the systems of grassland management in spain - Publicaciones del ...

More documents

Recommendations

Info

62made up of hard-leaved grasses (Avenulamirandana, Festuca hystl'ix, F. indigesta, Koeleriavallesiana, ele.) together wilh Cistaeeae and Fabaccae(Cislus, Halimiunl, Helianlhemwn, Tuberaria,As/raga/us, Genista occidellfalis, G. pwnila, Medicago,Trifoliwn, etc.). Dry air and contrastingtemperatures are characteristic of this environmentwhieh is epitomized by the juniper tree (Juniperus/hur!!era) so lypieal of lhis region, as are J. nauaand J. sabina.Although the above vegelation is lypieal of theCordillera Ibérica, Montañas de León, Sanabriaand lhe Carpelana between Somosierra andGredos, oak woods are also widespread, and lo alesser degree pine forests (Sierra de Guadarrama,Pinar de Lillo of León provinee, Sierra de laDemanda, Cameros, Sierra del Moncayo andMonles Universales): there are a few beeeh woodson slopes faeing north-wesl wilh lheir eharaeteristiefrequent mists eaused by lhe eooling of lheascending air currents. There are also extensivemoorlands, where lhe dominanl planl is Callunavulgaris associatcd with El'ica australis and at timesVaccinunl myrtilfus and V. uliginoswn. The prescnceof Erica arborea and Genista florida areindieative of a habilat where there is deep soil andunderground water.The Cameros (3a in Fig. 3.10). The environmentof lhe Cameros belween Logroño and Soria(Calvo, 1977) can be taken as generally representativefor lhe eenlral mountains of Spain. When lhecows lcave their winter stable, pregnant, they reachCameros rough pastures where they give birth, andlhey deseend lo lhe village when they sense theapproaeh of lhe lirsl heavy snowfall. The Cameranaeow or Pinariega, was perfeetly adapted lo lhepoor qualily of lhe grazings, seattered belweensmall woods and healhland, where eaeh eow has itshaunt, gives birth and retums home with ils ealf.Sheep graze on the drier slopes, and transhumantsare frequent in this part of Cameros.The phytosoeiology of lhe Cameros Mountainswilh grasslands has been deseribed by Mendiola(1983).Those meadows whieh need eutting only once ayear are loeated near centres ofhabilation; here lhepasiego and lhe borda of the Pyrenees and theCantabrian Mountains are virtualIy nOll-existent.Inslead lhere are meadows of ArrhenatheretaliaPEDRO MONTSERRAT ,ud FEDERICO FILLATeharaeterized by an abundanee of Malva moscha/a.Near the páramo, where lhe heathland is driest,are found oak woods of Quercus pyrellaicG, anexeellent oak for forage. It provides serub forgrazing, with shoots c. 10 lo 25 cm in length, andabounds in Zamora, Avila-Segovia, Sierra deGuadalupe, etc.Meadows in lhe high mounlains of Teme) (3b inFig. 3.10). In the high mountains of Teruel(1500-2000 m) pine forests predominate (Pinuss)'/l'eSfris) interealated wilh small woods of Quercusp)'renaiea and hazel (Cor)'/us al'el/ana) in theSierra de Gúdar-Valdelinares, where the soil iseooler and rieher. The meadow-Iands of thiseastern zone have been famous since ancient times(Asso, 1779) with pastures where Fabaeeae aredominanl (As/ragalus danieus, Medieago sufjruticosa,Onobrychis hispanica, .Ononis cris/ata, etc.).The paslures of the Monles Universales areseattered belween abundant pine forests and are ofa poorer qualily than those mentioned above.Methods used for ealtle farming were once verysimilar lo those found in the Cameros, bulnowadays exploitation for timber takes preeedenee.Sorne of lhe villages in lhe Sierra deAlbarracín keep f10eks of transhumanl merinosheep whieh winler in La Mancha (Mesta deAlbarracín). In the mountains where soil is gravellyor sandy, Cal/una vulgaris, Cisfus laurifolius andHalimium viscosum have invaded those pastureswhieh have been bumt olf. In these zones goats arethe ehief grazing animal. A monograph on thesegrasslands has been published by Gómez (1982).Meadows and grassland in the Carpetana Mountainsof Ceulral Spain (3e in Fig. 3.10). The Carpetanamountain ehain (Sierra Ministra, 1200 m; Somosierra,2000 m; Guadarrama, 2400 m) presents apieture of various extensive glacis sloping gentlydown towards the Castillian Meseta. The relativelyfertile deep soils (bardal soils) are most suilable forestablishmenl of meadows and green paslure-landduring thc summer. Where it is drier, as in Segovia,there are woods of evergreen oak (Quereus ro/undifolia)and pastures dotted with Juniperus /"urifera.Towards Somosierra there are grazings on deep soilwhieh are now overgrown wilh lhe braeken fem, anindex of both their abandonment and the deereasein livestoek aetivity.
THE SYSTEMS OF GRASSLAND MANAGEMENT IN SPAINIn lhe Escorial and Guadarrama the meadowson dccp soil [ICC cut in spring and intensivelygrazed; lhe ash (Fl"axilluS allguslifolia) bordersthese meadows. Where QuerClls pyrellalca grows itis an indication of permeable soil, while evergreenoak and JUllipel'us oxycedrus grow in the drierenclaves al higher altiludes close to 800-1000 m(Rivas Martínez, 1982).The Avileña cattle are characterislic of thesemountains, and are well represented in the Sierrade Gredos and its foothills. Fesluca elegallsgrowing on the convexities is the dominantsummer plant of lhe upland paslures, whileCampanulo-Nardion communities grow in thedamper hollows (Rivas Martinez, 1963). Movingsoulhwards the change oflevel is extremely abrupt,and this contrasled landscape was advanlageous tothe Avileña breed, which make a short lranshumancelo the Mediterranean type of pastures ofArenas de San Pedro and lhe Tiétar Valley; inthese wintering zones, Poa bulbosa and Trifoliumsubterraneum are abundant.The Mesla lype of animal husbandry in León andCastillaThis is a sheep system which has been infiuentialfrom mediaeval times to lhe present day, and it ischaracteristic of lhe northem Meseta. This zonewas uninhabited for several centuries during theReconquista (Fig. 3.5E), thus favouring the movementof enormous flocks.In the par! which was reconquered before the10th century and colonized by freemen, thedominant breed of sheep is lhe Churra, useful farmilk and with rough wool. The landscape is one ofheathlands and criss-crossed by wide valleys ofdeep soil favouring the establishmenl of meadows.Flocks of 100 to 140 sheep also graze on thestubble of the crops sown in the area, and on otherforage crops sown lraditionalIy for work animals.The resident fiocks of milk sheep have originatedhere.The dominanl breed of sheep on lhe resl of theMeseta is the Entrefina Castellana, used for bothlheir meat and milk. Floeks of about 200 sheepgraze in the area all the year round. Here one mustdistinguish between lwo principal pattems: that inthe west assoeiated with extensive wooded pastureland,and the eastern pattern, where moorland onlimy soil is suilable for lhe cultivation of sainfoin.The winlers are long, and, while grazing stillcontinues in same of the meadows borderingwatereourses, feeding is supplemenled by haymade from sainfoin and luceme. The moorlandsheep graze also on the stubble which remains afterharvesting sainfoin and lucerne, and this ensuresthal the meadows lying along lhe watercoursecontinue lo be productive.When the severe winter conditions of the páramoprcvail, orre finds in this zone (Sierra Ministra,Molina de Aragón, etc.) the hardy Ojalada Sorianabreed of sheep, a brancl! of the Ibérico stock. Tothe southwest, in La Alcarria, yel another hardierbreed ofsheep is found, lhe Alcarreña, a branch ofthe Enlrefina especially adapted to mountain areas(see Fig. 3.6A).The lack of emphasis on wool production insheop farming is due lo lhe running down of lhewool induslry and the collapse of the Mestaorganization. The BHonrado Concejo de la Mesta"was ariginally created and supported by the King in1273 (Klein, 1964) in order lo lake advantage oflheproduction of enormous quantities of wool obtained[rom the merino. This association concernedwilh sheep farming crealed wealth for lhe RoyalTreasury, and was lhus encouraged lo lhe detrimentof a more general agricultural policy (cultivation ofarable land). However, lhe increase in populalionduring the 18lh century and the collapse of theforeign markel caused lhe loss of these privilegesand lheir legal abolition in 1836 (Garda, 1978).Figure 3.10 shows lhe great sheep lrails of thecenlral-westem area where the Castillan Mesta wasimportan!. To the east lhere were lhe Mesla deAlbarradn and the Casa de Ganaderos de Zaragozaorganizing the Montes Ibéricos and EbroValley transhumances. The shorl grazing providedby Poa bulbosa and Trifolillln sublerralleum (RivasGoday and Rivas Martínez, 1963) is good for lhemerino sheep. This type of paslure-land is principallyconfined lo lhe west (end of lhe arrows inFig.3.l0) and has a high winler production asindicaled by the rainfall maps (Fig. 3.3). The longjoumey involved in lranshumance enables thesheep lo lake advanlage of the shart loughpastures of the páramos and of the limestonesubcanlabrian mountains of León, Palencia andSoria. This is why the wide sheep trails, with areasset aside for resting, have persisled in all theircomplexity until the present day.63
Page 4 and 5: 40day' when the areas of important
Page 6 and 7: 42 PEDRO MONTSERRAT and FEDERICO FI
Page 8: 44animal husbandry in the past and
Page 12 and 13: 48Information on the distribution o
Page 14 and 15: lA GRASSLAND(%)1W1! >75~50-75825-50
Page 16 and 17: @'""+ ...."4@ o l. European-Atlanti
Page 18 and 19: 54niga (Valle de Cabuérniga), on t
Page 20 and 21: 56However, nowadays the autumn graz
Page 23: THE SYSTEMS QF GRASSLAND MANAGEMENT
Page 28 and 29: 64As wooI has become a less importa
Page 30 and 31: 68There are more diffieulties in th
Page 32: 70Selecciones del Reader's Digest,

the systems of grassland management in spain - Publicaciones del ...

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?