Michał Sobala

Abstract

The agricultural abandonment and reforestation taking place over the last few decades in the Carpathians has led to accelerated transformation of pasture landscape. The trajectories of pasture landscape changes, the factors threatening and supporting the pastures’ traditional use have been established on the basis of archival and contemporary cartographic materials, historical scientific works and archival photographs. An attempt has also been made to assess pasture landscape durability. The major part of the former pasture landscapehas evolved into forest or settlement landscapes. The pasture landscape durability will only be possible if the operations supporting the traditional mountain grazing are continued.

Keywords: pasture landscape durability, pasture landscape, mountain land management, agricultural abandonment, mountain grazing, rangeland pastures, rangeland management • Western Carpathian Mountains • Silesian and Żywiec Beskids

Michał Sobala [michal.sobala@us.edu.pl], Faculty of Earth Sciences University of Silesia Będzińska 60, 41-200 Sosnowiec: Poland