LAND USE CHANGE IN A SILVOPASTORAL CORK OAK SAVANNA IN CENTRAL SARDINIA

Cork oak woodlands in Central Sardinia represent a biocultural landscape related to silvo-pastoral and agro silvo-pastoral systems where the forest component is dominated by Q. suber on soils developed mainly from siliceous (granite) rocks. These systems provide various ecosystem services: carbon sequestration, water quality, biodiversity and soil conservation in addition to animal, wood and nonwooden productions (e.g. milk, beef, wool, pasture, cork, acorns…). Otherwise, these multifunctional systems are affected by scarce natural regeneration and low health conditions of trees, as well as documented also for Portuguese montados and Spanish dehesas. In Sardinian cork oak savannas density is higher and Sardinian dairy sheep represent grazing component. Previous studies in the area compared land use in four plots, in Nuoro district in the years 1954, 1977 and 1998. Focusing on cork oak landscapes, the work verified a change of 30% of “pure” cork oak stands to woody pastures and Mediterranean maquis. The main causes have been the decreasing trend of cork prices in international markets and the CAP payments for livestock more convenient for owners than those for forest management. Wildfires have also contributed to the degradation of the forests. This work aims to update land use changes, integrating the previous study results with new sources of information: land use database (year 2008), 1:25000 by Autonomous Region of Sardinia. The research produced, through Geographic Information Systems tools, new information and change maps from 1998 to 2008. Results show a loss of 787 hectares of “pure Cork oak" in 10 years for the 10,054 ha plot area (7.8% of the total surface), mainly by change to “other types of forest” and “wooded pastures”. Local silvo-pastoral system in plot areas seems today to be not capable to adopt technical solutions to harmonize different farming goals such as reduction of grazing animals, pasture rotation and/or ameliorating. Effective measures and a regional plan in favour of restoration of cork oak woodlands are expected