Abandoned agricultural lands: An opportunity for the expansion of native forest?

During the last centuries, agriculture expansion has been one of the main causes of habitat destruction and biodiversity loss. However, in the last decades, the abandonment of agricultural land has become one of the most significant trends of land use change in European mountain areas. Despite the negative consequences of abandonment for those species whose survival is dependent on agricultural practises, new studies report that agricultural land abandonment can be an opportunity for the expansion of native forest and other habitats. We are measuring oak forest regeneration in abandoned agricultural areas in a mountain area of northern Portugal and assessing sources of ecological resilience. Using GIS and remote sensing techniques we are classifying and comparing aerial photos from the 1960´s to 2000 and assessing land use change in the study area over the last 40 years. Preliminary results suggest that native oak forest area has increased in the last 40 years and that abandoned agricultural areas present relatively high regeneration rates. We are now looking into what determines the forest regeneration rates in different areas and what are the characteristics of the ecological resilience of these landscapes.