An accurate and objective estimate on the extent of agroforestry in Europe is critical for the development of supporting policies. For this reason, a more harmonised and uniform Pan-European estimate is needed. The aim of this study was to quantify and map the distribution of agroforestry in the European Union. We classified agroforestry into three main types of agroforestry systems: arable agroforestry, livestock agroforestry and high value tree agroforestry. These three classes are partly overlapping as high value tree agroforestry can be part of either arable or livestock agroforestry. Agroforestry areas were mapped using LUCAS Land Use and Land Cover data (Eurostat, 2015). By identifying certain combinations of primary and secondary land cover and/or land management it was possible to identify agroforestry points and stratify them in the three different systems. According to our estimate using the LUCAS database the total area under agroforestry in the EU 27 is about 15.4 million ha which is equivalent to about 3.6% of the territorial area and 8.8% of the utilised agricultural area. Of our three studied systems, livestock agroforestry covers about 15.1 million ha which is by far the largest area. High value tree agroforestry and arable agroforestry cover 1.1 and 0.3 million ha respectively. Spain (5.6 million ha), France (1.6 million ha), Greece (1.6 million ha), Italy (1.4 million ha), Portugal (1.2 million ha), Romania (0.9 million ha) and Bulgaria (0.9 million ha) have the largest absolute area of agroforestry. However the extent of agroforestry, expressed as a proportion of the utilised agricultural area (UAA), is greatest in countries like Cyprus (40% of UAA), Portugal (32% of UAA) and Greece (31% of UAA). A cluster analysis revealed that a high abundance of agroforestry areas can be found in the south-west quadrat of the Iberian Peninsula, the south of France, Sardinia, south and central Italy, central and north-east Greece, south and central Bulgaria, and central Romania. Since the data were collected and analysed in a uniform manner it is now possible to make comparisons between countries and identify regions in Europe where agroforestry is already widely practiced and areas where there are opportunities for practicing agroforestry on a larger area and introducing novel practices. In addition, with this method it is possible to make more precise estimates on the extent of agroforestry in Europe and changes over time. Because agroforestry covers a considerable part of the agricultural land in the EU, it is crucial that it gets a more prominent and clearer place in EU statistical reporting in order to provide decision makers with more reliable information on the extent and nature of agroforestry. Reliable information, in turn, should help to guide policy development and implementation, and the evaluation of the impact of agricultural and other policies on agroforestry

Transhumance, the seasonal movement of herds between highlands and lowlands following precise, repeated routes, is a common practice in many Mediterranean regions. This livestock movement exploits natural vegetation in both winter and summer pastures. In Greece transhumant herders, drawn by relatively abundant vegetation, usually relocate to mountainous areas between April and October. Mount Vermio was an ideal summer pasture for the nomadic, ethnic group Sarakatsanoi of Thessaly, who used to own big herds. Socio-economic conditions of the 20th century led to the gradual decline of transhumance, resulting in reduction in grazing pressure and changes in vegetation dynamics. The purpose of this study was to monitor changes in landscape patterns in response to transhumance abandonment. Landscape metrics were employed to estimate land use/cover in two altitudinal zones. Results reveal that due to the abandonment of transhumance in the highlands landscape fragmentation increased. Meanwhile, in the lowlands, due to the uninterrupted presence of animals, landscape structure is more stable and diversified. Grasslands and agroforestry systems became smaller and more isolated. In conclusion, the abandonment of transhumance led to the overall deterioration of the rural landscape in the highlands.

Pseudo-alpine grassland ecosystems have started to decline during the past few decades. According to many studies, climate change and abandonment of traditional anthropogenic activities are directly linked to this phenomenon. However, the interaction of these two factors with pseudo-alpine grasslands has not been studied in Greece. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of climatic change and abandonment of transhumant livestock grazing on pseudo-alpine grassland ecosystems structure and stability in Mt Vermio and Mt Zireia. Geographic Information System data on land use/land cover from 1945 and 2020, as well as climatological and livestock data, have been examined and presented. Landscape metrics were also used to quantify landscape structure changes. Although both mountains’ pseudo-alpine grasslands have reduced in size, Mt Zireia has experienced an upward treeline shift, which seems to be the result of climate change, while in Mt Vermio, the more severe transhumance abandonment caused horizontal tree expansion. There are strong indications that a rise in temperature is the main driver for the upward increase in treeline.

Transhumant flocks graze the vegetation of medium and high elevation rangelands during late spring to autumn depending on the geographical area and climatic conditions. This study aimed to assess and interpret the impacts of transhumance decline on the land use/cover on Mountain Vermio, for the period 1985-2009. For many years, this area has received high stocking rates from transhumant livestock. However, during the last 30 years transhumance has been dramatically decreased. Land cover changes have been identified using a post classification comparison approach within a Geographical Information Systems environment. Moreover, the rate and the spatial differentiation of land use/cover were determined by means of the Dynamic Degree Index. According to the results, the acreage of grasslands and grazed open forests has decreased during the study period (3% and 83% respectively), while shrublands demonstrated an opposite trend with an increase of 25%. Furthermore, based on the Dynamic Degree Index, the greatest changes occurred in the conversion of grazed open forests and shrublands, compared to other land use/cover categories. This can be attributed to changes in sheep and goats populations grazing in the area, also related to the dispersion of flocks in local rangelands. Moreover, this article presents the results of a questionnaire survey on transhumant herders. These results, combined with the assessment of changes in the Dynamic Degree Index, reflect the difficulties that farmers face in terms of access to rangelands and their increased awareness regarding the environmental role of transhumance.