At the Crossroads of European Landscape Changes: Major Processes of Landscape Change in Czechia since the Middle of the 19th Century and Their Driving Forces

Abstract

Changes in the cultural landscape provide essential evidence about the manner and intensity of the interactions between humans and nature. Czechia has a specific location in Central Europe. It is positioned at the crossroads of European landscape changes. These changes can be documented based on a unique database that shows the development of land use since the middle of the 19th century. In this study, we aimed to address the major processes of landscape change that occurred during four periods over the past 165 years, at the cadastral level on the territory of present-day Czechia. Further we identify and discuss proximate and underlying driving forces of the landscape changes. We used land use data from the year 1845, 1896, 1948, 1990, and 2010 that correspond to key events in Czech history. The major processes and intensity of landscape change were evaluated based on calculations of increases and decreases in land use classes between the first and last year of each examined period. The period 1845–1896 was the only period in which arable land increased, and the most recent period, 1990–2010, was the only period during which a grassing over process was recorded. Afforestation was recorded in all periods. The communist period was characterized by unified changes—urbanization, afforestation, arable land decrease, and landscape devastation. The post-communist period was, in some respects, beneficial to the landscape (e.g., grassing over and afforestation, particularly in mountain areas), but it also led to negative processes, such as strong urbanization and land abandonment. Such changes lead to landscape polarization. The landscape changes in Czechia during the period 1845–2010 reflect many important historical events in Europe. In our analysis, we demonstrate the essential impact of underlying drivers and also identify driving forces specific to the development of the Czech territory.

Analysis of Characteristics and Driving Factors of Wetland Landscape Pattern Change in Henan Province from 1980 to 2015

“…Current research methods on the driving forces of landscape pattern evolution include qualitative and quantitative analyses. Quantitative analysis primarily includes regression analysis, correlation analysis, principal component analysis, and back propagation neural network analysis [16][17][18][19][20][21][22].…”

Citizens’ Perceptions of Landscape Changes and Their Driving Forces: Evidence from Poland

“…They are mostly divided into five main groups-socio-economic, political, technological, natural and cultural [4,5]-and are analyzed as proximate and underlying processes [6]. In this paper, we understand proximate processes as human activities or immediate actions at the local level with a direct impact on land-use change (such as agricultural expansion that directly impacts forest cover) and underlying processes as fundamental social processes (such as human population dynamics or agricultural policies) that usually have an indirect but often crucial impact at the national, regional, or global levels, and influence/cause the proximate drivers [6]. In the recent 20 years, an intensification of landscape changes [7] and increasing pressure on landscape values [8] have been observed.…”

“…The study of perceptions of landscapes changed by solar power plants shows that on-ground solar power installations were valued differently based on the type of land they occupy [24]. Most of the studies use expert assessment to interpret and identify driving forces [6]; for example, the study in north-eastern Ghana used a mixed method including geospatial analysis, interviews with experts and a questionnaire for researchers and local experts to assess the driving forces of land-use and land-cover change [31]. The perception of landscape change has been widely researched; however, the evidence of how the specific setting (urban and urban-rural landscape) influences the perception of different types of landscape change is still scarce.…”

Landscape Changes of Rural Protected Landscape Areas in Czechia: From Arable Land to Permanent Grassland – From Old to New Unification?

“…Since 1950s, land cover changes have occurred on a significant part of Czechia (Feranec et al, 2010;Kupková et al, 2021). After World War II, urbanization, afforestation, and a decrease in arable land took place (Kupková et al, 2021).…”

“…Since 1950s, land cover changes have occurred on a significant part of Czechia (Feranec et al, 2010;Kupková et al, 2021). After World War II, urbanization, afforestation, and a decrease in arable land took place (Kupková et al, 2021). Basically, changes have resulted from two opposite processes -(sub)urbanization around built-up areas and extensification of land cover in the form of grassing over and an increase in forest area (Kupková & Bičík, 2016;Skokanová et al, 2016), especially in more peripheral areas (Antrop, 2005).…”