Background and aims

: A detailed and updated vegetation map is necessary to land use planning. Given the need for a land-use plan for the Córdoba mountains, we decided to: make a vegetation map of these mountains; describe the vegetation of the mapped classes; interpret their distribution along the elevation gradient, and discuss the implications for land use planning.

M&M

: We elaborated a preliminary map from satellite images and field information, where we discriminated 14 vegetation units. Then, after a field control, we performed the final map, grouping the vegetation units into seven classes.

Results:

In the final map we identified: native forests, exotic forests, native scrublands, grasslands, lawns, grasslands with rock and/or bare soil and rocky areas. These classes were discriminated with an overall 82.6% precision. In addition, we separated water bodies, flood areas, crops and urban areas. The scrublands were the most widespread class, covering 37% of the landscape, followed by crops, covering 23% of the territory. Native forests only occupied 5.5% of the area. Scrublands and forests decreased along the elevation gradient, while grasslands and rocky areas increased.

Conclusions

: We suggest that land use planning should promote the restoration of native forests to occupy 20-40% of the landscape, the control of the advance of urban areas and crops, and the management of invasive alien species to limit their expansion.