Presentation short abstract

In the Mediterranean, climate variations most critically impact plant phenology, exacerbated by climate change. Spanish examples show different sources of rigidity for pastoralists to adapt. Main sources are rigid management rules, partially disrupted TEK transmission, markets, and farm investments.

Presentation long abstract

Arid environments usually have strong seasonal contrasts and climatic variability that have selected plants for adaptable phenologies. Pastoralist management therefore favours livestock mobility, with Spanish institutions providing some protection to corridors and the seasonal use of summer and winter pastures.

However, the temporal flexibility component of livestock mobility is often compromised by the rigidity of different elements that we have identified: 1) Rules for pasture use include e.g. applying fees for early pasture use in summer areas, which prove to be problematic in warmer years. 2) Disrupted Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) among transhumants, with one intermediate generation of practice cessation, show traditional departure dates dictated by tradition, and not observation of the natural environment. 3) Traders impose fix dates for lamb and calf collection in transhumants that also constrain adaptation to yearly grass production fluctuations.

Management flexibility also suffers from: 4) Further TEK disruption is observed in the use of dairy goat breeds considered unapt for transhumance because of large udders, whereas practices that improve the animals' physical condition by daily walking show strengthening abdominal musculature and udder retraction while not affecting milk production and movement. 5) Heavy investment costs in hay collection machinery constrain herders' adoption of more adaptable temporal strategies, recovered through rotation or transhumance only when economies of scale are lost.

As conclusion, our study highlights the different aspects of pastoralist adaptability that should be preserved. There is a need to protect not only spatial, but also temporal and managerial flexibility.