(Vanwalleghem et al. 2017); erosion (García-Ruiz 2010); the geo-ecological factors controlling the location of field types (Lasanta et al. 2017b); the introduction of drip irrigation in terraced fields (Puy et al. 2016; Sese-Mínguez et al. 2017); the ecosystems services (Quintas-Soriano et al. 2016); the maintenance of “agricultural terraced islands” and pasturelands to lessen the risk and severity of forest fires (Asins-Velis et al. 2016; Lasanta et al. 2016; Nadal-Romero et al. 2016c); the links between tourist-urban-industrial sprawl and rural abandonment. The impact of changing land management on landscape character and diversity, experimental socioecology in landscape dynamics (Barton et al. 2016); the participation of the population in landscape evaluation (López Martínez et al. 2016) and stakeholders perception (Vila Subirós et al. 2016) are also research subjects.

Looking forward: It is desirable to design scenarios anticipating the possible trajectories of terraced landscape changes and their environmental impacts. One needs to: (1) pay attention to the social demand for quality landscapes (including peri-urban areas); (2) promote the values of the landscape and share collective knowledge; (3) promote the co-operative identification of the elements diminishing the quality of the local landscape and its dysfunctions; (4) design methodologies for the shared identification and evaluation of regional terraced landscapes through mapping; (5) analyse strategies for the community-based rehabilitation of terraced landscapes and get farmers’ views. This will facilitate heritage-led rural regeneration, helping agricultural landscapes, farm products, the environment and tourism become factors boosting competitiveness.

6.2.4New Technologies

Díaz-Varela et al. (2014) pointed out that in implementing and monitoring EU policies, there is a need to develop robust, repeatable, cost-effective methodologies for automatically identifying and monitoring terraced landscape features at the farm scale. At the European level, various teams are using different methods to yield this information. An excellent example of this work is furnished by Díaz-Varela et al. (2014), who tested imaging by low-cost drones in Cordoba. In this connection, Spanish regions need draw on new technologies to meet this EU need. For example, at the national level, one needs to delimit the total terraced areas (in a way similar to the Italian “Progetto MAPTER: mappatura dei paesaggi terrazzati italiani”).

The international teams working on terraces are also interested in modelling hillslope sediment delivery using the WATEM/SEDEM model (Quijano et al. 2013); in techniques such as detailed geomorphological mapping and geo-radar profiles using RAM.

AC/GPR; to parametrise the effect of terraces on run-off and sediment yield by Soil Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) modelling (Ben Khelifa et al. 2016) and in the new opportunities offered by LiDAR [Light Direction And Ranging] data, such as those developed for vineyards in Italy (Tarolli et al. 2015).