Long-term changes in forest cover 1780–2007 in central Bohemia, Czech Republic

Abstract

Many studies have recently been devoted to the study of landscape change, and some have even focused on an analysis of the dynamics of forest cover change. However, few of the studies have worked on a methodology for making a detailed investigation of long-term forest change dynamics based on historic cartographic sources. The goal of this study is to further develop a method for analyzing long-term changes in forest cover on the basis of old maps and orthophoto maps in the GIS environment. The study area is located in Central Bohemia, to the east of Kutná Hora, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The area consists of 21 cadastral units with a total area of 113 km 2 . The maps of the First (1780), Second (1851) and Third Military Surveys (1877) and the present-day orthophotomap (2007) of the Czech Republic were used as data resources. Source data have been processed in GIS. Forest cover is the subject of our study. However, the term is perceived from a broader perspective. What we call forest cover in our study refers to forest wood elements and other wood species in the landscape. In this study, forest cover has been structurally considered as a whole, without dividing it into the two categories mentioned. We counted the extent of the forest cover in each particular time horizon in hectares and as a percentage of the area under study, also the absolute changes in forest cover between the individual time horizons in hectares as well as the intensity of the changes in forest cover in hectares per year. The spatial changes in forest cover were evaluated in a GIS environment using specialized features to analyze spatial variation. The forest cover occupied 16.60% (1,880 ha) of the total area in the First Military Survey (1780). In 2007, the proportion was slightly higher at 16.64% (1,884 ha). More than half of all forest land (53%) from the time of the Second Military Survey (1851) survived until 2007. Not only the information on absolute changes but also the information on the rate of change is of great importance. The old Military Survey maps and the orthophotomap enable us to carry out studies of long-term changes in forest cover. However, the geodetic inaccuracy of the First Military Survey maps precludes reliable and exact quantification of the landscape changes between the First Military Survey and the Second Military Survey, and also between the First Military Survey and present-day (orthophoto map). These maps cannot be used for evaluating forest cover changes on the level of individual plots. The method presented in our paper may contribute to a better understanding of the long-term dynamics of forest land, covering a period of more than 250 years. This knowledge can be applied in forest management planning procedures. Apart from their application Communicated by J. Müller.

Long term changes in water areas and wetlands in an intensively farmed landscape: A case study from the Czech Republic

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Effect of agricultural lands afforestation and tree species composition on the soil reaction, total organic carbon and nitrogen content in the uppermost mineral soil profile

“…probably 18 000 ha of land were forested at the end of the 19 th and at the beginning of the 20 th century (Kacálek & Bartoš 2002). Situation was different in submountain and lowland conditions (Skaloš et al 2012). Intensity of afforestation increased considerably since the end of the World War II, with population changes in Central and East Europe.…”

Identification of agricultural soils suitable for afforestation in the Czech Republic using a soil database

“…Undoubtedly, the most extensive afforestation effort took place after the Second World War (1939)(1940)(1941)(1942)(1943)(1944)(1945), when large areas were afforested within confiscated or abandoned land of the Germans who were expelled from Czechoslovakia (Macků 2006). All these changes are well documented by the military and cadastral (the stable land registry) mapping that has been carried out since the 18 th century AD (Skaloš et al 2012). The area of forest land continued to increase during the rest of the 20 th century reaching the peak in 1991 after a huge transformation of the agricultural sec-tor in 1990.…”