Forest@ (Jan 2005)
A method for the study of secondary succession processes in terraced old fields: the case study Pantelleria Island (Canale di Sicilia)
Abstract
Even if the abandonment of agricultural areas and the resulting processes of renaturation are a widespread phenomenon in the West-European countries, considerations about adeguate evaluation methods to study these processes are lacking. In detail, there is no standard method to study terraced areas, which are common in many parts of Europe and the Mediterranean region and which are frequently object to abandonment. In this study are presented the methodological aspects of a study on vegetation dynamics on abandoned terraces on Pantelleria Island. In order to answer the research questions, the first step was to choose area where many abandoned fields are present. Then, inside of these areas where defined the study plots by attributing every single terrace to a class of age of abandonment. The study method proposed here differs from other ones which are normally used because the presence of the terrace walls has to be taken into consideration.
