A Physical-Geographical Analysis of the Timiş Plain Grasslands and Identification of Vulnerabilities

Abstract

Grasslands, located in different physical and geographical conditions, can be affected by a number of natural factors such as: arid climate, catastrophic floods, permanent or temporary excess moisture, soil erosion, acidification, salting, invasion of valuable grassy and woody vegetation, water imbalance, pollution and more. In this context, the purpose of the research is to identify the vulnerabilities of the grasslands in the plain area, based on ecological factors: landform, geology, climate, soil, with influence on the vegetation ground cover. The experimental sites in this study were selected so that they could define the lowland areas of Banat as a whole. The working methodology was divided into two stages. In the first phase, the physical-geographical conditions were analyzed at the level of the Timiş plain, and in the second phase, the geospatial information for the meadow surfaces was extracted from the experimental device: plot geometry, including area calculation, minimum, maximum and average altitude, minimum maximum and average slope, climatic conditions (air temperature and atmospheric precipitation), geological substrate and soils, vegetation aspects and mode of operation It was found that grasslands are vulnerable to the following groups of factors and/or processes: flood hazard, in the case of grasslands on alluviosols; deficiency or excess moisture; in the case of high temperatures, due to low rainfall, the decrease in the amount of biomass of grasslands in the second and third cycles of grazing. For all risk factors, measures to combat or mitigate adverse effects have been specified.