ABSTRACT

The very gradual development over millennia of farming, forestry and other rural land uses in the post-glacial landscapes of Europe has permitted the largely spontaneous colonization of landscapes by native plant and animal species. Thus anthropogenic pastures, meadows and heaths cleared from the original forest cover came to be composed of plants and animals colonizing them from naturally open habitats such as dunes, cliffs, marshes and woodland glades. Planted arable crops, vineyards, olive groves, orchards and timber tree plantations were also colonized by wild native species. Some of these species have evolved distinct ecotypes, or even new species, in these human-made and human-maintained agro-ecosystems. Some of the latter have developed higher levels of biodiversity than the natural ecosystems from which they originated. Many species, such as the green-winged orchid, blue butterflies, skylarks and lapwings, must have developed far larger populations in such managed ecosystems than they ever did in those which were truly natural. A traditional mixture of croplands, pastures and trees was the backbone of these landscapes and these three kinds of land use occurred at field level (mixed cropping, rotations), farm enterprise level (mixed farming) and landscape level (zonations based on land capabilities). Practically every place and every tree played multiple roles within these systems. Cultural landscapes composed of aggregations of semi-natural managed ecosystems are greatly cherished not only for their biodiversity, but also for their landscape beauty, historical associations and the opportunities they offer for informal outdoor recreation.