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Due to their complex structure and traditional low-intensity management, Portuguese oak woodland rangelands known as montados are often considered high nature value (HNV) farming systems, and as such, they may be deemed eligible for subsidies and incentives by governmental and nongovernmental agencies. Too little is known about how the HNV concept might be applied to conserve complex silvopastoral systems. These systems, due to their structural and functional complexity at multiple scales, tend to support high levels of biodiversity. Montados are in sharp decline as a result of the rapid specialization of land management that, through simplification, undermines multifunctionality. Understanding how changes in management influence these systems and their biodiversity is needed for prioritizing conservation efforts and for ensuring they remain HNV systems. On the basis of a field survey in 58 plots distributed among 29 paddocks on 17 farms, we conducted an integrated analysis of the relationship between grazing intensity and biodiversity in montados of similar biophysical and structural characteristics. Data on management were obtained through interviews, and biodiversity data (vegetation, macrofungi, birds, herpetofauna) were obtained through specific field protocols. Additional spatial data, such as soil characteristics, slope, land cover, and linear landscape elements, were also analyzed. The results show no overall biodiversity variation as a result of different management practices. However, different groups of species react differently to specific management practices, and within a pasture, grazing impacts are heterogenous. In low grazing intensity plots, macrofungi species richness was found to be higher, while bird species richness was lower. Using tree regeneration as proxy for montado sustainability, results show less tree regeneration in areas with higher forage quality and more intense grazing. Pathways for future progress are proposed, including creating areas within a paddock that attract grazing away from where regeneration is desired. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In many rural landscapes of Europe, there is a transition taking place from the predominance of agriculture towards a much more diverse combination of different activities and consumption interests. In Mediterranean Europe, new combinations in management strategies are emerging, as the case study in Southern Portugal shows. Transition theory has been used to analyse how new smallholders’ profiles lead to the emergence of a niche. This niche is characterised by the emergence of new management arrangements in small-scale farms that are in danger of being driven out of production. Due to these new processes of transition, the pattern and character of the Mediterranean small farms mosaic landscape is maintained. This paper shows that for the new smallholders, farming is an important part of their activities. The paper also shows that by failing to recognise new types of farmers and their potential for innovation, the agricultural regime is missing an opportunity to reactivate the linkage between agriculture and social representations of the rural in a way that would suit the rural development paradigms of today. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]