Mediterranean pastoral systems are providers of a wide array of Nature’s Contribution to People (NCP). They are ‘complex systems’ characterized by limited resources and socio-economic dynamics currently threatened by climate and social changes. Despite a growing number of scientific articles dealing with NCP, there is a high risk that the existing literature has left out the complexity of such systems. In the light of ongoing social, economic, and climatic changes in the Mediterranean basin, neglecting the complexity of pastoral systems can lead to significant research biases, missing the priorities affecting the stability and continuity of such systems. A combination of frameworks of analysis provided by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services was applied to understand if and to what extent the complexity of Mediterranean pastoral systems has been considered in the available literature. Most of the 126 papers report studies conducted in the European Union zone (102 papers), with the majority in Spain (50). Fewer studies have been conducted in the Middle East (15 papers) and Africa zones (9 papers). Despite results confirming the importance of pastoral systems as providers of NCP, most of the eligible papers focused on regulating NCP. A lack of a multisectoral approach and integration of knowledge suggests that the complexity of Mediterranean pastoral systems has been overlooked by researchers. The creation of ‘hybrid knowledge’ bridging the expertise of different stakeholders could be the key ingredient to properly address the complexity of Mediterranean pastoral systems.

Silvopastoral systems, integrating woody vegetation and livestock farming, are increasingly recognized as a sustainable land-use supporting biodiversity and ecosystem services provision in the Mediterranean. However, this traditional practice has declined in recent decades, mainly because of land abandonment and intensification processes. We investigated the relationships between the factors involved in the dynamics of silvopastoralism in two contrasting Spanish case studies in Mediterranean mid-mountain areas: Sierra de Guara Natural Park and Llu & ccedil;an & egrave;s region. Combining semi-structured interviews with researchers and participatory workshops with key stakeholders, we built a Fuzzy Cognitive Map (FCM) representing the shared perception of forest grazing in each region and implemented methodological improvements in FCM post-processing and analysis leading to an improved understanding of FCM outcomes. Results revealed that the dynamics of forest grazing are highly influenced by the socioeconomic attractiveness of the farming sector because it was a central factor in both case studies, whereas the importance of other factors such as farm abandonment in Guara and access to land in Llu & ccedil;an & egrave;s were site-specific. Climate change and the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) were identified as the main external drivers undermining forest grazing in both sites while the incidence of other economic activities (i.e., tourism or other livestock production systems) relied on the context of each region. In contrast, technological innovations, including GPS collars and virtual fencing, along with the existence of infrastructures such as water points and active forest management, were identified to promote beneficial feedback loops for forest grazing. Although the current policy framework is failing in fostering silvopastoralism, a policy shift from direct payments to result-based schemes for biomass reduction and wildfire prevention tailored to each region's environmental constraints and potentials would lead to better outcomes for society as a whole.

Meat from silvopastoral systems, due to its provision of numerous ecosystem services such as wildfire risk reduction in Mediterranean forests, can address societal growing demands for meat produced with lower environmental impacts. Differentiation of meat from these systems may contribute to their economic sustainability and hence to reverse their decline in the Mediterranean. This study investigated consumer preferences and willingness-to-pay (WTP) for beef and lamb meat from silvopastoral systems associated to the provision of wildfire prevention service and explored two alternative ways of labelling this service. Through a choice experiment survey considering type of pasture, length of grazing period, production distance and price, we gathered data from 1209 meat consumers in two Spanish cities. We considered forest grazing with a target purpose as a level in the type of pasture attribute and it was presented either as grazing to prevent wildfires or grazing to reduce biomass in two alternative versions of the valuation survey. The random parameter logit model revealed the highest preferences and WTP towards nearby production distances, followed by targeted grazing and forest grazing, while the length of grazing period was less relevant. No significant differences in consumers WTP were found between conveying targeted grazing either as fire prevention or biomass reduction. Our findings also suggest that consumers' preferences varied with location, attitudes towards local food and environmental role of grazing and consumption habits. Knowledge gathered in our work contributes to understand consumers perceptions on the beneficial environmental impacts of meat production.

Silvopastoral systems combine wood perennials with forage and livestock. These multipurpose wood-pasture habitats represent an important part of European bio-cultural and ecological heritage. However, their gradual disappearance due to processes of farm abandonment and intensification as well as forestry abandonment threatens biodiversity conservation and bio-cultural heritages. The behaviours of forest owners and livestock farmers determine the success of silvopastoral systems since a productive coherence between forest management and livestock grazing is required for their optimal functioning. In this study, we investigate the livestock farmers' and forest owners' attitudes and opinions towards wood pasture grazing and their relationship with structural factors and farming objectives in two Spanish regions. We used data collected through surveys to identify opportunities, synergies, and barriers in the integration of these actors in joint silvopastoralism. The results reveal a relationship between production objectives and positive attitudes towards silvopastoralism and the environmental functions provided by this activity, in both farmers and forest owners. Cattle farmers express a greater economic interest in wood pastures, as compared to sheep farmers who perceive more difficulties in using them. Acknowledgement of the role of grazing in landscape maintenance is positively correlated with a wide spectrum of objectives of forest owners, from the economic-productivist to the more altruistic profiles. The most synergies are found between cattle farmers and small forest owners for joint silvopastoral management. However, the incorporation of sheep grazing is advisable for the sustainable management of these systems, and hence additional efforts may be required to integrate such farming systems into silvopastoral management. As it currently stands, the EU Common Agricultural Policy appears to be inadequate for maintaining silvopastoral systems.

Silvopastoral systems (SPS) emerge with a renewal interest in the Mediterranean for their promotion of multi-functionality through a variety of ecosystem services (ES). However, the understanding of how combined forestry and pastoral practices affect the ES delivery as well as the synergies and trade-off dynamics amongst them is still very limited. We applied the structured expert consultation Delphi method to assess the medium-term effect of relevant silvopastoral management practices (SMP) on the delivery of provision, regulation and maintenance and cultural ES in Mediterranean mid-mountain SPS in Spain. The deliberation process entailed two rounds and the Delphi panel was finally formed by 69 experts covering a broad spectrum of background and expertise. Results show that some practices, such as silvicultural treatments (e.g., thinning or coppice selection), play a multi-functional role contributing to ES delivery in bundles while some trade-offs are also identified between SMP, such as free animal grazing, and the provision of some ES. Synergies are also found between ES, such as livestock production and recreational hunting and between timber production and carbon sequestration, whereas possible trade-offs were particularly relevant between wildfire prevention and carbon sequestration. These findings can support decision-making processes towards sustainable and multifunctional silvopastoral management in the northern Mediterranean basin.

CONTEXT: Ongoing decreases in family farms and livestock numbers in European mountain areas are linked to multiple interconnected challenges. The continuity of such farms concerns society at large since they also act as landscape stewards, and their management influences the provision of ecosystem services. The livelihood resilience lens provides a means of examining how farm households respond and build their capacity to persist, to adapt to changes and shocks, and eventually transform what is understood as farming. While an increasing number of studies address livelihood resilience in different parts of the world, its link with livelihood strategies and how these enhance or erode livelihood resilience dimensions is still missing. OBJECTIVE: We built and applied an indicator-based framework to characterize the livelihood strategies of mountain livestock farming households in the Catalan Pyrenees (Spain) considering local historical trends, to assess how these strategies contribute to their adaptive capacity. METHODS: We combined sustainable rural livelihoods and livelihood resilience frameworks and operationalized them to: group farm households with similar livelihood strategies based on their income-generating activities; asses the influence of capital assets and context on the adoption of strategies; and relate these strategies with their performance in three dimensions of adaptive capacity, namely capacity for learning and adaptation, self -organization, and diversity. Information was gathered surveying a sample of 103 farm households. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: We identified five livelihood strategies showing different degrees of adaptive capacity. Farm households either intensified production (21.3% of the sample) or pursued various diversification pathways based on additional off-farm work (28.6%), rural-tourism activities (22.7%), or added-value produc-tion (13.3%). Pensioners (11.8%) had a low endowment of assets and presented the lowest estimates in several dimensions of adaptive capacity. In contrast, diversification into rural tourism scored higher in adaptive ca-pacity, showing greater proactive capacity, farmer organization, and multiple income sources. SIGNIFICANCE: We explored the multidimensional issues that influence and are influenced by the livelihood strategies and their adaptive capacity at the farm household level. Our work highlights the relevance of including income-generating activities in addition to structural, technical, and socioeconomic variables in characterizing farming systems. It demonstrates the role of farmer involvement in formal and informal social cooperation networks in the sustainability and adaptive capacity of their households. To be successful, diversification stra-tegies may require certain prerequisites in the farms, while strategies based on off-farm activities, although they support improved financial performance of the farm household, could also contribute to the displacement of agriculture from mountain areas.

Agradecemos la participación de todos los encuestados, así como de los gremios y/o asociaciones que han colaborado en la difusión de la encuesta, en especial la Escola de Pastors de Catalunya, la Cátedra de Agroecología de la UVic y la cooperativa Arran de Terra.