The Portuguese montado : conciliating ecological values with human demands within a dynamic agroforestry system

International audienceIn the southwestern Iberian Peninsula, around 3.5–4.0 million ha of a multi-propose agroforestry system persist, where cork oak (Quercus suber L.), Holm oak [Quercus ilex L. subsp. rotundifolia (Lam.)], or a mixture of both species, coexist with pastures and crops (Acácio et al. 2010; Olea and San Miguel-Ayanz 2006; Pinto-Correira et al. 2011). They are called montado in Portugal and dehesa in Spain but represent quite different structures along a cline from 5 % to 65 % oak tree cover (Castro 2009; Moreno and Pulido 2009; Olea and San Miguel-Ayanz 2006). Montado constitutes simultaneously of a seminatural ecosystem, a multifunctional system and a cultural landscape (Fra Paleo 2010; Pinto-Correia and Godinho 2013; Santos and Thorne 2010). Based on tree density, the montado-dehesa can shape three functional landscapes. First, it is an open woodland where silvopastoral management is aimed not at timber production, but mainly at cork extraction (Castro 2009; Costa et al. 2011). Second, it may resemble a savannah-like oak parkland (30–50 trees per hectare) with multiple uses (forestry goods, seasonal agriculture and livestock grazing), while crown cover per tree was increased to produce acorns (Costa et al. 2010; Moreno and Pulido 2009). The bellow canopy stratum generally comprises pastures and agricultural fields in a rotation scheme that includes fallows, with Mediterranean shrubs artificially kept at low densities (Pinto-Correia et al. 2011). Third, it constitutes a scattered agrosylvopastoral land, often set on Holm oak, which is used primarily for grazing and/or cereal crops (Martín and Fernández-Alés 2006; Plieninger 2007). The montado may be private or communal property (usually belonging to the municipality), often included in Iberian natural parks (Bugalho et al. 2011; Castro 2009; Moreno and Pulido 2009)