A ''dehesa'' () is a multifunctional, agrosylvopastoral system (a type of agroforestry) and cultural landscape of southern and central Spain and southern Portugal; in Portugal, it is known as a ''montado''. Its name comes from the Latin 'defensa' (fenced) referring to land that was fenced, and usually destined for pasture. Dehesas may be private or communal property (usually belonging to the municipality). Used primarily for grazing, they produce a variety of products, including

non-timber forest product Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) are useful foods, substances, materials and/or commodities obtained from forests other than timber. Harvest ranges from wild collection to farming. They typically include game animals, fur-bearers, nuts, seed ...

s such as wild game,

mushrooms A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground, on soil, or on its food source. ''Toadstool'' generally denotes one poisonous to humans. The standard for the name "mushroom" is th ...

honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of plants (primar ...

, cork, and

firewood Firewood is any wooden material that is gathered and used for fuel. Generally, firewood is not highly processed and is in some sort of recognizable log or branch form, compared to other forms of wood fuel like pellets or chips. Firewood c ...

. They are also used to raise the

Spanish fighting bull The Spanish Fighting Bull (Toro Bravo, ''toro de lidia'', ''toro lidiado'', ''ganado bravo'', ''Touro de Lide'') is an Iberian heterogeneous cattle population. It is exclusively bred free-range on extensive estates in Spain, Portugal, France and ...

and the Iberian pig. The main tree component is oaks, usually holm (''

Quercus rotundifolia ''Quercus rotundifolia'', the holm oak or ballota oak, is an evergreen oak native to the western Mediterranean region, with the majority on the Iberian Peninsula and minor populations in Northwest Africa. The species was first described by Jean ...

'') and cork (''

Quercus suber ''Quercus suber'', commonly called the cork oak, is a medium-sized, evergreen oak tree in the section ''Quercus'' sect. ''Cerris''. It is the primary source of cork for wine bottle stoppers and other uses, such as cork flooring and as the cor ...

''). Other oaks, including melojo (''

Quercus pyrenaica ''Quercus pyrenaica'', commonly known as Pyrenean oak, is a tree native to southwestern Europe and northwestern North Africa. Despite its common name, it is rarely found in the Pyrenees Mountains and is more abundant in northern Portugal and nor ...

'') and quejigo (''

Quercus faginea ''Quercus faginea'', the Portuguese oak, is a species of oak native to the western Mediterranean region in the Iberian Peninsula. Similar trees in the Atlas Mountains of northwest Africa are usually included in this species, or sometimes tre ...

''), may be used to form dehesa, the species utilized depending on geographical location and elevation. Dehesa is an anthropogenic system that provides not only a variety of foods, but also wildlife habitat for endangered species such as the

Spanish imperial eagle The Spanish imperial eagle (''Aquila adalberti''), also known as the Spanish eagle or Adalbert's eagle, is a species of eagle native to the Iberian Peninsula. The binomial commemorates Prince Adalbert of Bavaria. Due to its distinct “epaulet ...

. By extension, the term can also be used for this style of rangeland management on estates.

Ecology

The dehesa is derived from the Mediterranean forest ecosystem, consisting of grassland featuring herbaceous species, used for grazing cattle, goats, and sheep, and tree species belonging to the genus ''Quercus'' ( oak), such as the holm oak ( ''Quercus'' ''rotundifolia''), although other tree species such as

beech Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engl ...

and

pine trees A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family (biology), family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanic ...

may also be present. Oaks are protected and pruned to produce

acorn The acorn, or oaknut, is the nut of the oaks and their close relatives (genera '' Quercus'' and ''Lithocarpus'', in the family Fagaceae). It usually contains one seed (occasionally two seeds), enclosed in a tough, leathery shell, and bo ...

s, which the famous black Iberian pigs feed on in the fall during the ''montanera''. Ham produced from Iberian pigs fattened with acorns and air-dried at high elevations is known as '' Jamón ibérico'' (" presunto ibérico", or "pata negra" in Portuguese), and sells for premium prices, especially if only acorns have been used for fattening. In a typical dehesa, oaks are managed to persist for about 250 years. If cork oaks are present, the cork is harvested about every 9 to 12 years, depending on the productivity of the site. The understory is usually cleared every 7 to 10 years to prevent the takeover of the woodland by shrubs of the rock rose family (

Cistaceae The Cistaceae are a small family of plants (rock-rose or rock rose family) known for their beautiful shrubs, which are profusely covered by flowers at the time of blossom. This family consists of about 170(-200) species in nine genera that ar ...

), often referred to as "''jara''", or by oak seedlings. Oaks are spaced to maximize overall productivity by balancing light for the grasses in the understory, water use in the soils, and acorn production for pigs and game. There is debate about the origins and maintenance of the dehesa, and whether or not the oaks can reproduce adequately under the grazing densities now prevailing. The dehesa is many ways similar in to the

California oak woodland California oak woodland is a plant community found throughout the California chaparral and woodlands ecoregion of California in the United States and northwestern Baja California in Mexico. Oak woodland is widespread at lower elevations in coa ...

, although the former is typically much more intensively managed.

Importance and economic context

The dehesa system has great economic and social importance on the Iberian Peninsula because of both the large amount of land involved and its importance in maintaining rural population levels. The major source of income for dehesa owners is usually cork, a sustainable product that supports this ancient production system and old growth oaks.McGrath (2007) High end black iberian pigs and sale of hunting rights also represent significant income sources. Periodic hunts in the dehesa are known as the ''monteria''. Groups attend a hunt at a private estate and wait at hunting spots for game to be driven to them with dogs. They usually pay well for the privilege, hunting

wild boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is ...

red deer The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or hart, and a female is called a hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Iran, and parts of wes ...

and other species. The area of dehesa usually coincides with areas that could be termed "marginal" because of both their limited agricultural potential (due to the poor quality of the soil) and a lack of local industry, which results in isolated agro-industries and very low capitalization.

Extent

Dehesa covers nearly 20,000 square kilometers on the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...

, mainly in: ;Portugal Francisco Manuel Parejo Moorish, 2010 *

Alentejo Alentejo ( , ) is a geographical, historical, and cultural region of south–central and southern Portugal. In Portuguese, its name means "beyond () the Tagus river" (''Tejo''). Alentejo includes the regions of Alto Alentejo and Baixo Alen ...

Algarve The Algarve (, , ; from ) is the southernmost NUTS II region of continental Portugal. It has an area of with 467,495 permanent inhabitants and incorporates 16 municipalities ( ''concelhos'' or ''municípios'' in Portuguese). The region has its ...

;Spain *

Córdoba Córdoba most commonly refers to: * Córdoba, Spain, a major city in southern Spain and formerly the imperial capital of Islamic Spain * Córdoba, Argentina, 2nd largest city in the country and capital of Córdoba Province Córdoba or Cordoba may ...

Extremadura Extremadura (; ext, Estremaúra; pt, Estremadura; Fala: ''Extremaúra'') is an autonomous community of Spain. Its capital city is Mérida, and its largest city is Badajoz. Located in the central-western part of the Iberian Peninsula, ...

Salamanca Salamanca () is a city in western Spain and is the capital of the Province of Salamanca in the autonomous community of Castile and León. The city lies on several rolling hills by the Tormes River. Its Old City was declared a UNESCO World Her ...

Sierra Morena The Sierra Morena is one of the main systems of mountain ranges in Spain. It stretches for 450 kilometres from east to west across the south of the Iberian Peninsula, forming the southern border of the ''Meseta Central'' plateau and providi ...

Sierra de Aracena Sierra de Aracena is the westernmost mountain range of the Sierra Morena, Andalusia, Spain. It is located in the northern part of Huelva Province. The range is named after the town of Aracena. Description The Sierra de Aracena is not very h ...

Sierra Norte de Sevilla Sierra Norte de Sevilla or Sierra Norte (Northern Range) is one of the western mountain ranges of the Sierra Morena, Andalusia, Spain. Its name derives from its location at the northern part of Sevilla Province. The highest point of the range is ...

References

Notes

Bibliography

Fra. Paleo, Urbano. (2010). "The ''dehesa/montado'' landscape".
pp. 149–151 in ''Sustainable Use of Biological Diversity in Socio-ecological Production Landscapes,'' eds. Bélair, C., Ichikawa, K., Wong, B.Y.L. and Mulongoy, K.J. Montreal: Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity. Technical Series no. 52. * Huntsinger, Lynn; Adriana Sulak; Lauren Gwin; and Tobias Plieninger. (2004). "Oak woodland ranchers in California and Spain: Conservation and diversification". In ''Advances in Geoecology'', ed. S. F. A. Schnabel. * Joffre, R; Rambal, S; Ratte, JP. (1999). "The dehesa system of southern Spain and Portugal as a natural ecosystem mimic," '' Journal of Agroforestry'' 45(1-3): 57-79.
McGrath, Susan. (2007). "Corkscrewed,"
'' Audubon magazine'', January–February.

External links

Plataforma integralDehesa
- Página web de agentes del sector
Proyecto Biodehesa

Foro encinal

Dehesas ibéricas

Observatorio de la dehesa y el montado
{{Non-timber forest products Natural regions Geography of Spain Agriculture in Spain Non-timber forest products Forestry in Spain Agriculture in Portugal Geography of Portugal Agroforestry systems Quercus Cultural landscapes