MORAVIAN GEOGRAPHICAL REPORTS - Institute of Geonics ...

Vol. 18, 4/2010 MoraVian geographical reports
Fig. 9: Stable plots (1782 – 2003)
SW. These areas represent the best preserved forest
ecosystems, which belong to the Slovak Paradise
National Park (SW) and the Volovske vrchy Hills
(SE). The basin’s bottom was mainly used as arable
land in the studied period. The total unchanged land
use area (mostly forest and arable land) covers 33% of
the territory (Tab. 2). Due to the low spatial accuracy
of historical maps (1782 and 1822), the results
might be biased (for example, grasslands' areas were
considerably overestimated in 1782).
4.3 Absolute land use change intensity
Table 3 shows a total sum of changes, which have
occurred in the territory, their area and percentage.
The largest area belongs to unchanged land use forms,
followed by the areas with lesser intensity changes
(1 – 2 or 3 – 4). Fig. 10 (see cover p. 3) documents the
areas that experienced the most intense changes,
which are located at the perimeter of the basin,
mostly in the N and NW sections. They are obvious
in the vicinity of Levoča. These areas mostly refer to
the shift between arable land and forest. Areas with
a smaller total sum of land use changes are located in
the middle of the basin where arable land has changed
to grassland. Exceptions to these trends are localities
between Spišská Nová Ves and Levoča and in the
southeast of the village of Spišský Štvrtok, which lay
on a hilly landscape where the change was between
forest, grassland and arable land.
4.4 Relative intensity of land use change
Table 4 presents trends of the land use change and
its percentage. The largest part of the studied region
(67.1%) has experienced either no change or its land
use has returned to the original form during the studied
period. In the changed areas, extensification (18.2%)
slightly prevails over intensification (14.7%). The most
preserved or returned areas are located in the SE and
Land-use forms built-up area Grassland Arable land Forest SUM Ratio [%]
Area in [ha] 178.70 43.40 10,528.71 7,835.34 18,586.15 33.3
Number of polygons 30 63 731 295 1,119
Area of the largest [ha] 67.24 5.61 1,067.83 2,573.47
Tab. 2: Stable land use forms areas in 1782 – 2003
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