La dinámica del paisaje en la Serra d'Aitana (Alacant, España): Síntesis de transformaciones históricas en una montaña mediterránea (1600-2010)

Abstract

The study of how ecosystems develop is essential in order to understand their capacity of response to specific disturbances. Based on this idea, this paper analyses the transformations that have occurred over the last 400 years in the Serra d'Aitana, a singular area combining the typical ecological and historical features of a European Mediterranean mountain range. The article summarises the results of extensive research which has used numerous sources, both documented and oral, along with field work. The results are presented in five periods (up to 1650, 1650-1850, 1850-1920, 1920-1960 and 1960-2010) which check the intensity of the changes from five processes: expansion of agricultural land, livestock, forest fires, forestry and reforestation. This provides a general analytical framework which will facilitate the work of future, more detailed studies of the Valencia Baetic mountain range.