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2020/2021

Analysis and Management of Natural Landscapes

Code: 43054 ECTS Credits: 6
Degree Type Year Semester
4313784 Interdisciplinary Studies in Environmental, Economic and Social Sustainability OT 0 1
The proposed teaching and assessment methodology that appear in the guide may be subject to changes as a result of the restrictions to face-to-face class attendance imposed by the health authorities.

Contact

Name:
Carles Barriocanal Lozano
Email:
CarlosAlfredo.Barriocanal@uab.cat

Use of Languages

Principal working language:
english (eng)

Teachers

Sonia Sánchez Mateo
Raquel Cunill Artigas

Prerequisites

Students must have basic knowledge in environmental sciences and ability to follow lectures in English.

Objectives and Contextualisation

To understand the landscape as an expression of natural and social history.

Methodological approach to understand and analyse examples in Europe and the Mediterranean region.

Comprehend a historical perspective on the conservation origins and Natural Protected Areas (NPA), as well as the existing legislative figures of protection.

To study tools for management and biodiversity monitoring and conservation in Natural Protected Areas (NPA), in the context of global change and its socioecological implications.

Explain criteria and analytical and legal tools for diagnosis and assessment of NPA management.

 

 

 

Competences

  • Analyse how the Earth functions on a global scale in order to understand and interpret environmental changes on the global and local scales.
  • Communicate and justify conclusions clearly and unambiguously to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
  • Integrate knowledge and use it to make judgements in complex situations, with incomplete information, while keeping in mind social and ethical responsibilities.
  • Seek out information in the scientific literature using appropriate channels, and use this information to formulate and contextualise research in environmental sciences.
  • Solve problems in new or little-known situations within broader (or multidisciplinary) contexts related to the field of study.
  • Work in an international, multidisciplinary context.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Assess human impact on coastal areas and the function of marine nature reserves, both coastal and oceanic, in biodiversity conservation and the capacity to generate biomass.
  2. Communicate and justify conclusions clearly and unambiguously to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
  3. Integrate knowledge and use it to make judgements in complex situations, with incomplete information, while keeping in mind social and ethical responsibilities.
  4. Interpret current models for protected natural areas with local and worldwide cases, both marine and terrestrial.
  5. Locate and analyse the great biogeographical regions and their situation regarding the conservation of biodiversity.
  6. Seek out information in the scientific literature using appropriate channels, and use this information to formulate and contextualise research in environmental sciences.
  7. Solve problems in new or little-known situations within broader (or multidisciplinary) contexts related to the field of study.
  8. Work in an international, multidisciplinary context.

Content

LANDSCAPE

Session 1. October19th

Module presentation. Carles Barriocanal

Session 2. October 21th

Landscape and Landscapes. Raquel Cunill 

Session 3. October 26th

Socioecological heritage and rural landscapes. Carles Barriocanal

Session 4. October 28th

Global change indicators: forests and Mediterranean river basins. Sònia Sànchez Mateo

 

PROTECTED AREAS

Session 5. November 2d.

The origin and the evolution of Protected Areas. Protection schemes. Carles Barriocanal

Session 6. November 4th

Biosphere reserves as science for sustainability support sites . Sònia Sànchez Mateo

 

EXPERIENCES FROM THE ANALYSIS AND THE MANAGEMENT IN PROTECTED AREAS

Session 7. November 9th
Natural Park and Biosphere Reserve of Montseny. Objectives and interactions between protection figures. Maria Barrachina Giménez

Session 8. November 16th

The Pyrenees as a transfrontier conservation area. Marc Garriga Lújan

Session 9. November 18th

Cajas Massif Biosphere Reserve and National Park: an Andean experience. José Francisco Cáceres

Session 10. November 23th

Tourism management in natural protected areas. Carles Barriocanal

Vistors pressure indicators in Costa Rica protected areas. Michael Moya.

 

Field trip. Montseny (20 novembre)

Field Trip. Terres de l’Ebre (dates pending confirmation)

* In case the field trips cannot be carried out, they will be replaced by activities.

Methodology

Lectures

Active participation in the classroom

Field trip

Essays/works

Activities

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Field work 30 1.2 4, 7, 5
Theorical presentations 40 1.6 2
Type: Autonomous      
Essays/works preparation 37 1.48 6, 2
Lectures 25 1 3

Assessment

The final mark will be the result of:

Exam (40 %).

Reports of field trips (25 %).

Critical essay of a paper (30 %).

Attendance and participation (5 %).

Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Active participation in the classroom 5% 4 0.16 6, 3, 7, 2
Exam, field work delivery and essays 95% 14 0.56 6, 4, 3, 7, 2, 5, 8, 1

Bibliography

References

Bertrand, C., & Bertrand, G. (2006). Geografía del medio ambiente. El Sistema GTP: Geosistema, Territorio y Paisaje, Universidad de Granada. (Transalation of: Une géographie traversière : l'environnement á travers territoires et temporalités)

Botequilha, A.; Miller, J.; Ahern, J. i McGarigal, K. (2006): Measuring landscapes. A Planner’s Handbook. Washington: Island Press.

Carranza, S.; Amat, F. Taxonomy, biogeography and evolution of Euproctus (Amphibia: Salamandridae), with the resurrection of the genus Calotriton and the description of a new endemic species from the Iberian Peninsula. Zool. J. Linn. Soc. Lond. 2005, 145, 555–582.

Dudley, N. (Editor) (2008). Guidelines for Applying Protected Area Management Categories. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN.

Ervin, J., Sekhran, N., Dinu, A., Gidda, S., Mergeichik, M., Mee, J. (2010). Protected areas for the 21st century: Lessons from UNDP/GEF’s portfolio. Montreal: UNDP, New York and Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity.

European Environment Agency (2012): Protected areas in Europe — an overview. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union.

Farina, A. (2006). Principles and methods in landscape ecology: towards a science of landscape. Dordrecht: Springer.

Heinen, J. 2012. International Trends in Protected Areas Policy and Management. In: Sladonja, B. (Ed.). Protected Areas Management. DOI: 10.5772/50061. <http://www.intechopen.com/books/protected-area-management/international-trends-in-protected-areas-policy-and-management>

Huntington, H. P. (2000): Using traditional ecological knowledge in science. Methods and Applications. Ecological Applications 10(5): 1270-1274.

Ishwaran, N., Persic, A., Tri, N.H., 2008. Concept and practice: the case of UNESCO biosphere reserves. International Journal of Environment and Sustainable Development. 7 (2):118–131.

Jones-Walters, L.; Civic, K. 2013. European protected areas: Past, present and future. Journal for Nature Conservation 21: 122– 124.

Lambin, E. F. I Geist, h. (eds.): Land-use and Land-cover Change. Local processes and global impacts. Springer. Berlín, 2006.

Makhzoumi, J. i Pungetti,G. (1999): Ecological Landscape Design and Planning. The Mediterranean Context. Londres: E & FN Spon

McGarigal, K. i Marks, B. (1995): FRAGSTATS: Spatial Pattern Analysis Program for Quantifying Landscape Structure. Washington: Department of Agriculture General Technical Report.

McDonald, D.; Crabtree, J. R.; Wiesinger, G.; Dax, T.; Stamou, N.; Fleury, P.; Gutierrez Lazpita, J. i Gibon, A. (2000): Agricultural abandonment in mountain areas of Europe: Environmental consequences and policy response. Journal of Environmental Management 59: 47-69.

Otero, I.; Boada, M. i Tàbara, J.D. (2013): Social-ecological heritage and the conservation of Mediterranean landscapes under global change: a case study in Olzinelles (Catalonia). Land Use Policy. 30, pp. 25 - 37. Butterworth Scientific. ISSN 0264-8377

Peñuelas, J.; Boada, M. (2003): A global change-induced biome shift in the Montseny mountains (NE Spain), en Global Change Biology, 9:131-140.

Sluiter, R. i de Jong, S. M. (2007): Spatial patterns of Mediterranean land abandonament and related land cover transitions. Landscape Ecology 22:559–576.

Further reading

Adams, W., Aveling, R., Brockington, D., Dickson, B., Elliott, J., Hutton, J., Vira, B., Wolmer, W. 2004. Biodiversity Conservation and the Eradication of Poverty. Science 306:1146-1149.

Batisse, M. 1997. Biosphere Reserves: A Challenge for Biodiversity Conservation & Regional Development, Environment: Science and Policy for Sustainable Development 39(5): 6-33.

Burel, F. i Baudry, J. (2002): Landscape Ecology: Concepts, Methods, and Applications. CRC Press.

Forman, R. T. T. i Godron, M. (1986): Landscape ecology. Nova York: Wiley and sons.

Grove, A.T.; Rackham, O. (2001): The Nature of Mediterranean Europe: an ecological history. New Haven (EUA): Yale University Press.

Leverington, F., Lemos, K., Courrau, J., Pavese, H., Nolte, C., Marr, M., Coad, L., Burgess, N.,Bomhard, B., Hockings, M. 2010. Management effectiveness evaluation in protected areas – a global study. The University of Queensland Brisbane Australia.

Li, H. i Wu, J. (2004): Use and misuse of landscape indices. Landscape Ecology 19: 389-399.

Otero, I.; Marull, J.; Tello, E.;Diana, G. L.; Pons, M.; Coll, F. i Boada, M. (2015): Land abandonment, landscape, and biodiversity: questioning the restorative character of the forest transition in the Mediterranean. Ecology and Society 20(2): 7. doi: 10.5751/ES-07378-200207.

Peñuelas, J. et al. : Evidence of current impact of climate change on life: a walk from genes to the biosphere. Global Change Biology, 2013, 19: 2303–2338

Peñuelas J et al. (2017): Impacts of Global Change on Mediterranean Forests and Their Services. Forests 8, 463.

Smit, IPJ, Roux DJ, Swemmer LK, Boshoff N, Novellie P (2017): Protected areas as outdoor classrooms and global laboratories: Intellectual ecosystem services flowing to-and-from a National Park. Ecosystem Services 28 B:238-250.

Sutherland, William J.; HILL, David A. (eds.) Managing habitats for conservation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995. 399 p. ISBN 0521447763


 

Further reading in Catalan and in Spanish

Boada, M.; Rivera, M. (2000): L'origen dels espais naturals protegits. Medi Ambient, 27:4-14. Barcelona: Generalitat de Catalunya. Departament de Medi Ambient.

Boada, M.; Sànchez, S.; Maneja, R.; Varga, D.(2011): Diseño de indicadores para la evaluación de los servicios ambientales ofrecidos en la Reserva de la Biosfera del Montseny, 43-63, a M. Onaindía (Ed.): Servicios Ambientales en Reservas de la Biosfera Españolas. Organismo Autónomo de Parques Nacionales. Ministerio de Medio Ambiente. UNESCO. Red Española de Reservas de la Biosfera. NIPO: 781-10-040-5.

Boada, M. i Toledo, V. M. (2003): El Planeta, nuestro cuerpo: la ecología, el ambientalismo y la crisis de la modernidad. México: Fondo de Cultura Económica.

Corraliza, J. A.; García, J.; Gutiérrez del Olmo, E. V. Los parques naturales de España: Conservación y disfrute. Madrid: Fundación Alfonso Martín Escudero, 2002. 491 p. ISBN 8484760561

Generalitat de Catalunya. Departament de Medi Ambient. Direcció General de Patrimoni Natural. El pla d’espais d’interès natural a Catalunya. Barcelona: Generalitat de Catalunya. Departament de Medi Ambient, 1996.

Mallarach, J. M. 2008. Protegits, de fet o de dret?: primera avaluación del sistema d’espais naturals protegits de Catalunya. Barcelona: Institució Catalana d’Història Natural.

Websites

European Commission. Natura 2000.
<http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/natura2000/index_en.htm>

IUCN. Protected Areas. <https://www.iucn.org/theme/protected-areas>

Protected Planet. https://www.protectedplanet.net/

UNEP. <https://www.unep-wcmc.org/resources-and-data/united-nations-list-of-protected-areas>