system be incorporated (i.e., the protected boundaries must be neither fixed nor
stable) and that human impact be acknowledged, along with the degree of
human disturbance that is necessary to conserve biodiversity in a climate
scenario that is never the same. All options for the future must pass through the
filters of environmental diversity and overall protection of the territory.
The specialization processes that resulted from exploiting the natural resources
of each valley have influenced the configuration of the current landscape and
require that managers make localized and global decisions. Therefore, the environmental geohistory of firs in the Pyrenees has shown that the current distribution
is the least extensive since initial colonization. Human management of the forest, as
well as climate factors, might have favored their presence during the Roman period.
The data indicate that this is the first time in the last 2000 years that the farming
and livestock landscape opened by humans is being abandoned, giving way to rapid
recovery of arboreal cover, on a human timescale: 60 years. Criteria should be
established to determine whether historical evidence has been appropriately considered in making a decision to maintain a cultural landscape or return it to its wild
state.
The fragmentation of the landscape that has persisted over the past two millennia
is leading to forest homogeneity. The role and characterization of secondary
communities and potential natural vegetation should be considered at different time
scales as part of future studies analyzing the phases of stability and the periods of
profound changes.
Acknowledgements This chapter was made possible by two coordinated project grants from
Spain’s Ministry of Economics and Competitiveness (MEC), “El uso del fuego y la conformació
de los paisajes en la Montaña cantábrica y el Pirineo oriental: estudio comparado de su evolución
historica y tendencias actuales” (CSO2012-39680-C02-01), awarded to the Department of
Geography, Urban Studies and Land Planning, Universidad de Cantabria and “Geohistoria
ambiental del fuego en el Holoceno. Patrones culturales y gestión territorial desde el inicio de la
ganadería y la agricultura en la montañana Cantábrica y Pirineo,” awarded to the Department of
Geography, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (CSO2012-39680-C02-02). In addition, the
project was funded by the Catalan government’s applied geography program, ‘Grup de Geografia
Aplicada’ (AGAUR, Generalitat de Catalunya, 2014 SGR 1090). Raquel Cunill gratefully
acknowledges the Government of the Principality of Andorra, for the research grant on Andorran
Issues, APTA007-AND/2014.
The authors appreciate the English language review by Elaine M. Lilly, Ph.D.
References
Alagona PS, Sandlos J, Wiersma YF (2012) Past imperfect: using historical ecology and baseline
data for conservation and restoration projects in North America. Environ Philos 9(1):49–70
Alba-Sánchez F, López-Sáez JA, Benito-de Pando B, Linares JC, Nieto-Lugilde D, LópezMerino L (2010) Past and present potential distribution of the Iberian Abies species: a
phytogeographic approach using fossil pollen data and species distribution models. Divers
Distrib 16:214–228
126
A. Pèlachs et al.
stable) and that human impact be acknowledged, along with the degree of
human disturbance that is necessary to conserve biodiversity in a climate
scenario that is never the same. All options for the future must pass through the
filters of environmental diversity and overall protection of the territory.
The specialization processes that resulted from exploiting the natural resources
of each valley have influenced the configuration of the current landscape and
require that managers make localized and global decisions. Therefore, the environmental geohistory of firs in the Pyrenees has shown that the current distribution
is the least extensive since initial colonization. Human management of the forest, as
well as climate factors, might have favored their presence during the Roman period.
The data indicate that this is the first time in the last 2000 years that the farming
and livestock landscape opened by humans is being abandoned, giving way to rapid
recovery of arboreal cover, on a human timescale: 60 years. Criteria should be
established to determine whether historical evidence has been appropriately considered in making a decision to maintain a cultural landscape or return it to its wild
state.
The fragmentation of the landscape that has persisted over the past two millennia
is leading to forest homogeneity. The role and characterization of secondary
communities and potential natural vegetation should be considered at different time
scales as part of future studies analyzing the phases of stability and the periods of
profound changes.
Acknowledgements This chapter was made possible by two coordinated project grants from
Spain’s Ministry of Economics and Competitiveness (MEC), “El uso del fuego y la conformació
de los paisajes en la Montaña cantábrica y el Pirineo oriental: estudio comparado de su evolución
historica y tendencias actuales” (CSO2012-39680-C02-01), awarded to the Department of
Geography, Urban Studies and Land Planning, Universidad de Cantabria and “Geohistoria
ambiental del fuego en el Holoceno. Patrones culturales y gestión territorial desde el inicio de la
ganadería y la agricultura en la montañana Cantábrica y Pirineo,” awarded to the Department of
Geography, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (CSO2012-39680-C02-02). In addition, the
project was funded by the Catalan government’s applied geography program, ‘Grup de Geografia
Aplicada’ (AGAUR, Generalitat de Catalunya, 2014 SGR 1090). Raquel Cunill gratefully
acknowledges the Government of the Principality of Andorra, for the research grant on Andorran
Issues, APTA007-AND/2014.
The authors appreciate the English language review by Elaine M. Lilly, Ph.D.
References
Alagona PS, Sandlos J, Wiersma YF (2012) Past imperfect: using historical ecology and baseline
data for conservation and restoration projects in North America. Environ Philos 9(1):49–70
Alba-Sánchez F, López-Sáez JA, Benito-de Pando B, Linares JC, Nieto-Lugilde D, LópezMerino L (2010) Past and present potential distribution of the Iberian Abies species: a
phytogeographic approach using fossil pollen data and species distribution models. Divers
Distrib 16:214–228
126
A. Pèlachs et al.