| Summary: | The “dehesas” constitute an example of land use systems well adapted to the environmental restriction of the Mediterranean region, characterised by low edaphic and climatic potential (Pinto-Correia, 2000, Olea y San Miguel, 2006). The agrosilvopastoral systems found in southwest Spain and in southern Portugal are characterised by the dispersion of individual or grouped trees associated with animal grazing and cultivated areas. In the dehesas the trees are Mediterranean evergreen cork or holm oaks. It is primarily used for extensive or semi-extensive cattle farming, which utilizes not only the herbaceous pastures, but also the trees by lopping the twigs and fruits.This paper tries to reconstruct the area occupied by the dehesa landscape during the middle of the 20th century in the province of Jaén (Spain) and the evolution of this area up to our modern time. By interpreting the aerial photography of the area we will try to identify the typologies and the area of dehesa in the 1950s. Two digital land cover sets (1956/7-2007) obtained from aerial photographs and digital orthoimages were used. The information was transferred into a geographic information system using ArcGis 10 for the spatial and statistical analyses. In the province of Jaén, the dehesas are up against two interrelated processes: the olive tree monoculture expansion and the abandonment of the dehesas because of their low rentability. We expect to be able to identify the original areas occupied by the dehesa, the areas where the dehesa survives, and the areas which have been replaced with other landscapes.
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