Podhrázská J., Kučera J., Karásek P., Konečná J. (2015): Land degradation by erosion and its economic consequences for the region of South Moravia (Czech Republic). Soil & Water Res., 10: 105-113.The quality of agricultural land fund in the Czech Republic is assessed via a valuation system based on the ecological-productive land evaluation. This system was established in the 1960-1980s after a complex survey of agricultural land. It provided integral information on the agricultural land quality and on the price of agricultural land parcels derived from their productive capacity. Starting from the 1990s, evidence in the database of Evaluated Soil-Ecological Units (ESEU) has been regularly updated. Intensive cultivation of wide-spaced crops, namely in extended, largely sloped land parcels, has resulted in degradation of land characteristics by the effects of erosion. The ESEU updating makes it possible to detect these changes and their quantification by differences in land price. This approach was applied to evaluate the economic impacts of erosion at two model localities in intensively exploited agricultural areas, in the region of the most productive soils of the Czech Republic. We compared the price per 1 m 2 of land according to the land characteristics determined by the first land valuation with the current soil price based on the ESEU update. We also compared changes in the land characteristics.In the GIS environment, we established the mean long-term soil loss by erosion based on the original ESEU and compared it with the calculated soil loss based on the updated ESEU. The calculation method used was in accordance with the valid methodology for erosion calculation in the Czech Republic.

Windbreak is one of the key factors for making the agriculture systems successful through reduced wind erosion, improved microclimate, increased biodiversity, and production potentiality of timber and agricultural crops. Even though windbreak occupies only a small part of agricultural landscape, its advantages on the ecological and economical perspective are quite high. This study evaluated the effects of three windbreak types on the wind erosion control in relation to their structural diversities, wind-speed reduction, and optical porosities in the central part of the Czech Republic. Diversity in the windbreak was evaluated based on its species diversity, vertical structure, spatial pattern, and complexities. Wind speed was measured at the different distances on the leeward side of the windbreak and one station placed on the windward side as a control. Windbreak characteristics were described by terrestrial photogrammetry method using the values of optical porosity. The timber volume of the windbreaks with rich biodiversity species ranged from 224 to 443 m haheight of the windbreak on the. Results of the windbreak efficiency showed significantly closer relationship between optical porosity and structural indices. The optical porosity significantly correlated with wind-speed reduction, especially in the lower part of the windbreak. A significant dependency of the windbreak efficiency on the tree dominant height was also observed for each windbreak type. The most significant effect on the wind-speed reduction in terms of structural indices had total diversity index and Arten-profile index describing vertical structures, which are recommended together with the optical porosity to evaluate the windbreak efficiency in controlling wind erosion.

Linear elements in the agricultural landscape, particularly windbreaks, reduce the wind speed and improve the microclimate in the protected zone. They offer many direct effects on agricultural production with maximum benefits of ecosystem biodiversity. Despite the indisputable advantages and favourable effects of permanent linear vegetation elements, their representation in the agricultural landscape is not as frequent as it used to be. Moreover, the formerly planted elements do not fulfil their original function due to the overgrowth and neglected maintenance. The optimum spatial and functional organisation of the newly proposed linear elements requires evaluation of the existing linear vegetation, its functional parameters and involvement in the landscape ecological network. Our report presents methods for the evaluation of the linear elements, both from the aspect of their internal structure and species composition (category A) and their involvement in the functional system (category B). The evaluation is based on seven established criteria and results in a point scoring system that reflects the characteristics of the reference criteria. In five selected localities, we tested the linear elements as individuals by the A method and their integrity by the B method of evaluation. In one locality only, the state of windbreaks was assessed as functional; at two localities, they were found as conditionally functional, and at two other localities, the state of the windbreaks was assessed as non-functional. An example of the evaluation of individual windbreaks (category A) is demonstrated in model localities in South Moravia, Czech Republic. The results of the evaluation of the model localities thus point out an unsatisfactory state of the linear elements in the region of South Moravia and the need to accord them increased care and to establish new plantations under professional supervision. Their building can be sped up by using the tools of land consolidation.

Land consolidations represent a unique tool for managing the problems of the rural space. They help to settle the land property rights and meet the current requirements associated with the protection and formation of a stable, permanently sustainable rural landscape. In the Czech Republic, complex land consolidations have been completed in 1,965 cadastral areas out of the total 13,100, and in 2,134 more they are in the preparation phase (up to 1 st September 2015). It means that about 60% of cadastral areas in CR still await land consolidation. Our study aimed to localize the priority localities (cadastral areas and regions) for preferential implementation of land consolidation. The authors selected three thematic factors to determine the risk of their occurrence in particular localities and, consequently, the need to initiate the land consolidation. The analysis is based on the assumption that the cadastral areas where land consolidations have been completed or are under way have already dealt with the above-mentioned risk factors or will do so soon. Therefore, such areas have not been included into our study. The key selected thematic factors relevant for the preferential implementation of land consolidation include: the risk of water and wind erosion in arable land, water management, and water retention in the landscape. For each of these three factors, a map of preferential localities (based on the degree of risk/suitability) was processed for initiation of land consolidation. At the same time, a simple multi-criteria analysis of the extent of the Czech Republic's erosion (water and wind) has been prepared. The result of this analysis is the ranking of regions according to the degree of risk of erosion. The most vulnerable regions of the Czech Republic include Jihomoravský (South Moravian Region), Středočeský (Central Bohemia) and Pardubice.

PODHRÁZSKÁ JANA, KUČERA JOSEF, CHUCHMA FILIP, STŘEDA TOMÁŠ, STŘEDOVÁ HANA: Eff ect of changes in some climatic factors on wind erosion risks -the case study of South Moravia. Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis, 2013, LXI, No. 6, pp. 1829-1837 The intensity of wind erosion is determined by climatic factors (wind direction and wind speed, precipitation, temperature, humidity, presence of negative temperatures), soil and geological factors (geological composition of the area, the size and shape of soil particles, soil moisture, soil structure, mechanical stability of soil), vegetation factors (vegetation cover, crop residues), geomorphological factors (shape and distribution of the slopes, the incidence planes and leeward sites) and anthropogenic factors (length and orientation of land, farming, irrigation). Potential exposure of the wind erosion can be expressed through indexes of soil susceptibility to wind erosion in conjunction with the eff ects of climatic factors. In connection with the fl uctuating values of climatic factors induced by climate changes, diff erences can be expected to occur also in the size of areas threatened by wind erosion.

AbstractŘeháček D., Khel T., Kučera J., Vopravil J., Petera M. (2017): Effect of windbreaks on wind speed reduction and soil protection against wind erosion. Soil & Water Res., 12: 128−135.Windbreaks form efficient soil protection against wind erosion particularly at the time when soil cover is not protected by the cultivated plant vegetation cover. The objective of this research was to evaluate windbreaks efficiency in terms of wind speed reduction. Wind speed along the windbreaks was measured in the cadastral areas of Dobrovíz and Středokluky (Czech Republic, Central Europe). The measurement was carried out by 4 stations placed at windward side (1 station at the distance of 3 times the height of the windbreak) and at leeward side of the windbreak (3 stations at the distance of 3, 6, and 9 times the height of the windbreak). Each station contained 2 anemometers situated 0.5 and 1 m above surface. The character of windbreak was described by terrestrial photogrammetry method as the value of optical porosity from the photo documentation of the windbreak at the time of field measurement. A significant dependence between the value of optical porosity and efficiency of windbreak emerged from the results. The correlation coefficient between optical porosity and wind speed reduction was in the range of 0.842 to 0.936 (statistical significance more than 95%). A significant effect of windbreak on airflow reduction was proven on the leeward side of windbreak in a belt corresponding to approximately six times the height of the windbreaks depending on the optical porosity and it was expressed by a polynomial equation.

The present study aimed to test the possibility of avoiding expensive retesting of the whole parental generation for single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), to provide additional analysis of microsatellites in offspring in the transitional period and to analyse the likelihood of imputation of the International Society for Animal Genetics-recommended microsatellite markers from selected SNPs. The imputation and pedigree verification of 9 520 animals (representing 84 dairy bulls, 285 dairy cows, 3 202 beef bulls and 5 949 beef cows) were analysed by the method using 9 410 SNP haplotypes (incorporating an average of 73 SNPs per haplotype). The imputation method was confirmed to allow the parentage verification of up to 87% of the analysed animals without the need for retesting. The most problematic locus was TGLA53, with only 78% successful imputation. Seven loci (BM2113, ETH225, TGLA227, BM1824, SPS115, TGLA122 and TGLA126) had more than 90% imputing accuracy and success of imputation. The success of imputation also depends on the breed and the call rate of the test results. The highest imputation accuracy was found for the Holstein breed; the other six breeds had over 90% successful imputation rates, four breeds had imputation rates between 85.0 and 89.9%, and ten breeds (rarely bred in the Czech Republic) had imputation rates below 85.0%. A call rate of SNP tests lower than 90% indicates problems with haplotype construction and thus deterioration in the success of imputation. The analysis of a possibility of using all possible information from Illumina BovineSNP50K BeadChip v3 showed 109 SNPs encoding 51 quantitative trait loci markers. Haplotypes were designed for interpretation of the most important markers for diseases, exterior and performance. The most important markers for Holstein breeders were chosen as kappa- (variants A, B and E) and beta-casein (variants A1, A2), Holstein haplotypes affecting fertility (HH1, HH3, and HH4) and loci causing genetic defects, bovine leukocyte adhesion deficiency and deficiency of uridine monophosphate synthetase. The results estimated from bovine bead chips corresponded to the expected distribution of the incidence of these traits in the population and were verified by PCR-RFLP tests.

The increasing risk of wind erosion in the context of climate change represents a highly pressing issue. This increase is a result of the growing occurrence of droughts and elevated temperatures in the intensively farmed areas. Effective protection against the wind erosion can be provided by windbreaks, especially during the period when the soil is not protected by the vegetation cover of crops. In this report, the authors wanted to compare the methods defining the windbreak protection zones. The optical porosity and the windbreak height were the basic parameters for defining the protection area. The various methods differ among themselves by using the windbreak height parameter or not. The optical porosity of the windbreaks was determined based on photographic documentation. For the comparison, the cadastral area of Micmanice was selected due to the wide network of windbreaks in this locality. A database of windbreak height and optical porosity for each windbreak was set up. Our report thus presents the application of the new knowledge aimed at updating the methods and procedures for assessing the vulnerability of the area by wind erosion. The application of the method involving the optical porosity and windbreak height parameters resulted in a significant reduction of the windbreak protection zone compared to the method omitting the windbreak height.