Contributions to the integrated landscape analysis: structures and typology in eastern Sierra Morena (Ciudad Real, Spain)
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Abstract
Landscape delimitations and typologies are considered to be of transcendental importance for the understanding of the territory and for the consideration of the landscape as a central element in valuation and management exercises. The southern Iberian plateau is notable for the scarcity of this type of studies at detailed scales. We present a contribution to the knowledge of the Alcudia Valley and Sierra Madrona, one of the most extensive and well-preserved areas of the Sierra Morena with hardly any geographical studies, based on the first detailed approximation of the classification and mapping of its landscapes. The results highlight the importance of the elaboration of cartographic syntheses supported by field work that are valid for the elaboration of maps of abiotic, biotic and anthropic structures. The evaluation and selection of variables has allowed the exercise of landscape integration, valid for the differentiation of three taxonomic-chorological levels: natural region, large landscape types and landscape types. At the proposed scale, it has been found that the key elements are the abiotic elements, which control the greatest landscape differences and explain other territorial components, being maintained over time in a lasting manner. The vegetation cover and anthropic land uses make up a mosaic that changes in space and is less permanent over time.