Land use changes

In the middle of the 20th century, the South of the Madres and Mont Coronat massif (Eastern Pyrenees, France) were characterised by a Mediterranean cultural landscape shaped by human activity. The long-term use of these mountains for crops, livestock and forestry had increased grassland areas at the expense of forest. However, social transformation (agriculture abandonment and a decrease in the rural population) in recent decades has caused profound changes in this massif. Interpretation of aerial photographs (1953, 1969, 1988 and 2000) has allowed us to detect and analyse the changes produced in the study area (6787ha) during this period. In 1953 most of the massif landscape consisted in grasslands (38%) and open forests (18%), with some areas of dense forest (15%). By 2000, dense forest had doubled its extent (31%), and grasslands had declined considerably (by 73% of the initial area). Since 1953, despite local exceptions, the study area became more homogeneous. The results of this study suggest that socioeconomic factors might explain the landscape transformations across time.