Pasture spatial variability in floodplain areas of Northeastern Romania
Keywords:
grassland, spatial variation, land use, land use changes, floodplainsAbstract
EN. Detecting grassland spatial variation has become a major step for a correct assessment and suitable management of the grassland ecosystem. With the global concern to halt land degradation and biodiversity loss, grassland sensitivity has become a subject of intensive research. Regarding our study region, following, on one side, the historical and politico-administrative evolution, and, on the other side, the landform structure, grasslands are spread as patches along the cuesta hillslopes and floodplains. Starting from that, we have established a biogeomorphological grassland classification which includes two main types: hilly grassland and floodplain grassland. In our attempt to identify the major land use changes impacting the grassland areas, we have identified the floodplain grasslands as the most exposed to successive variability and irreversible changes in many ways. Floodplains are unique biomes with many biological, ecological, and hydrological functions, mainly covered by grassland and used for animal grazing or periodic mowing. Even so, the anthropogenic impact has been marked through various changes in the matter of land use and land cover. To assess this dynamic, we have intended a complex analysis based on historical maps, and remote sensing data, collected between 1920 and 2018. Some of the major changes have been recorded during the inter-war and the communist eras, as a direct result of economic and political variability. The pastureland was mainly gained from wetlands and substituted by cropland during the big inter-war crisis, and reconverted afterward, due to the communist land use planning program. In an attempt to identify the real cost of land use changes in the floodplain areas, we have investigated all the changes that occurred. In some cases, the applied measures were meant to protect a territory or a land use class, even if the result was quite the opposite, as is the case of urban areas affected by floods, in the ’60-’70s.
Our study aims to identify the floodplains' land cover dynamics during the last century, as the land cover assessment has become a subject of global interest because of the urgent necessity of food security and supply. Raising the problem at this level, accurate management of land use could be achieved only with a complete understanding of past changes and errors.
FR. La détection des variations spatiales des prairies est devenue une étape importante pour une évaluation correcte et une gestion adaptée de l'écosystème des prairies. La sensibilité des prairies fait l'objet de recherches intensives dans le cadre de la préoccupation mondiale visant à mettre un terme à la dégradation des sols et à la perte de biodiversité. En ce qui concerne notre région d'étude, suite à l'évolution historique et politico-administrative, d'une part, et à la structure du relief, d'autre part, les prairies sont réparties en parcelles le long des pentes des collines de la cuesta et de la plaine d'inondation. À partir de là, nous avons établi une classification biogéomorphologique des prairies qui comprend deux types principaux : les prairies de collines et les prairies de plaines inondables. Dans notre tentative d'identifier les principaux changements d'utilisation des terres ayant un impact sur les zones de prairies, nous avons identifié les prairies de plaine d'inondation comme étant les plus exposées à la variabilité successive et aux changements irréversibles d'une manière ou d'une autre. Les plaines d'inondation sont des biomes uniques dotés de nombreuses fonctions biologiques, écologiques et hydrologiques, principalement couvertes de prairies et utilisées pour le pâturage ou le fauchage périodique. Malgré cela, l'impact anthropogénique a été marqué par divers changements en matière d'utilisation et d'occupation des sols. Pour évaluer cette dynamique, nous avons prévu une analyse complexe basée sur des cartes historiques et des données de télédétection, collectées entre 1920 et 2018. Certains des principaux changements ont été enregistrés pendant l'entre-deux-guerres et l'ère communiste, en conséquence directe de la variabilité économique et politique. Les pâturages ont été principalement gagnés sur les zones humides et remplacés par des terres cultivées pendant la grande crise de l'entre-deux-guerres, puis reconvertis par la suite, en raison du programme communiste d'aménagement du territoire. Afin d'identifier le coût réel des changements d'utilisation des terres dans les zones inondables, nous avons étudié tous les changements qui se sont produits. Dans certains cas, les mesures appliquées visaient à protéger un territoire ou une classe d'occupation des sols, même si le résultat a été tout à fait contraire, comme dans le cas des zones urbaines touchées par les inondations dans les années 60 et 70.
Notre étude vise à identifier la dynamique de l'occupation du sol des plaines inondables au cours du siècle dernier, car l'évaluation de l'occupation du sol est devenue un sujet d'intérêt mondial en raison de la nécessité urgente d'assurer la sécurité et l'approvisionnement alimentaires. En soulevant le problème à ce niveau, une gestion précise de l'utilisation des terres ne peut être réalisée qu'avec une compréhension complète des changements et des erreurs du passé.
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