Anna Bucała-Hrabia

Abstract

Land use and land cover changes (LULC) and their impact on potential soil erosion, road density as transfer routes of material and water to channels as well as channel level changes were studied in three catchments (~20 km2 each) in the central part of the Polish Western Carpathians in 1975-2015. It was hypothesised that short-term LULC changes during transition from a centrally planned to a free-market economy are sufficient to modify selected elements of the environment and that these changes can be identified in a measurable way.The analysis of aerial photographs and socio-economic data indicates that during the investigated period, the forest area increased by 20-27%, with a continuous decrease of cultivated land by 89-93% in the three catchments. LULC changes were accompanied by continuous population density growth by 29-50% and a decrease of the population dependent only on agriculture to less than 5%. Analyses confirmed the hypothesis that the environment was significantly modified due to the LULC changes. Abandonment of cultivated land, forest succession and a decrease in used road density, have resulted in lower efficiency of slope wash and sediment transport within the 4th-order catchments. This has led to an interruption of aggradation and initiated channel deepening by approximately 1 cm∙year-1 after the introduction of a free-market economy in 1989.

Keywords: LULC, human impact, socio-economic transformation, catchment, Carpathians

Anna Bucała-Hrabia [abucala@zg.pan.krakow.pl], Instytut Geografii i Przestrzennego Zagospodarowania PAN

Abstract

Agricultural land is declining in many mountainous regions of the world, often because political and economic changes make agriculture less profitable. This study compared the structure of land use in the Homerka catchment, an area of 19.3 km² located in the West Polish Carpathians, using GIS techniques and cartographic materials between 1977 and 2009. This period covers the transformation of the Polish economy from a communist system to a free-market economy after 1989. The analysis indicates an increase in the forest area of the Homerka catchment by 18.14% and a decrease of cultivated land by 82.64%. The grasslands did not change significantly in their area, however, their spatial pattern was very dynamic related to their reduction due to forest expansion and enlargement due to cultivated land abandonment. The area of buildings revealed a continuous increase from 0.21% to 0.38%. The population density increased from 62 people/km² in 1978to 79 people/km² in 2009, while the population dependent on agriculture decreased from 35% to below 20% in the same period. The trend remains one of forest transition where, after a period of deforestation, large areas of land marginally suitable for agriculture are abandoned and left to forest regeneration. However, the driving of the labour force from agriculture to other economic sectors is not accompanied by migration from rural to urban areas.

Keywords: land use, agriculture, economic transformation, GIS, mountains

Anna Bucała-Hrabia [abucala@zg.pan.krakow.pl], Instytut Geografii i Przestrzennego Zagospodarowania PAN