Naslov
Littoralization and Behind: Environmental Change in Mediterranean Croatia

Autori
Fuerst-Bjeliš, Borna ; Durbešić, Anamarija

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Sažeci sa skupova, sažetak, znanstveni

Izvornik
VII Jornadas Sobre Grandes Problematicas do Espaco Europeu ; Programa, resumos / - Porto : Universidade do Porto, 2012, 69-70

Skup
VII Jornadas Sobre Grandes Problematicas do Espaco Europeu

Mjesto i datum
Porto, Portugal, 25.05.2012. - 26.05.2012

Vrsta sudjelovanja
Predavanje

Vrsta recenzije
Međunarodna recenzija

Ključne riječi
environmental change; littoralization; Mediterranean; Croatia; re-afforestation

Sažetak
Mediterranean Croatia is a typical karst environment, with considerable human impact on landscape change. Coping with scarcity of water, soil and regular summer droughts, as main constraints related to Dalmatian karst, population has adopted pastoralism as the most adaptable economic activity and lifestyle throughout the centuries. Excessive pastoralism in the conditions of Mediterranean climate, thin soil cover and especially steep slopes eventually led to the deforestation. Narrative (travel accounts) and graphic (cadastral and cartographic) sources have documented the beginning of the main phase of environmental manipulation in 17th and 18th centuries as a consequence of increased number of population and cattle that occurred with the stabilization of Venetian - Ottoman border in Dalmatia. The image of the Dalmatian karst hinterland as presented in travel accounts of the time refers to rocky, dry and desert land. However, abandoning of land due to the process of littoralization in the second half of 20th century, initiated the inverse process of natural succession and re-afforestation. For interior Mediterranean Croatia, the littoralization process means primarily the loss of population. Population mostly permanently abandoned land and emigrated to the growing cities – working centers in the littoral zone. Depopulation, at the other hand, reduces the environmental pressure. Thus, depopulation, abandoning of land, and dissolution of traditional lifestyle based primarily on pastoralism and localized tillage zones, start the natural process of succession and re-afforestation. Tracing the environmental change is based on a number of sources, different in character and different in relation to their origin. They include narrative sources (travel accounts), cadastral documents, topographical maps and satellite images. The availability of sources has determined both – the temporal, as well as spatial frame of the research. The initial period of research goes back to 18th – 19th centuries. Following comparative periods in monitoring the environmental change are transitional period (1975-79) and recent period (2004-2010). The area of research refers to the interior part of the Mediteranean Croatia - Dalmatia, represented by two different types of karst environments: dry rocky lowland and slopes of Svilaja mountain. The application of GIS model in analysing the landscape change is based on the original cadastral sources (State Archives of Split and Zadar, Map Archives of Istria and Dalmatia), on the Institute for Adriatic Crops and Karst Reclamation and Hrvatske šume (Croatian Forests) databases, on CORINE Land Cover Croatia database, as well as on fieldwork data. Landcover has been the main criterion used in classification of the landscape types. GIS technology enabled the comparison of main areas of landscape change with the areas of most intensive population pressure. Overall results show the importance of human impact in landscape change, both in the processes of degradation, deforestation, as well as re-afforestation, due to the depopulation and rural exodus, and in the process of deliberate reclamation and protection of previously degraded and eroded slopes. The case study of dry lowland area of Mirlovich Zagora has shown the absolute prevalence of pasture (“pascolo”) in the share of 86% of total research area in the 18th century. The rest of the area, apart from the arable, was rocky karst (12%). The comparative data for the turn of the 20th – 21st century enabled an insight into the process of massive re-afforestation. The main environmental feature at the beginning of 21st century is degraded forest, in the same share as pasture was 250 years ago (86%). More detailed case study of Svilaja mountain slopes shows similar trend of environmental change. Main environmental features of the 19th century, in conditions of prevailing pastoralism, are pastures (67%). By the turn of the 20th – 21st century, pastures and mountain deciduous forest are reduced and replaced primarily by various forms of degraded forest (macchia, garrigue) in almost 40%. GIS modelling of environmental change based on different databases from 19th -21st century pointed to the main trends of landscape change. Half of the whole area of research can be defined by autochtonous deciduous forest degradation (13%) and extensification (37%) in environmental change. The examples of extensification trends are change of arable to degraded forest, to pasture or to deciduous forest, or change of pasture to degraded forest. These trends can not be classified as positive or as negative per se, but they are reflection of negative demographic trends developing behind the process of littoralization. The change of pastures to arable that is neither positive nor negative trend per se as well, and it is defined as intensification trend. In accordance to the aforesaid depopulation process, the share of intensification trend (2, 6%) is highly localized and rather negligible. The research has also revealed the trend of dissapearance of the vineyards as landscape type, recorded and defined in earlier research periods. Vine as a crop and managing vineyards as landscape type require intensive human work. Considering the massive depopulation taking place in the second half of the 20th century, the dissapearance of such a landscape type would be an obvious consequence. The fifth trend of environmental change is defined as reclamation of previously highly degraded and eroded areas. The primary autochtonous deciduous forest has been replaced by coniferous forest. Further development will eventually lead to soil recovery and spontaneous introduction of autochtonous deciduous vegetation, stop the erosional slope processes and flooding. Around 39% of the total area has not undergone any landscape change. The environmental stability refers to the peak area, that is additionaly under no human impact since it is mined area from the last war in 90-ties. The main turning point in environmental change is related to the strong population decline around 70-ties. The population decline is caused by depopulation and emigration to littoral growing cities ; it is direct consequence of the process of littoralization. Behind the economic and demographic growth of the littoral, there is population and economic decline in the hinterland, leading to considerable environmental change, mostly defined by the process of re-afforestation. Environmental change is just a loop in a chain reaction. Littoralization induced depopulation, depopulation caused the abandoning of land an dissapearance of traditional lifestyle based primarily on pastoralism, change in traditional lifestyle diminished the environmental pressure and started the natural succession.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

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