Ecological Networks and Territorial Systems of Ecological Stability

Territorial system of ecological stability (TSES) represents the most significant integration of landscape ecology principles into real environment policies and spatial planning practice. It has become a part of the legislation, general ecological regulation of various plans and projects, and it has become a common part of decision-making processes, as well as town-planning procedures at all hierarchical levels.

Establishing ecological networks is currently one of the main objectives of landscape ecology, nature and landscape protection. In Slovak Republic, the concept of “ecological networks” was institutionally adopted as the territorial system of ecological stability (TSES) by Decision of the Government of the SR in July 1991. TSES represents the most significant integration of landscape ecology principles into real environment policies and spatial planning practice. It has become a part of the legislation, common part of decision making, general ecological regulation of various plannings. The TSES concept is based on a geosystem approach to the landscape. This necessitates viewing the landscape space as an integrated complex of given area. The chapter characterises the functions of the primary, secondary and tertiary landscape structures for the TSES. Basic spatial units for creation of TSES considered the potential representative geoecosystems (REPGES) which are bearers of geoecodiversity, i.e. the diversity of both the conditions and forms of the life. The list of types of representative geoecosystems should serve as an ecologically based systematic framework for proposals of biocentres, as well as for other types of areas to be protected. The chapter deals also with most frequent theoretical landscape-ecological questions related to creation of ecological networks, as the stability of ecosystems and spatial ecological stability of the landscape, spatial configuration and composition of landscape. Specific attention is given to the relation of TSES to traditional nature conservation and to other types of the networks of protected areas. Concept of TSES changes the “classic” idea of the nature conservation based on the division of the landscape to protected and non-protected areas towards a system which maintains the ecological stability of the whole territory by an ecologically suitable spatial structure of the landscape even in the case that it is exploited in a different way. The TSES in Slovakia is legally defined in the act on nature conservation, and it is incorporated to the acts on territorial planning, agricultural land arrangement, watershed management, flood protection, environment impact assessment, integrated prevention and pollution control. The final part of the chapter deals with the development of the TSES and its place in the mentioned acts.

The definition of TSES is as follows: TSES is a whole-territory covering system of an ecologically optimum structure of the landscape composed of elements with different degrees of ecological stability and different uses, but in its entirety ensuring both the internal functioning of individual core ecosystems and the functionality of the spatial relations among them as a precondition for the maintenance of the spatial landscape-ecological stability and so the diversity of both conditions and forms of life. TSES has two equally important essential parts: the skeleton of TSES—a system of biocentres, biocorridors and interactive elements, and a system of ecostabilising measures. Both these parts are of the same importance. The functioning of TSES can be maintained only by safeguarding both of them. The criteria for determining the functions of landscape elements for the TSES are following:TSES in Slovakia is projected on three hierarchical levels: the General Plan of the supra-regional TSES related to the whole territory of Slovakia, the regional TSES-s related to the districts of Slovakia and the local TSES-s related to the municipalities. TSES is incorporated in several acts. For an effective implementation of TSES, the decisive importance has the legal determination of the position of the TSES in the territorial planning documentations where the elements of the TSES are defined as obligatory regulations on all level of the planning process.

The chapter is the core part of the publication. The methodical procedure of TSES has several specific features as compared to other ecological networks. TSES in Slovakia focuses not only on the traditional frame of the ecological networks—as biocentres and biocorridors—but also on the proposal of whole-territory covering ecostabilisation measures, thus moving the ideas of ecological networks towards integrated management of optimum organisation and utilisation of the landscape as a whole. The methodical process consists five basic steps as analyses, syntheses, interpretations, evaluations and propositions. Analyses deal with all structures of landscape, namely with primary (abiotic), secondary (biotic–anthropic) and tertiary (socio-economic) structures, with specific regards to the real biota. The most important result of syntheses is the definition of potential representative geoecosystems for each model territory. The interpretations are oriented to definition of selective, localisation and realisation criteria for creation of ecological network, with specific emphasis on the interpretation of the ecological quality of the landscape structure. The evaluations are concerned with the definition of the suitability of geoecosystems to fulfil the functions of biocentres, biocorridors and interactive elements. The results of TSES are formulated in propositions which have several steps as:By combination of all groups of actions, the TSES becomes a whole-space covering tool for ecologisation of sectoral planning processes, as well as for integrated landscape management.

Current policies for the protection of nature and natural resources promote complexity and integrated approaches. Since their inception, territorial systems of ecological stability were considered a part of the comprehensive concept of landscape-ecological planning (LANDEP) (Ružička and Miklós in Ekologia (CSSR) 1(3):297–312, 1982; Miklós in Ecological and landscape consequences of land-use change in Europe. ECNC publication series on Man and Nature 2, Tilburg, 1996), as well as an essential part of all spatial planning processes.