XXIV. mezinárodní kolokvium o regionálních vědách

Title in English: 24th International Colloquium on Regional Sciences: Conference proceedings. The conference proceedings consists of papers presented at the 24rd International Colloquium on Regional Sciences that was organized by Department of Regional Economics and Administration FEA MU. It contains 79 articles arranged by topic. The individual articles deal with e.g. socioeconomic disparities among regions, regional policy, territory attractiveness, tourism or regional public administration

Spotřeba palivového dřeva a dřevěného uhlí v domácnostech v okrese Kalomo, Zambijská republika

The topic of the thesis was to establish the consumption of firewood and charcoal in the Southern Province of the Republic of Zambia. Data collection, field survey and questionnaire survey and collection of all background information was carried out in rural agricultural camps and in Kalomo town. Information on firewood and charcoal consumption in the area as well as socio-economic information on the inhabitants was obtained. It was found that an average rural household of 7 members consumes 62 kg of firewood per week, or approximately 19 kg of charcoal per household. The approximate annual household consumption is 3 217 kg of firewood or 997 kg of charcoal per household. Charcoal is produced in the countryside from local tree species and sold mainly in towns to residents who own a charcoal stove. All the data can be further used to establish fast-growing stands that would be used by local people in their area for regular logging or subsequent charcoal production and conservation of native tree stands

Hodnocení zdravotního stavu týku (Tectona grandis) na plantáži v podmínkách suchých tropů v Nikaragui

The goal of this project was to inventory control the health and the quality of Teak (Tectona grandis) stands on a tree farm in Nicaragua. There have been examined rows in lotes (stands) and measured following conditions: the health condition of a tree, microorganisms on the tree, cross-grain of wood, sapless tree, double stem and doddered top. The second part of the project has been done on experimental areas where all the trees were inventoried in every row. With collected data percentages were calculated for all observed attributes. From the results of the work we can tell the plantation still has a potential to grow stands of good quality

Land-use development of cultural landscape of Slovak enclave Sari in Hungary (1696-2011)

Landscape of Slovakian enclave Sara (hung. Sari) is an integral component of cultural heritage of lowland Slovaks. The paper is about reconstruction of land use in the examined area during the period 1696-2011. Relation modelling of the man - landscape (area) - culture - time we have realized by the secondary literature, maps (old maps from the year 1782/85 to 1882, satellite image from the year 2009) with results of field research (2011). Modern human intervention to the landscape structure of the investigated territory after the year 1696 necessitated a gradual transformation of the extensive land use of wetlands with a mosaic of forests and extensive pastures on the current arable-meadow landscape with floodplain forests islands and non-forest trees and scrub vegetation. Presented (historical-cultural and geographical) view of Slovakian enclave landscape Sara represents one of possible approach to the knowledge of the cultural Slovak heritage in Pest district

Agricultural Abandonment in Chosen Terrain Attributes Context – Case Study from the Poľana Unesco Biosphere Reserve (Central Slovakia)

Agricultural land in many post-socialist countries passed through a similar scenario of eminent changes in the past decades. One of the important milestones was the process of collectivisation (in 1950−1970), transformation to market-oriented economy (after 1989) and the following integration into the European Union. These changes were often attended by the process of agricultural abandonment. This paper presents an approach to the evaluation of agricultural abandonment by analysis of land use change in chosen terrain attributes (slope levels and altitude levels) context. It studies the area of a northern part of the Poľana UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) Biosphere reserve that represents mountain agricultural landscape. All of the analyses were realised in GIS (geographic information systems), based on the orthophotos that represented the land use structure in 1949, 1986 and 2006. Dramatic decrease in real usage of agricultural areas attended by the process of secondary succession was observed especially in steep slopes and higher altitude levels. To quantify the changes, landscape metrics such as class area (CA), number of patches (NP) and mean patch size (MPS) were used. Changes in landscape classes had an influence on landscape diversity. It was expressed by decrease in Shannon‘s diversity index (SDI) and Shannon‘s evenness index (SEI)

Long-Term Development Trend of the Historical Cultural Landscape of the UNESCO Monument: Vlkolínec (Slovakia)

The presented paper focuses on the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Site of Vlkolínec (Slovakia), changes in its cultural landscape and the possibilities of its preservation for future generations. However, it is also a living settlement with residents who have demands for their standard of living. To analyze the development of changes in the landscape of the Vlkolínec protection zone, we used available relevant data such as historical maps and aerial photographs from selected time horizons 1769, 1823, 1949, 2007 and 2017. Overall, we interpreted a total of 13 landscape elements, paying special attention to historical landscape structures. For the land use elements, we focused mainly on determining their area and percentage of the landscape in relation to their changes in the period under review in the context of natural and socio-economic conditions. In order to gain a realistic view of the future development and use of the Vlkolínec area in the context of direct users of the area, we decided to apply a questionnaire survey in 2017. The questionnaire is a written form of a structured interview. We determined a target group of respondents—residents of Vlkolínec and users of this area (holiday cottage owners, foresters, farmers), i.e., we processed the opinions of people directly influencing Vlkolínec and its immediate surroundings—the landscape. The interviews were focused on identifying problems and proposing solutions so as not to disturb the uniqueness of this site, but at the same time to also attract tourism participants. Based on the results of the survey, we evaluated the identified phenomena, structures and values and compared them with the desired state of protection of the landmark. Subsequently, we prepared plans for the preservation and sustainable development of this important site

Geomorphological Processes at the Industrial Sludge Landfill in Sered, Slovakia

The principal aim of the study is to identify the nature and causes of changes to the surface of a landfill body of waste from nickel production located in the industrial zone of the town of Sereď (Slovak Republic). This change is related to natural and anthropogenic geomorphological processes characteristic of the temperate zone of the northern hemisphere. The landfill is an accumulative anthropogenic form of relief, and its body is composed from an artefact-metallurgical sludge, which has specific properties. The landfill constitutes a strange shape of relief at the Danubian Plane, which attracts attention with its physiognomy and also with the black color of the material significantly. It formed during the 30-year-long existence of the nickel smelter plant (1963–1993) and remained in this location, until the present day, for another 28 years after the end of production. Since 1994, the landfill has been the property of a private company that mines sludge in order to obtain residual metals

The Nature of the Technosols on the Waste from Nickel Production

The aim of the study was to investigate the properties of the metallurgical sludge—waste from nickel production—on the landfill of a former nickel plant in Sereď, Slovakia, in relation to the technosols soil group. The sludge is a loose material which is a toxic industrial technological anthropogenic sediment of an unnatural black colour which originated from the crushing, washing, and leaching of poor iron–nickel lateritic ore in ammoniac solution and other caustics substances. The terrain reconnaissance enabled us to identify the points for the location of the probes. Here we dug seven probes and took 17 samples. In the samples the pH levels, the content of heavy metal and iron TOC, IC, C, and N, and the C:N ratio were determined. This study provides substantial empirical data on the properties of the metallurgical sludge. The results of the analyses clearly demonstrate that the sludge is a strongly alkaline material and contains toxic amounts of heavy metals (Cr, Ni). It is an artefact whose properties are unfavourable to living organisms and their communities. On the basis of the results of the probes analysis we identified the nature of the technosols on the given locality

Forest and agricultural land change in the Carpathian region : a meta-analysis of long-term patterns and drivers of change

Humans have altered land cover for centuries, and land-cover change is a main component of global change. Land use transition trajectories, such as the forest transition theory (i.e. switch from deforestation to stable or increasing forest cover), relate long term changes in land use to gradual changes in underlying drivers, such as economic development, demographic change, and urbanization. However, because only few studies examined land change over centuries, it is not clear how land cover changes during very long time-periods which are punctuated by shifts in socio-economics and policies, such as wars. Our goal here was to examine broad land change patterns and processes, and their main driving forces in Central and Eastern Europe during distinct periods of the past 250 years. We conducted a meta-analysis of 66 publications describing 102 case study locations and quantified the main forest and agricultural changes in the Carpathian region since the 18th century. These studies captured gradual changes since the peak of the Austro-Hungarian Empire up to the accession to the European Union of most of the formerly socialist countries in the study region. Agricultural land-use increased during the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 70% of the case studies, but dropped sharply during and especially after the collapse of the Socialism (over 70% of the cases). The highest rates of abandonment occurred between 1990 and 2000. The Carpathian region experienced forest transition during the Interwar period (93% of the cases), and the forest expansion trend persisted after the collapse of Socialism (70% of the cases). In terms of the drivers, institutional and economic factors were most influential in shaping deforestation and agricultural expansion, while socio- demographics and institutional shifts were the key drivers of land abandonment. Our study highlights the drastic effects that socio-economic and institutional changes can have on land-use and land-cover change, and the value of longitudinal studies of land change to uncover these effects.This text is a preprint. Please cite as: Munteanu C., T. Kuemmerle, M. Boltiziar, V. Butsic,, U. Gimmi, L. Halada, D. Kaim, G. Király, É. Konkoly-Gyuró, J. Kozak, J. Lieskovský, M. Mojses, D. Müller, K. Ostafin, K. Ostapowicza, O. Shandra, P. Štych, S. Walker, V. C. Radeloff (2014): Forest and agricultural land change in the Carpathian region A meta-analysis of long-term patterns and drivers of change. Land Use Policy 38: 685–697. The original publication is available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2014.01.012