"ONE OF THE MAJOR HUMAN CHALLENGES IS TO PRODUCE ENOUGH FOOD FOR AN INCREASING POPULATION IN AN ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY WAY. THE SO CALLED �ECOLOGICAL INTENSIFICATION� RESPONDS TO THIS CHALLENGE AND CONSISTS IN TAKING PROFIT OF THE SERVICES OFFERED BY CERTAIN ORGANISMS WITH QUANTIFIABLE EFFECTS ON THE AGROECOSYSTEMS. THE PRESENT PROJECT IS FRAMED WITHIN THIS STRATEGY. OUR OBJECTIVE IS TO ASSESS THE INTERACTIONS BETWEEN THE MOST FREQUENT LIVESTOCK SPECIES IN THE DEHESAS (COWS AND PIGS) AND THE MOST COMMON OAK PESTS. THE DEHESA IS AN IBERIAN AGROECOSYSTEM WITH A HIGH ENVIRONMENTAL VALUE. PESTS REDUCE ACORN PRODUCTION, AND PROVOKE SERIOUS ECONOMIC LOSES, AS ACORNS ARE EXTREMELY IMPORTANT FOR LIVESTOK FEEDING. OUR FINAL GOAL IS TO DEVELOP A POTENTIAL GRAZING SCHEME (INTENSITY AND CALENDAR) AS A TOOL TO MITIGATE OAK PESTS OUR PROJECT FOLLOWS A MULTI-DISCIPLINARY APPROACH COMBINING FIELD STUDIES, GENETIC ANALYSES AND NEW TECHNOLOGIES OF REMOTE-SENSING AND TELEDETECTION. BY SAMPLING DIRECTLY EVIDENCES OF LIVESTOCK PRESENCE AND THE TRACKING OF ANIMALS WITH A GPS COLLAR, WE WILL DETERMINE WHICH ARE THE ZONES MORE USED. CHOOSING FOCAL TREES WITH A DIFFERENT INTENSITY OF USE WE WILL MEASURE WHICH ARE THE CONSEQUENCES FOR THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF PESTS. OUR HYPOTHESIS IS THAT LIVESTOCK COULD FAVOUR LEAF-FEEDING LEPIDOPTERA THROUGH CHANGES IN THE CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF THE VEGETATION. LIVESTOCK CONCENTRATION IN CERTAIN AREAS OF THE DEHESA FARMS WOULD INCREASE OF SOILS NUTRIENTS SUCH AS NITROGEN, WHICH IS INCORPORATED BY THE TREES THUS INCREASING LEAF NUTRIENT REWARDS. BY CONTRAST, LIVESTOCK COULD HAVE DIRECT NEGATIVE EFFECTS ON ALL THOSE INSECTS THAT SPEND ONE OR SEVERAL STAGES OF THEIR LIFE-CYCLES ON THE FLOOR OR SLIGHTLY BURIED. THIS WOULD BE THE CASE OF THE LARVAE OF ACORN-BORER COLEOPTERA, IN WHICH, MOREOVER, LARVAL BURIAL AND/OR ADULT EMERGENCE FROM THEIR UNDER-GROUND CELLS COULD BE HAMPERED BY TRAMPLING AND SOIL COMPACTION. THIS FIRST CORRELATIONAL APPROACH WILL BE COMPLETED WITH AN EXPERIMENTAL ONE, CONTROLLING THE PRESENCE OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF LIVESTOCK IN DIFFERENT MOMENTS. THE POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE EFFECTS ON PEST POPULATIONS COULD GENERATE A SPATIAL HETEROGENEITY OF THEIR DAMAGES ACCORDING WITH THE LESSER OR HIGHER USE BY LIVESTOCK. THIS INFORMATION WILL BE KEY TO KNOW THE CAPABILITIES OF LIVESTOCK TO CONTROL THE POPULATIONS OF THESE INSECTS LOCALLY. IN ADDITION, IN THIS PROJECT WE WANT TO GO A STEP FORWARD IN THE STUDIES OF DEHESA PESTS. IN THE FOCAL STUDY TREES WE WILL USE DRONES TO TAKE LASER, MULTI- AND HIPER-SPECTRAL IMAGES, AND WILL RELATE THEM WITH FINE MEASURES OF PEST INSECT ABUNDANCE, DEFOLIATION AND ACORN INFESTATION RATES. USING MACHINE-LEARNING TECHNIQUES WE WILL TEST DIFFERENT MODELS TO ASSESS THE PREDICTIVE POWER OF THE IMAGES AND FIND OUT WHICH ONES COULD BE USED TO COVER LARGER SURFACES. AT THE SCALE OF WHOLE DEHESA RANGELANDS, AND USING DRONES WITH HIGHER AUTONOMY, WE WILL RE-ANALYSE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PEST ABUNDANCE AND LIVESTOCK PRESENCE USING THE SAME GEOREFERENCED SYSTEM. BY LAST, WE WILL ASSESS IN WHICH EXTENT THE MODEL WOULD WORK USING JUST REMOTE-SENSING IMAGES TAKEN BY SATELLITES. "