Silviculture and Cinegetics Review - Societatea Progresul Silvic

FORESTRY BELTS SILVICULTURE AND CINEGETICS REVIEW XVII/30/2012
impact on woody vegetation and fauna, the appearance
of pests and diseases in high density, which affect
Photo 3. Wild ungulates
The result was an alarming increase in ungulate density
(sometimes up to 50 deer/km 2 ). This imbalance led to
new problems relating to sustainability, due to the
livestock, including humans, decreased genetic diversity
etc., and new concepts of land management. Hare
densities have suffered a dramatic decline due to
myxomatosis, a viral hemorrhagic disease, and
predators. It therefore became a major issue because
wild hare is the main prey for many predators (including
the Iberian imperial eagle and the lynx), and scavengers
(black eagle). Partridge, another traditional hunting
species, is endangered due to problems caused by the
release of captive-bred populations (affected by pests,
diseases and sometimes with different genetic fund) and
predators (wild boar). Finally, the number of wild
pigeon populations increased, even if they compete
with domestic animals (especially the Iberian pig) and
wild ungulates for acorns (Table 9).
Table 9. Characteristics of wildlife species in dehesa (by Olea and San Miguel, 2006)
Role
Primary production in many cases
Species
Wild ungulates : red deer ( Cervus elaphus hispanicus), wild boar (Sus scrofa), deer( Capreolus capreolus) , roe
deer (Dama dama), mouflon (Ovis ammon musimon), rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus), hare (Lepus granatensis),
partridge ( Alectoris rufa), wild pigeon ( Columba palumbus), turtle dove (Streptopelia turtur), and many others
Exploitation rate Ungulates: 10-20 ind/km 2 . Problems with overgrazing
Hare: normal 10 ind/ha. It disappeared from many dehesa and now has much lower density.
Partridge: variable density depending on food and shelter
Wild pigeon: high density in autumn and winter, where there are acorns. Landowners often scare them away in
order to keep the acorn reserve for wild animals and ungulates.
Management Wild ungulates: usual practice is “monteria” (individuals are driven by hunters with dogs) and less common,
feeders. Hunting solvency: 15-20% except wild boar (higher, sometimes 100%, or more).
Hare and bird species: protected. Partridge is hunted by “ojeo” (individuals are being driven to fall within
hunter’s fire range).
2. 6. Environment protection
Dehesa is an ecosystem protected by the law 92/43/EEC
of the Directiva Habitate, and included in the Natura
2000 network. In addition, it includes a variety of
services or benefits to the environment: biodiversity,
ecosystem resilience (erosion, climate, biogeochemical
circuits, fire, etc.), landscape, recreation, tourism,
cultural heritage and more. Dehesa is at the same time
habitat for many species of protected plants and animals
and communities. As a consequence, despite the fact
that it often lies on private property, environmental
protection should be considered as a fundamental
objective of all possible types of management.
Environmental quality is a result of expansion of
.
integrated environmental management, and this
management should be considered as a conservation
tool. As an example of the importance of agroforestry
management is the activity of the LIFE project whose
purpose is to preserve the Iberian lynx, Iberian imperial
eagle, black eagle and black stork. The conclusion is
that this type of management, whose profitability is
lower, must be supported by the European and Spanish
governments. Coverage degree and distribution of
stand proved to be a crucial factor in the determinism of
population diversity and density of many animal groups
of the dehesa ecosystem. It is well known its
importance for domestic animal species, ungulates,
micro-mammals and birds, also demonstrated for lizards
and certain species of beetles
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