Assessment of geodiversity in the southern part of the Central Iberian Zone (Jaén Province): usefulness for delimiting and managing natural protected areas

Abstract

To explore the relationship between geodiversity and borders of natural protected areas, we studied the northern part of Jaén Province (southern Spain), where the southern sector of the Central Iberian Massif, the Betic Cordillera and the Guadalquivir foreland basin come together. Moreover, several natural protected areas (NPAs) are located here. To approach the topic, we defined the geodiversity index as the sum of partial indices: lithological, geomorphological, palaeontological, pedological, minerals, hydrology and geosites. This made it possible to derive a map of the geodiversity index and a map of geodiversity gradient. Analysis of their distribution shows that almost 80% of the territory has values of medium, high and very high geodiversity, but these zones are situated outside the borders of the NPAs. A similar study considering two biological indices (endangered species and biodiversity) shows a good correlation between the limits of NPAs and the higher values of these indices. Thus, an absence of correlation between the geodiversity index and biological indices is clearly detected. These results are not in agreement with the definition of NPAs in the current Spanish laws of nature conservation.