therefore, is to develop and apply an integrated
approach for land degradation assessment in pastoral systems
through an ecosystem service framework. Specifically, the paper
aims to: i) explore hypotheses to explain the relationship between
multidimensional driving forces and vegetation shifts at territorial
scale; ii) test the state-and-transition model suggested by local
farmers looking at changes in vegetation cover, soil properties and
seed banks composition. It does so through the development of a
participatory process which combines local knowledge (qualitative)
and scientific information (quantitative) to identify jointly
with local farmers the main features of land degradation in a
context-specific case study, through an exploration of ecological
changes that lead to a permanent decrease in key ecosystem
services.