Geografie 2016, 121, 368-389
Landscape structure changes at the confluence of the Morava and Dyje Rivers
The area at the confluence of the Morava and Dyje Rivers is one of the biologically most diverse landscapes of Czechia. This paper focuses on its land use/land cover changes, obtained from aerial photographs from 1938, 1953, 1976 and 2009, analyzed by a use of landscape metrics. The most important landscape changes in this period were as follows: (i) an all but complete disappearance of open and structured woodlands; (ii) a transformation of the mosaic of very small agricultural fields into large-scale fields of mostly arable land; (iii) a significant decrease in grasslands; (iv) regulations of water courses; (v) an outstanding increase in logging intensity during the last twenty years. The preservation of the area’s biodiversity demands a start of active conservation management, focused on opening of woodlands, a decrease in forest logging and a suitable selection of logging localities.
Keywords
land use, land cover, landscape metrics, nature conservation, forest management, Dolní Morava UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, Morava and Dyje Rivers confluence.
