Abandonment of traditional uses in mountain areas: typological thinking versus hard data in the Cantabrian Mountains (NW Spain)

摘要: Conservation policies of the European Nature 2,000 network reflect an overarching concern about alleged negative effects abandonment traditional uses. In particular, livestock herding is widely assumed to be responsible biodiversity decreases through habitat homogenization. However, those land on are neither straightforward nor repeatedly has been always supported by hard data. We analyzed evolution cattle densities in Cantabrian Mountains (NW Spain) past 20 years, and its relation with decline occupancy capercaillie leks. Instead widely-assumed decrease numbers, which already incorporated into landscape wildlife management, we found actual increase numbers. Those numbers were negatively related presence endangered, distinctive population capercaillie, a bird considered umbrella species mountain forest ecosystems. Thus our data do not support role free-ranging conservation biodiversity. consider that typological thinking relationship socio-economic changes should replaced consideration ecosystem naturalness.