Landscape Ecology 16: 391–406, 2001. © 2001 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands. 391 Research Article Can place names be used as indicators of landscape changes? Application to the Doñana Natural Park (Spain) Arturo Sousa and Pablo Garc´ ıa-Murillo Departamento de Biolog ´ ia Vegetal y Ecolog ´ ia, Universidad de Sevilla, Apdo. 874, 41080 Sevilla, Spain Received 23 August 1999; Revised 18 January 2000; Accepted 18 December 2000 Key words: Abalario, Doñana, Spain, forestry cultivation, lagoons, landscape, peat bogs, place names, vegetation Abstract This work broaches the possibility of using place names as indicators of original landscapes that have been much transformed. The reconstruction of landscape elements from place names is commonly disputed because such daring notion is impossible to demonstrate. The present case avoids this by making a preliminary study of changes in the landscape using conventional methods. With the knowledge gained from objective and reliable sources, the possibility is analyzed of whether place names are a reflection of landscape changes taking place over a considerable period of time (the last few centuries). It is concluded that, for the present case study, in natural areas with a high rate of change of land use (Doñana Natural Park), place names indicate not only changes in the landscape, but also how such changes are perceived. In the study area, this is especially clear regarding the fens. Introduction Early studies analyzing visual perception of the land- scape, such as that of Litton (1968), note that place names suggest variations in the spatial definition of the landscape. More recently, Alcázar et al. (1988) indicate that place names, besides being of cultural and linguistic value, are signposts in the historical re- construction of landscapes subjected to a high degree of transformation. The landscape and its changes can be analyzed in various ways. One way is to study the references to landscape elements appearing in local and regional place names as a reflection of already vanished ele- ments. However, this approach has always been hotly discussed by detractors and defenders. The former are critical towards studies that deviate from a purely linguistic interpretation and use place names as instru- ments for the reconstruction of historical environments (Corominas 1972; Rackham 1986; Calvo and Pellicer 1992). Such works are criticized, above all, for the lack of data to confirm their hypothesis, and for being more a personal interpretation or exercise in guess- work. Other authors (Gelling 1984, and 1987; Alcázar et al. 1988; López Ontiveros et al. 1991; González Bernáldez 1992; Aybes and Yalden 1995) seem to have stake more on the information supplied by place names. Regardless of the language (English, Spanish, Gaelic, Basque, French, Arabic) of the place-name source (historical maps, interviews with local inhabi- tants, land registers, compilation of terms), the contro- versy remains alive, even though several works (Bor- naechea et al. 1984; Alcázar et al. 1988; Aybes and Yalden, 1995) include statistical analysis reinforcing their conclusions. Consequently, the only toponymic approaches fully accepted by the scientific community are etymology-based lexicological ones (García de Diego 1959, 1972; Corominas 1972, 1997; Ekwall 1990; Gordon and Ruhstaller 1991) or geographical, mainly because of the compilation of terms (C.E.T.U. 1989, 1990a). Works with an ecological slant, such as those restricted to wetlands (González Bernáldez 1992), to hunting and hunting country (López Ontiveros 1987; López Ontiveros et al. 1991), or to already extinct species (Aybes and Yalden 1995), are treated with greater suspicion. This may be why the bibliography