Forest Landscape Change and Preliminary Study on Its Driving Forces in Ślęża Landscape Park (Southwestern Poland) in 1883–2013
1
The Faculty of Environmental Engineering and Geodesy, Department of Spatial Economy, Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, 50-375 Wroclaw, Poland
2
The Faculty of Environmental Engineering and Spatial Management, Institute of Land Improvement, Environmental Development and Geodesy, Poznan University of Life Sciences, 60-637 Poznan, Poland
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Sustainability 2018, 10(12), 4526; https://doi.org/10.3390/su10124526
Received: 11 October 2018 / Revised: 26 November 2018 / Accepted: 29 November 2018 / Published: 30 November 2018
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Long-Term Perspective of Human Impact on Landscape for Environmental Change and Sustainability)
Changes in forest landscapes have been connected with human activity for centuries and can be considered one of the main driving forces of change from a global perspective. The spatial distribution of forests changes along with the geopolitical situation, demographic changes, intensification of agriculture, urbanization, or changes in land use policy. However, due to the limited availability of historical data, the driving forces of changes in forest landscapes are most often considered in relation to recent decades, without taking long-term analyses into account. The aim of this paper is to determine the level and types of landscape changes and make preliminary study on natural and socio-economic factors on changes in forest landscapes within the protected area, Ślęża Landscape Park, and its buffer zone using long-term analyses covering a period of 140 years (1883–2013). A comparison of historical and current maps and demographic data related to three consecutive periods of time as well as natural and location factors by using the ArcGIS software allows the selected driving forces of forest landscape transformations to be analyzed. We took into account natural factors such as the elevation, slope, and exposure of the hillside and socio-economic drivers like population changes, distances to centers of municipalities, main roads, and built-up areas.
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Keywords:
driving forces; landscape change; landscape dynamics; forest landscape; land use; land cover; landscape change index
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MDPI and ACS Style
Krajewski, P.; Solecka, I.; Mrozik, K. Forest Landscape Change and Preliminary Study on Its Driving Forces in Ślęża Landscape Park (Southwestern Poland) in 1883–2013. Sustainability 2018, 10, 4526. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10124526
AMA Style
Krajewski P, Solecka I, Mrozik K. Forest Landscape Change and Preliminary Study on Its Driving Forces in Ślęża Landscape Park (Southwestern Poland) in 1883–2013. Sustainability. 2018; 10(12):4526. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10124526
Chicago/Turabian StyleKrajewski, Piotr, Iga Solecka, and Karol Mrozik. 2018. "Forest Landscape Change and Preliminary Study on Its Driving Forces in Ślęża Landscape Park (Southwestern Poland) in 1883–2013" Sustainability 10, no. 12: 4526. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10124526
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