Abstract
One of the most problematic forms of nature protection in Poland relates to landscape parks. They include the most valuable landscapes, but the areas within the landscape park still have economic uses. Therefore, the monitoring of landscape changes within landscape parks is necessary in order to properly manage these forms of protection. The main objective of the study was to monitor the scale and nature of landscape transformations within the boundaries of landscape parks in Poland during the period 2000–2018 and to assess the possibility of using the landscape change index (LCI) to monitor the intensity of landscape transformations within this type of protected area. Preliminary analyses of the transformations within all landscape parks in Poland showed an upward trend, both in terms of the number of types of identified landscape changes as well as their area. In spite of the large diversity and degree of transformation in landscape parks, several dominant processes can be observed. The largest number and area of changes during each of the analyzed periods were found in transformations within forest landscapes (temporary and permanent deforestation and forest maturation), which constitute the dominant type of land cover within most of the landscape parks. In open landscapes, changes mainly relate to afforestation and natural succession in meadows, pastures, and arable land, as well as the transformation of arable land into mining areas. Twelve case studies, covering all landscape parks in Lower Silesia, have shown that the LCI is an excellent tool for monitoring the intensity of landscape changes, but it is dependent on the accuracy of the source data. The analyses confirmed that, during the study periods, the changes in all 12 Lower Silesian landscape parks were at a low level, but their particular intensification took place in the years from 2012 to 2018. The highest LCI was found in the area where a natural disaster had occurred (air tornado), which destroyed huge areas of forest in landscape parks. After changes in the forest landscape, the most frequently identified type of change in 2006–2012 was the transformation of non-forest landscapes into forest landscapes. The main reason for such changes was the expansion of forest into abandoned arable land, meadows, and pastures. The use of the Corine Land Cover database to calculate the LCI and monitor the intensity of landscape change revealed a low usability of the database for the year 2000 and a high usability for data from 2006 to 2018.
Highlights
For many years, man has been considered to be the most important driving force behind changes in the landscape [1,2]
Analysis revealed a systematic increase in both the number of identified types of land cover transformations, as well as the number of polygons and the total area that was subject to changes (Table 4)
It can be concluded that the dynamics of land cover changes in the areas of landscape parks in Poland is steadily increasing
Summary
Man has been considered to be the most important driving force behind changes in the landscape [1,2]. A significant intensification of landscape changes [9] and increasing tourist pressure on areas with valuable landscape values [10] have been observed. The fall of communism was the beginning of political and cultural transformations, and a new stage of landscape development in Poland [11,12]. Another important stimulus for landscape transformation was Poland’s accession to the European Union and the activation of significant funds for the improvement of the transport system, reconstruction of degraded areas, and protection of valuable landscapes or subsidies for afforested land with weaker soils [13,14]. These areas are still in economic use and are subject to the same economic, demographic, or cultural changes as neighboring areas
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