The interaction with the territory of the Spanish Drover Roads Network. Current functions of an ancient biocultural landscape.

The Drover Roads Network (DRN) is a public owned semi-natural infrastructure, protected as part of the natural heritage, which occupies close to 1% of the Spanish territory. Its functions have changed since the long transhumance has lost its historical importance. Recent papers have documented its conservation functions and ecosystem services at local scales, however the overall relationship of the DRN with the territory on a wide scale, the sense of its arrangement and its contrast/ecotone effect regarding adjacent land uses, still remain inadequately evaluated.

This paper starts from the analysis of a historic database (FEPMA, 1996), based on sampling every 500 m along the nine main drover roads, some of them with a length greater than 800 km. Using multivariate and GIS approaches, different variables related to DR coverage as vegetation type, width, uses and disturbances indicators were studied. These features were analysed in relation to the adjacent agricultural uses and general geographic data (altitude, topography, climate, forestry map, etc.)

The results reveal their special links with the continental Mediterranean climate (anthropogenic steppes), the most original climate type of the Iberian Peninsula, and with the high plains on the borders of the inner mountain systems. To a lesser extent, DR are associated with sylvo-pastoral systems (dehesas) and mountain forests. They maintain a positive relationship - higher than the expected- with protected areas and endangered fauna, especially birds. Their drawing reveals a special link with the landscape components associated to its ancestral origin and the fact that they were designed by quadrupeds, probably linked to old spontaneous migrations of ungulates.

As a complementary result, we propose to reinforce conservation strategies, productive approaches (from the requirement of grazing as an essential feature) and multifunctional management, especially to ensure their cultural services. As a whole, the DR landscape offers the possibility of travels through remote places, currently less visited, which often sought not to interfere with the most productive agricultural uses.