Assessment of the ecosystem services provided by agricultural terraces

  1. Romero-Díaz, Asunción 1
  2. de Vente, Joris 2
  3. Díaz-Pereira, Elvira 2
  1. 1 Departamento de Geografía, Universidad de Murcia
  2. 2 Centro de Edafología y Biología Aplicada del Segura (CEBAS-CSIC)
Revista:
Pirineos

ISSN: 0373-2568

Año de publicación: 2019

Número: 174

Páginas: 43-43

Tipo: Artículo

DOI: 10.3989/PIRINEOS.2019.174003 DIALNET GOOGLE SCHOLAR lock_openAcceso abierto editor

Otras publicaciones en: Pirineos

Objetivos de desarrollo sostenible

Resumen

Las terrazas agrícolas son ampliamente utilizadas en todo el mundo desde la antigüedad. Su interés paisajístico es innegable y algunas de ellas forman parte del Patrimonio Mundial de la UNESCO. Son prácticas muy eficaces para la conservación del suelo y el agua a través del control de la escorrentía y la erosión, y proporcionan a los agricultores y a la sociedad importantes Servicios Ecosistémicos (SE). Presentamos un estudio basado en ejemplos de terrazas documentados en detalle en la base de datos WOCAT (World Overview of Conservation Approaches and Technologies), complementado con una revisión de la literatura científica sobre los impactos de las terrazas, con el objetivo de evaluar los múltiples SE que proporcionan. Los resultados muestran que los SE más importantes proporcionados por la construcción de terrazas están relacionados con servicios de regulación como el control de la erosión, escorrentía y otros riesgos naturales externos. Además, la presencia de terrazas favorece servicios de aprovisionamiento como el suministro de alimentos, fibras, y cantidad y calidad del agua. Se constatan las funciones ambientales, geomorfológicas e hidrológicas de las terrazas, así como la mejora de la calidad de vida de los habitantes. Sin embargo, los avances tecnológicos en la agricultura han llevado al abandono de este tipo de construcciones, con importantes riesgos de erosión y pérdida de SE. Nuestra evaluación destaca la importancia de preservar y restaurar las terrazas como parte de la agricultura regenerativa, con múltiples beneficios para el funcionamiento de los paisajes culturales y, en definitiva, para la sociedad.

Información de financiación

We acknowledge the support received from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, through the ADAPT project (CGL2013-42009-R), and the Seneca Foundation, through the project CAMBIO (118933/ JLI/13). We thank Dr. David J. Walker for his revision of the written English in the manuscript.

Financiadores

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