Abstract
The study aim was to define the landscape determinants as certificates of natural and cultural heritage which identify the young glacial landscape under traditional agricultural management. These studies were conducted in the upper Parsęta basin (Pomerania, Poland) covered by the many annual environmental monitoring programs since 1994. The aim of this monitoring is to observe changes in geoecosystems of the temperate climate zone. The parameters of the abiotic landscape subsystem have been monitored in a wide range of terms, whereas biotic elements and cultural resources only in a very limited way. This was the reason for undertaking complementary studies. The paper presents the so-called “zero-state” for 2014, which will be a reference point from which to track the direction of landscape changes in the future. The abiotic, geobotanical, and cultural determinants of this state chosen have been characterized on the basis of field mapping data and the available literature. They were chosen based on the methodology of landscape audit to define the specificity of the traditional agricultural landscape. They were selected on the basis of assessment criteria for landscape structure: complexity (diversification of land use and cover), naturalness (syngenesis of plant communities, hydrochemical properties of surface waters), coherence of composition with natural conditions, stewardship (intensity of use, crop weeds, ecological succession, fallows, anthropogenic denudation), aesthetic and visual perception, historicity (continuity of natural landscape elements, continuation of traditional agricultural use, architectural objects), and disharmonious elements.
Highlights
The social and economic reality created in Poland within rural areas after 1989 under the free economic market has been reflected by changes in space [1,2]
Our studies largely focused on the landscape unit classification criteria given by Chmielewski et al [7], as required for a landscape audit
The least fertile arable soils were afforested or turned into orchards or fallows. This applied to the Borysiak et al / Determinants of a traditional agricultural landscape whole southern part, which, according to the German agronomic maps 1:25,000, was overlain with sandy soils
Summary
The social and economic reality created in Poland within rural areas after 1989 under the free economic market has been reflected by changes in space [1,2]. One of the urgent current tasks is to identify landscapes which have not been degraded so far and take measures to preserve them. The Landscape Act (which requires a landscape audit) provides support for these actions [3]. It is aimed at an analysis of the landscape, the pressures within it and their effects, as well as landscape values which are relevant to the population. An audit covers elements which define a landscape form, including abiotic, geobotanical, and cultural components [4]. An audit and its results are to be included in future planning documents [8]
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