Spanish forest systems, in their wide variety of typologies, face a wide range of effects and impacts of climate change, including a reduction in water availability, an increase in the virulence of forest fires, an increase in the intensity of downpours -with effects on torrential rainfall and erosion processes-, an expansion of the area of action of various pests and diseases, and a modification of the phenology and physiology of tree species, with different effects on their productivity. All these impacts have repercussions on the vulnerability of Spanish forest stands and, therefore, require adaptation measures to deal with them.

Large areas of Spanish territory are occupied by arid and semi-arid zones, with frequent land degradation processes due to phenomena such as soil erosion, the deterioration of its physical, chemical and biological properties and the lasting loss of natural vegetation. Climate change, by causing increasing aridity and rising temperatures, opens the way to scenarios that are more favorable to these desertification processes.

One of the essential components of the natural fertility of soils, organic carbon content, decreases with increasing temperature (for each degree increase, between 6 and 7% is lost, on average), which deteriorates soils and generates greenhouse gas emissions.

Climate change can cause changes in the distribution, phenology, abundance or population dynamics of game species and sport fishing species, which can affect the effectiveness of management systems applied to this group of species. Consequently, climate change and its effects must be taken into account in order to ensure sustainable hunting and fishing, activities that constitute an important economic resource for the Spanish countryside.