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AgSAP Conference 2009, Egmond aan Zee, the Netherlands
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Restoration of abandoned agricultural lands toward umbrella species
habitats
*
M. Arriaza, O. Nekhay and M.J. López-Baldovín
Centro IFAPA “Alameda del Obispo”. Apartado 3092. Córdoba, Spain
E-mail: manuel.arriaza@juntadeandalucia.es
Introduction
The present study analyses the suitability of agricultural lands with risk of abandonment to be
restored to suitable habitats for endangered species. As a case study, we focus on the olive
plantations of mountain areas of Southern Spain and the Iberian lynx. The methodology
weighs experts’ judgements about the effects of the landscape elements on this habitat via the
Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and spots the most suitable areas for restoration through
the Geographical Information Systems (GIS).
The main interest of the study relies on the potentiality of the methodology to combine
complex territorial analysis with the biological requirements of endangered species to
facilitate their dispersal.
Methods
The methodology involves three phases: First, an inventory of Iberian lynx habitat
requirements is drawn up. Then, the AHP method is implemented based on the experts’
knowledge. Finally, the Geographical Information Systems technology is used to assess the
potential of the study area for Iberian lynx’s habitat restoration.
Selection of landscape elements related to Iberian lynx habitat requirements
The main causes that have brought the Iberian lynx to the border of extinction are habitat
alterations and removal, the fall in the number of rabbits (the main lynx’s prey), human
activity, such as illegal hunting and traps, (Delibes et al., 2000; Gaona et al., 1998).
Analytic Hierarchy Process multicriteria decision-making technique
There are two specific characteristics that distinguish this method (Saaty, 1980) from the
other multicriteria methods of this family: (a) the construction of the hierarchy structure of the
problem to be solved, and (b) the pair-wise comparisons made between different criteria to
weigh them with respect to the overall objective.
GIS-aided analysis
The GIS software used as a platform for the representation, management and analysis of the
spatial information was ArcGIS 9.1 and ILWIS 3.4 (Integrated Land and Water Information
System). The operations of spatial multi criteria evaluation was carried out in ILWIS 3.4.
SMCE module. The input data were: land use map (1999; 1:50,000); aerial monochrome
orthophotos (2001-2002; 1:5000) and color orthophotos (2005; 1:10,000); olive plantations
productivity maps (2004; 1:25,000); road infrastructure map (1999; 1:25,000).
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This research has been financed by INIA through the research project RTA04-086.
AgSAP Conference 2009, Egmond aan Zee, the Netherlands
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Results and discussion
According to the results, the most important landscape objects are the natural vegetation
structures (32%), followed by the proximity to asphalted roads (28%), the proximity to the
Natural Park (18%) and the proximity to watercourses (14%). Olive groves with vegetation
cover obtained the lowest weight (8%).
Figure 1. Evaluation of Iberian lynx habitat restoration potential
The red spot in the centre represents the urban area and it is regarded as a constraint (non-
compensatory criteria). The red lines that pass through the map represent two motorways that
have high levels of traffic. The maximum suitability value recorded in the study area was
0.92, the minimum was 0 and mean value was 0.46 (in a 0-1 scale). The green colour
represents the areas suitable to implement the restoration measures. All situated on the North
of the motorway A-IV. Since the divergences in the opinions of the experts raise a good deal
of uncertainty about the reliability of the result, we decided to perform a sensitivity analysis
of the results.
It is interesting to report some similarities between the results obtained in this study and those
provided by Van der Horst and Gimona (2005), which used multicriteria spatial analysis to
determine the most suitable territories in agricultural areas for the implementation of action
plans to promote biodiversity. Unlike the present study, these authors combine the
requirements of 15 species as map layers, weighted according to the importance of each
species. However, the results of both studies emphasise the importance of the edge zones of
major agricultural areas, the riparian zones (in our case the natural vegetation) and areas
adjacent to nature pinewoods (in our case Mediterranean forest and shrub lands) as having the
highest potential for biodiversity.
References
Delibes, M. et al., 2000. Action plan for the conservation of the Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus) in
Europe. Nature Environ 111, 1-45.
Gaona P. et al., 1998. Dynamics and viability of a metapopulation of the endangered Iberian lynx
(Lynx pardinus). Ecol Monog 68, 349-370.
Saaty, T.L., 1980. The analytic hierarchy process: Planning, priority setting, resource allocation.
McGraw-Hill, NY.
Van Der Horst, D. & A. Gimona, 2005. Where new farm woodlands support biodiversity action plans:
a spatial multi-criteria analysis. Biol Conserv 123, 421-432.
