Agro-sylvo-pastoral systems in the Iberian Peninsula: dehesas and montados

Abstract

The Iberian Peninsula is locatae in the west of the Mediterranean Basin, receiving the influence of the Atlantic Ocean with a mild mediterranean climate characterized by cold, wet winters and warm, dry summers. Long-time eroded Paleozoic rocks (schists, granites, and quartzites) are predominant in the western half of the Península, offering a landscape of plains and rolling hills, where soils are shallow, acidic, and nutrient deficient. The physlcal constraints of the shallow soils and the seasonal droughts make most of these lands unsuitable for intensive farming. Instead a peculiar agro-sylvo- pastoral system, called locally dehesa in Spain and montado in Portugal, has been historically developed. This system, composed of cleared oak woodlands with an annual grassland understory, covers more than 5,500,000 hectares (Campos 1984, Ruiz 1986).