Grupo de Geografía Física y Medio Ambiente, Instituto de Oceanografía y Cambio Global, IOCAG, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, ULPGC, Spain.
Sci Total Environ. 2022 May 1;819:152009. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.152009. Epub 2021 Nov 27.
Traditional land uses have been altering aeolian sedimentary systems for centuries through the removal of plant material for grazing, fuel or farming purposes. However, few studies have been able to quantify the deforestation process associated with these land uses due to the complexity that this entails and the limitations of the historical sources. In this context, the aim of this work is to develop a methodology that allows to reconstruct, evaluate, measure and locate the effects of deforestation processes. The methodology, based on the interpretation of historical documents, oral interviews and publications in the literature; was applied to a case study in Jandía (Fuerteventura, Canary Islands, Spain). On the basis of morphological measurements of the types of plant used to fire lime kilns, the current available biovolume was determined and an estimation made of the surface area affected by plant removal. The data obtained were integrated and analysed through a geographic information system (GIS) in order to quantify the impact of the lime kiln industry on the vegetation in the study area. The main results show that to fire a large-sized lime kiln oven it would be necessary to clear a low-density vegetation area of 21,826.08 m (or a a high-density vegetation area of 3075.72 m) using three main species (Launaea arborescens, Lycium intricatum and Convolvulus caput-madusae). It was also found that distances of up to 38 km had to be travelled to obtain the vegetation required to fire the kilns. It is concluded that a number of impacts resulted from the demands of the limestone industry, particularly on plant communities, the abundance of certain species and flora richness, as well as modifications to geomorphological processes and the eventual collapse of the activity in the 1960s through overexploitation of the plant material. The present research allows us to learn from past experiences in which industries lacked proper planning and thus their activity led to their own collapse and rapid environmental degradation.
传统的土地利用方式通过去除植物材料用于放牧、燃料或农业目的，几百年来一直在改变风成沉积系统。然而，由于这涉及到的复杂性以及历史资料的局限性，很少有研究能够量化与这些土地利用相关的森林砍伐过程。在这种情况下，这项工作的目的是开发一种能够重建、评估、测量和定位森林砍伐过程影响的方法。该方法基于对历史文献、口述访谈和文献出版物的解释；应用于加那利群岛富埃特文图拉岛（西班牙）的一个案例研究。根据用于烧制石灰窑的植物类型的形态测量，确定了当前可用的生物量，并对受植物清除影响的表面积进行了估算。通过地理信息系统（GIS）对获得的数据进行集成和分析，以量化石灰窑工业对研究区域植被的影响。主要结果表明，要烧制一个大型石灰窑炉，需要清除 21826.08 平方米的低密度植被区（或 3075.72 平方米的高密度植被区），使用三种主要物种（Launaea arborescens、Lycium intricatum 和 Convolvulus caput-madusae）。还发现，为了获得烧制石灰窑所需的植被，需要行进长达 38 公里的距离。研究结果表明，石灰岩工业的需求导致了许多影响，特别是对植物群落、某些物种的丰富度和植物丰富度的影响，以及对地貌过程的改变，最终导致该活动在 20 世纪 60 年代因过度开采植物材料而崩溃。本研究使我们能够从过去的经验中吸取教训，这些经验表明，过去的工业缺乏适当的规划，因此它们的活动导致了自身的崩溃和环境的迅速恶化。
