Petanidou Theodora, Kizos Thanasis, Soulakellis Nikolaos
Department of Geography, University of the Aegean, University Hill, GR 81100 Mytilene, Greece.
Environ Manage. 2008 Feb;41(2):250-66. doi: 10.1007/s00267-007-9054-6.
Agricultural landscapes illustrate the impact of human actions on physical settings, and differential human pressures cause these landscapes to change with time. Our study explored changes in the terraced landscapes of Nisyros Island, Greece, focusing on the socioeconomic aspects during two time periods using field data, cadastral research, local documents, and published literature, as well as surveys of the islanders. Population increases during the late 19th to early 20th centuries marked a significant escalation of terrace and dry stone wall construction, which facilitated cultivation on 58.4% of the island. By the mid-20th century, the economic collapse of agricultural activities and consequent emigration caused the abandonment of cultivated land and traditional management practices, dramatically reducing farm and field numbers. Terrace abandonment continued in recent decades, with increased livestock grazing becoming the main land management tool; as a result, both farm and pasture sizes increased. Neglect and changing land use has led to deterioration and destruction of many terraces on the island. We discuss the socioeconomic and political backgrounds responsible for the land-use change before World War II (annexation of Nisyros Island by the Ottoman Empire, Italy, and Greece; overseas migration opportunities; and world transportation changes) and after the war (social changes in peasant societies; worldwide changes in agricultural production practices). The adverse landscape changes documented for Nisyros Island appear to be inevitable for modern Mediterranean rural societies, including those on other islands in this region. The island's unique terraced landscapes may qualify Nisyros to become an archive or repository of old agricultural management techniques to be used by future generations and a living resource for sustainable management.
农业景观展示了人类活动对自然环境的影响，不同的人类压力导致这些景观随时间变化。我们的研究探索了希腊尼西罗斯岛梯田景观的变化，利用实地数据、地籍研究、当地文献、已发表的文献以及对岛民的调查，重点关注两个时期的社会经济方面。19世纪末至20世纪初人口的增加标志着梯田和干石墙建设显著升级，这使得该岛58.4%的土地得以耕种。到20世纪中叶，农业活动的经济崩溃以及随之而来的移民导致耕地和传统管理方式被弃用，农场和农田数量大幅减少。近几十年来梯田持续被弃用，牲畜放牧增加成为主要的土地管理方式；结果，农场和牧场面积都增加了。忽视和土地利用的变化导致该岛许多梯田退化和毁坏。我们讨论了第二次世界大战前（尼西罗斯岛被奥斯曼帝国、意大利和希腊吞并；海外移民机会；以及世界交通变化）和战后（农民社会的社会变革；全球农业生产方式的变化）导致土地利用变化的社会经济和政治背景。尼西罗斯岛记录的不利景观变化似乎是现代地中海农村社会不可避免的，包括该地区其他岛屿上的社会。该岛独特的梯田景观可能使尼西罗斯有资格成为旧农业管理技术的档案库或储存库，供后代使用，并成为可持续管理的活资源。
