L'organisation de l'espace dans la Sierra Norte de Seville (Sierra Morena) et les problèmes actuels des dehesas

The organization of space in the Sierra Norte of Sevilla (Sierra Morena) and present day problems of the dehesas. Seville's Sierra Norte, a part of Sierra Morena, is a region of medium height mediterranean mountain in which agriculture is confronted with natural limitations which are as much a consequence of orotopography as of a severe and irregular climate. The chief constituent of the landscape is the « dehesa », a sparse oak-plantation of holm oaks or cork-oaks, found in association with pastureland where annual plants prevail. Resulting from a complex, multisecular anthropic process, the dehesa is a system with varied renewable resources and manifold uses, but mainly directed towards cattle raising. After describing the way the use of these lands has developed, the author studies how the breeding systems of the dehesas work.