Historical Ecology of the Coastal Aeolian Sedimentary Systems of the Canary Islands

Abstract

This chapter presents a brief history of the evolution of the coastal aeolian sedimentary systems of five islands of the Canary Archipelago in Spain (Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura, Lanzarote and La Graciosa). Taking the Spanish conquest of the islands as the starting point, the aim is to provide a synthesis of the 500-year-old relationship between Canary society and some of the island's aeolian ecosystems. An analysis is undertaken of the interactions between the natural dynamics of these systems and the land-uses that have been developed in them. The anthropic impact on the aeolian sedimentary systems is directly related to the productive models that have been in place over the course of the islands' history since their conquest by the Spanish. This will therefore form the basis of the line of reasoning that will be followed in the presentation of the transformations that these systems have undergone due to changes in land-use.