摘要:Olive trees have been cultivated for thousands of years in their preferred climate , the Mediterranean , with Spain being the world' s biggest producer of table olives and olive oil . The globaliz ation of recent deca des has intensified specializ ation in this crop in the s outh of the country where a significant geographic expansion of the oliv e groves has been accompanied by substantial growth in the total harvest , due to an increase in the intensity and productivity of olive fa rming . These s wift changes have ha d serious social and environmental consequence s many of which have been caused by poor management of basic natural re sources . At the same time the introduction of new plantation systems and the variety of physio graphical resources and economic structures on which the olive groves are based has enabled us to identify significant agricult ural and landscape diversity . In this article we will be looking at the province of Jaén as an illustrative example of these changes