Spatio-temporal dynamics of wood-pastures in lowland and highland landscapes across Czechia

Wood pastures represent grasslands, managed by grazing and characterised by scattered woody vegetation, recognised for their ecological, agricultural and socio-cultural roles, and are among the oldest land-use types in Europe. Rapid decline in their area all across Europe has been observed recently, sparking the appearance of a number of related studies. But these trends differ for each country and period, and more detailed analyses are needed to distinguish the character, drivers and the consequences of the changes on a general and local scale, Thus, the present study was aimed at analysis of spatio-temporal dynamics of wood pastures in Czechia between the beginning of the nineteenth century and the present moment, and of the importance of integrated influence of natural factors as a driver. For this purpose, 30 cadastral districts from five types of natural landscapes (GTNL) of Czechia were analysed for changes between the beginning of the nineteenth century and the present, using ArcGIS tools and statistical analysis. Upon the conducted analysis, the general decrease of area of wood pastures was observed, but the dynamics differed depending on the integrated natural characteristics of each group. Sinks of lost and sources of gained wood pastures were defined. Persistent patches had a small share within both present and historical areas. Trends in this dynamic differ statistically for each GTNL. The scale of these changes also depends on this factor. However, the character of overall changes appeared to be defined more by political circumstances in many cases.