Projects / Programmes
Impact of Past Landscape management on Current Forest Vegetation
| Code |
Science |
Field |
Subfield |
| 1.03.00 |
Natural sciences and mathematics |
Biology |
|
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| B003 |
Biomedical sciences |
Ecology |
vegetation/Forest/land-use/cadastral map/aerophoto/
Researchers (6)
Organisations (1)
Abstract
In recent decades in Europe, the image of the cultural landscape has changed considerably because traditional agriculture has been abandoned and populations have moved out of farming areas. Large surfaces have now been abandoned to natural succession and are gradually converting to forest. At the same time also the floristic composition and ecological circumstances in forest change. Because of land-use change landscape and biological diversity has been reduced. The data about landscape and vegetation on the research area will be obtained from cadastral maps, aerophoto and field work for period 1825, 1900, 1950 and current status. The data will be elaborated according to the contemporary methods for lanscape and vegetation investigations.
The purpose of the project is to:
• obtain, collect and process spatial data on the former and current use of the area under investigation over various periods of time;
• obtain data on the species composition and ecological circumstances of recent vegetation cover (primarily forests that are natural vegetation) in this area;
• process spatial and vegetation data, and produce correlations between the composition of the vegetation sampled and spatial data (primarily on past use of the area), and model the further development of the landscape and vegetation in the area under investigation.
The project will attempt to answer the following questions:
• How has landscape use changed over time?
• Is different use of landscape reflected in the species and ecological structure of forest vegetation?
• How has the vegetation developed (analysis with the aid of chronosequences)?
• How will the vegetation and landscape develop in the future (prediction)?
Significance for science
The project deals with one of the main problems of vegetation ecology - successions. Knowledge of mechanisms, processes and changes that take place along the time gradient is an important question of vegetation ecology in the world. With the results we will take part in a professional debate on this topic that has been very vivid. In past decades intensive changes of human impact on cultural landscapes take place. This caused many various succession processes.
Project elaborates the succession process on various levels, from landscape, plant communities, plants till plant traits. Such an integrative approach enables better understanding of the process and study of correlation of natural processes with socioeconomic factors. During the carrying out of the project some new methodologies have been developed and we hope that they will meet the interest among the international scientific public.
Significance for the country
The data obtained by the project group are highly significant for the development of Slovenia in several fields, namely:
1./ Environment management strategy. The data are important for comprehension of processes taking place in litter-forests of Bela krajina and its protection.
2./ Regulations. In the area of research several species and habitats have been found that are considered in Slovenian and European legislation. So we found and localized the species importanta for nature protection.
3./Other applied sciences, thus establishing a typology of forest communities applicable in forestry; a forest community being the basic natural unit in forest management.
4./ Natural heritage. Objects of our research are basic elements of natural heritage that are first to be discovered (become known) and subsequently also protected. The significance of our natural heritage should therefore be made known to the wider (expert) public.
Most important scientific results
Annual report
2008,
2009,
final report,
complete report on dLib.si
Most important socioeconomically and culturally relevant results
Annual report
2008,
2009,
final report,
complete report on dLib.si
