Biodiversity

Plant diversity of olive groves under different management practices: a case study on Lesbos Island (East Aegean area, Greece)

Byadmin

The Mediterranean Basin is evolving due to human – nature interactions. The management of agroecosystems strongly affects plant diversity. Olive groves cover 19% of the cultivated area in Greece of which 8% is organic, cultivated using environment-friendly farming practices, while the rest includes conventional (intensive) or abandoned olive groves. Lesbos, the third largest island of…

Diversity of agricultural plants on Lesvos Island (Northeast Aegean, Greece) with emphasis on fruit trees

Byadmin

Historical evidence concerning the island of Lesvos has revealed the cultivation of cereals, olive trees, vines, figs and vegetables. Although the island’s agricultural economy has been based almost exclusively on olive tree cultivation since the 18th century (ce.), wide diversity of other crops has significantly contributed … >>> Douma, C., Koutis, K., Thanopoulos, R., Tsigou,…

Grazing land management and sheep farm viability in semi—arid areas: Evidence from Western Lesvos, Greece

Byadmin

In semi-arid areas of the Mediterranean basin, sheep and goat herding has been a land management activity for millennia. In the last decades, intensification of grazing has resulted in grazing land degradation. Today, many sheep farms face growing dependence from feed to cover the dietary needs of animals, as grazing land productivity covers only a…

Is agrobiodiversity in danger?

Bybarry

A recent news item has highlighted once again the problems that small farmers face in a world in which the food supply is becoming more and more consolidated in a small number of large corporations at the expense of independent producers. The issues are complex but one that is fundamental is the loss of plant…