Forest Landscape History Using Diachronic Cartography and GIS. Case Study: Subcarpathian Prahova Valley, Romania

The focus of this study is to assess the evolution of forest cover, as forest is an important indicator to describe the perceived naturalness of landscapes and has undergone radical changes in the last hundred years in Europe. The Subcarpathic sector of Prahova River was chosen as study area, because it has always been densely populated and its landscape has transformed by long-term man-made impact on the environment. Forest landscape spatial changes are highlighted in a temporal context based on large-scale historical maps and aerial images in a GIS environment. Different metrics are applied to quantify spatial changes of forest distribution and the pattern of changes over a 223 years period. The most important deforestations were recorded between 1790 and 1856 being correlated with the massive deforestation of Tara Romaneasca (the Southern Princedom of Romania), reported after the Treaty of Adrianople (1829) that liberalized trade and made wood an export product. An increase in forest cover took place between 1900 and 1980. Between 1980 and 1997, after the communist regime change (1989) and in the transition period, forest cover declined with the largest annual intensity, among causes are the restitution of forests to individual owners (followed by deforestation), legislative void, etc. Between 1997 and 2005, a slight tendency for reforestation was recorded. Comparison between 1790 and 2013 forest cover shows that almost 58 % of the landscape forest was destroyed, changing its use. Based on the index of naturalness, Prahova River Subcarpathic Valley has been included in the category of land insufficiently covered by forests for the entire period of analysis.