> sheep is able to maintain the good state of conservation of the Temporary Ponds

 

The traditional pastoralism, made in an extensive regime, was once a common practice throughout the Mediterranean region. However, in the last decades, it has undergone a great decline, with many of the areas traditionally pastured to be abandoned or changed to intensive grazing regimes. This change in behavior has a detrimental effect on the biodiversity of the Mediterranean region, which is often favored by the existence of some disturbance caused by low intensity human activities.

A good example of this is the Temporary Ponds where a beneficial effect of the traditional grazing in the floristic diversity is observed. However, when this is abandoned, some more competitive and more general species become dominant in the ponds, preventing the survival of numerous annual and amphibian plants characteristic of these environments, many of them rare.

In this sense, one of the objectives of the LIFE Charcos Project was to demonstrate the possibility of the sustainable use of temporary ponds, reconciling their use as feeding areas for livestock with the preservation of biological values associated with them. The first results indicate that extensive grazing with sheep is able to maintain the good state of conservation of the Temporary Ponds, preventing their degradation and assuming a fundamental role in preserving the quality of this priority habitat for conservation.