Landscape visual fragility associated to temporal dynamic in the chestnut lands in Faraján (Spain)
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Abstract
The study is carried out in a mountainous area from South of Spain (Faraján, province of Málaga). The landscape shows a very high spatially and temporally dynamic of land uses, similar to other Mediterranean mountainous regions, where interacts physical and human factors. The land uses and vegetation cover, and especially the chestnut orchards, were mapped by means of supervised classification of Landsat 8-OLI images and aerial photographs. This land use has a remarkable impact on the landscape and local economy due to the seasonal variability of chestnut tree phenology and its profitability. As consequence, the landscape visual fragility is analysed in order to assess the impact of land use changes as well as the increment of the surface occupied by the chestnut orchard land use, which is prone to spread all over the highest altitude of the Faraján municipality from recent decades and, thus, along the the most visible areas from the main roads.