Diferencias en la evolución del paisaje entre dos municipios Prepirenaicos: Alquézar y Valle de Lierp, en la segunda mitad del siglo XX

Abstract

Rapid socio-economical global changes happened during the second half of the 20th century, have radically altered territorial management in rural areas of the Mediterranean mountains, specifically, in the Pre Pyrenees (Huesca). Population decrease in young and economically active members, plus the change of the productive model entailed a land use transformation and subsequent landscape changes. Although the general model of landscape change is based on the decrease of human pressure on this territory, we should also take into account local characteristics related to biophysical and historical features. The comparison between two Pre Pyrenean municipalities: Alquezar and Valle de Lierp, shows these local differences, contextualized by the analyses of the Pre Pyrenean landscape composition. Consequently, a retrospective and multiscale study focused on the two sample municipalities –considering those as an operational management unit–, has been done. We have assessed landscape composition, configuration and structure on those units through component analyses, transition models and landscape indices. The methodological development of this work has been simplified by the use of GIS (ARC GIS 9) and FRAGSTAT, software of landscape ecology metrics.