Traditional farming systems have been abandoned to the favor of intensified agricultural practices, due to environmental, structural, economic, and sociopolitical constraints. Consequently, mountain landscape and biodiversity were seriously affected. The aims of this PhD thesis were to study the widespread of the abandonment phenomenon, in particular in the Alpine area, in order to understand its driving forces. The first chapter was about farming abandonment in the mountain and marginal European areas, the main factors that leads to such event, the major consequences and possible solutions, focusing in particular on landscape and biodiversity issues. The second contribution was dealing with structural and productive features of the traditional farming sector in the Belluno province, where we have identified the main livestock production systems as well as the major farming styles. Our focus was mainly on landscape and open areas maintenance. The third chapter was set up in order to identify and study the main management systems of the summer pastures in the Veneto region as well as their economic convenience/inconvenience. Finally, the fourth contribution was about the different farming styles existing within the summer pastures of the Veneto region.