias Físicas, Licenciatura en Ciencias Químicas, Ingeniería Eléctrica, Ingeniería en Agrimensura, Ingeniería en Electrónica, Profesorado en Ciencias Químicas y del Ambiente y Profesorado en Física. La variedad de perfiles de formación que atraviesan a la asignatura, así como también el elevado número de alumnos que la cursan (ya que corresponde al primer cuatrimestre del primer año de estudios de las ocho carreras mencionadas), obligan a trabajar en numerosas comisiones de clases, tanto teóricas como prácticas, lo cual complejiza el proceso de seguimiento y evaluación de los procesos de enseñanza y aprendizaje durante el cursado de la asignatura. De ahí que el presente trabajo, tiene como objetivo realizar una detallada descripción de los resultados de dicho cursado en el año lectivo 2018, en las evaluaciones parciales que se realizan a fin de regularizar la asignatura, discriminados según la comisión de clases prácticas a la que cada estudiante asistió. Para realizar el análisis mencionado se utilizó la técnica de análisis de datos composicionales, presentándose los resultados obtenidos mediante gráficos ternarios. Asimismo, se determinó el porcentaje de desgranamiento de alumnos durante el cursado de la asignatura, llegando a la conclusión que sólo un 49% de los alumnos inscriptos completan el curso y de éstos casi el 51% la regulariza. Mediante las envolventes convexas de las comisiones correspondientes a alumnos de Ingeniería y a las de estudiantes de otras carreras, se comparó el rendimiento académico de la cursada de los dos grupos de comisiones, observándose que las Ingenierías ostentan un rendimiento académico ligeramente superior al resto de las carreras. Finalmente, se concluye que el elevado número de fracasos de los alumnos en el cursado de la asignatura está, principalmente, explicado por el desgrana- miento y, a fin de paliar esta problemática y de favorecer la retención de los estudiantes, se proponen algunas modificaciones a las currículas de las carreras de Ingeniería.