Introduction
Changes in land cover, including forest cover, are among the most distinct effects of human activity on the environment. The increase in forest area recorded nowadays is the most prominent land cover change in Europe (i.a. Falcucci et al.
2007; Feranec et al.
2010; Brouwer et al.
2012). In the past, the main deforestation factor was the transformation of forests into agricultural land. Maruszczak (
1952) estimated that forest cover in Poland had decreased from 80 to 28 %, over the previous 5000 years. In the twentieth century, in many European countries, including Poland, a new trend has appeared: an increase in forest-land area as a result of spontaneous reforestation in areas that ceased to be used agriculturally as well as planned activities (Feranec et al.
2010).
Understanding the historical factors behind the changes in forest cover is significant, from the practical perspective, because it may help to predict future trends. The important role of forests in the landscape is reflected in the large number of recently published studies concerning various aspects of the problem: (1) the prehistoric deforestation of Europe (Kaplan et al.
2009); (2) changes in forest cover in Central European countries (Orczewska
2009; Wulf et al.
2010); (3) contemporary changes in forest cover (Southworth et al.
2002; Kozak et al.
2007a,
b; Feranec et al.
2010; Mazgajski et al.
2010). Socio-economic factors are commonly identified as the main driving forces behind changes in land use and land cover (Iverson
1988; Liu et al.
2011; Kumar et al.
2013). Attention was also paid to the role of natural factors (Hietel et al.
2004; Zgłobicki and Baran-Zgłobicka
2012; Havlícek and Chrudina
2013).
Changes in forest cover within the Lubelskie province between 1830 and 1930 were studied by Maruszczak in the mid-twentieth century (Maruszczak
1952), who analysed changes in forest cover within districts. However, due to the lack of adequate cartographic material, assessment of the impact of individual factors on this process could only have a qualitative character. The development of GIS tools has now enabled the processing (digitizing) of historical maps and assessment of changes in the forest cover of vast areas over long periods of time.
The Lubelskie province is a major agricultural region characterised by the large diversity of its determinants of land cover. As it is a highly agricultural region, the very important role of socio-economic factors can be expected. It is interesting, however, to what extent changes in forest cover determined by these processes are linked to geological, topographic, and soil conditions (including quality of soils). The relation of forest cover changes to environmental variables is important from the point of view of soil and gully erosion, risk of floods, and transfer of pollutants in the environment. Studies on the role of natural factors in changes to forest cover conducted in Poland so far have focused on mountain areas (Kozak et al.
2007a,
b; Ciupa et al.
2015). Within these regions intense deforestation was observed in the nineteenth and twentieth century while in its second half a new process started—reforestation, as a result of land abandonment.
The study focused on the environmental variables because detailed socio-economic data for such long period of time did not exist. Only the relation of forest cover changes to the selected natural factors was studied. The key objectives of the study are as follows: (1) to analyse long-term forest cover changes over a vast area (the Lubelskie province); (2) to look at the impact of environmental variables on forest cover changes; (3) to find regional tendencies in forest cover changes.
The results of the study can be the basis for forecasting the trends and spatial pattern of forest cover changes in the agricultural areas of E Poland and similar regions in Central Europe. They can serve as a model of land cover changes related to the different stages of economic development. It includes also the processes of the forest transition: deforestation and reforestation of the same area. The study answers the question whether natural factors still play a significant role in forest cover changes under conditions of agricultural land use over the centuries. Intensive land cover changes are observed nowadays in Central Europe, and it is very important to understand the driving forces behind them. Long-term landscape changes can have a positive or negative impact from the perspective of sustainable development. Studies investigating such a vast agricultural region over a period of nearly 200 years have not been conducted in Central Europe so far.
Discussion
Forests deliver many ecosystem services: they serve as habitats, preserve biodiversity, conserve soils, protect against flood, and constitute a tourist asset. Understanding historical factors behind the changes in the forest cover is significant, from the practical perspective, because it helps predict future trends. Forest cover changes within the province resulted mainly from agricultural land use changes. Although it is difficult to separate human and natural impacts, results of the study indicate that slopes and soils are important factors for agriculture, and their spatial pattern impacts the structure of land use and land cover, within the province. Environmental variables did not changed significantly during the last 180 years. Only changes of climate conditions were observed. Little Ace Age ended in the nineteenth century, and the average annual temperature in Central Europe raised from about +1–2 °C (during the last 180 years) (Kundzewicz
2011).
The spatial pattern of changes in forest cover, during the last 180 years, generally corresponded to the spatial diversity of the environment. Deforestation occurred in the central part of the province, within loess uplands covered by fertile soils, while reforestation took place within the N and S parts. In these parts of the province, sandy lowlands and depression (less fertile soils) or limestone uplands occur, with diversified relief (steeper slopes). Reforestation of deforested areas occurred only in some areas. In our opinion it confirms the impact of slopes and soils on forest cover changes. Deforestation was a massive (uniform) process, while reforestation was more spatially selective.
In the case of the analyses conducted within mesoregions, both soil (soil quality) and slopes influence the area covered by forests. Forest cover was smaller and the scale of deforestation was greater in areas with a high share of good soils. The largest deforestation occurred in mesoregions where slopes and soils jointly created advantageous conditions for the development of agriculture. Under similar soil conditions mesoregions with more diverse land relief had a smaller scale of deforestation. The general conclusion, however, was that soil conditions play a more important role than slopes, which was also confirmed by correlation coefficients, although this correlation did not occur in the first of the analysed periods (1830–1930).
Deforestation processes occurred mainly in loess areas, on plateau tops and gentle slopes, covered by Luvisols and Cambisols. Reforestation was characteristic for slopes with higher gradients, in gullies and covered by Arenosols and Podzols. Reforestation was observed primarily in areas with low-quality soils (5–7th complex) which was appropriate from the perspective of using agricultural production space.
Spatial patterns of poor soils influence the occurrence of stable forests during analysed period. About 56 % of the area currently covered by forests had woodlands growing in the same locations 180 years ago. Most of them were located within the S and N parts of the province, where less fertile sandy soils appear.
The occurrences of varied land relief (reforestation) and fertile soils (deforestation) were the main natural variables influencing changes in the spatial distribution of forests, in the Lubelskie province, during the studied period. The reason for forest-felling was the transformation of forest land into agricultural land. Nowadays, 90 % of the deforested land is used agriculturally. During the 1830–1930 period, deforestation occurred not only in agriculturally valuable areas, but also in areas with higher slope gradients or poorer soils. It was related to an increasing demand for food, which resulted in the increasing acreage of land used for agriculture. In the second time bracket analysed, these areas underwent reforestation as a result of land abandonment, within terrains not suitable for agriculture.
It was an effect of planned reforestation, mainly in the 1940s and 1950s, but also a result of the natural succession of forest communities, on abandoned land. It seems that the present-day increase in forest-land area will mostly result from the succession of forest communities, into areas excluded from farming (depopulation of rural areas and difficulties in farming). Planned reforestation encompasses only 400–600 hectares of land per year, which accounts for 0.02 % of the area of the province. It is linked to a considerable share of high-quality soils (1st–3rd class) that may not be afforested according to applicable laws. It should be stressed that during the 1830–2006 period, the same area could undergo reforestation followed by deforestation and vice versa.
Despite the growing area of forests in the twentieth century, the structure of forest patches within the province became less favourable from an ecological point of view. Deforestation affected vast areas while reforestation encompassed a large number of small patches. Sparse settlement and a mosaic of land owners is the main cause of forest fragmentation. The mean size of forest patches decreased and the mean length of patch edges and the complexity of patch shape increased. This process commonly occurs around the world and is associated with human activity. Similar patterns were found in Canada (Fuller
2001), Turkey (Çakır et al.
2008) and in central Poland (Mazgajski et al.
2010). Our studies proved that slopes also impact the spatial structure of forest cover. Patches located within steeper slopes are smaller and have more diversified shapes. However, it should be mentioned that within agricultural regions increasing land cover mosaic is a positive phenomenon, even if woodland patches are small.
Maruszczak (
1952) indicated the influence of factors such as the occurrence of sandy soils and diverse land relief on the spatial distribution of forests, in the Lubelskie province. In his opinion, however, a much more important role was played by social factors, namely the development of human settlements, their types, and the distribution of towns. The above observations did not have a quantitative character.
The impact of natural factors on forest cover changing over long periods has been discussed by many authors. Havlíček and Chrudina (
2013) analysed long-term land use changes, in relation to elevation, slopes and the exposition of slopes in W Slovakia. The most clear relationships were found in the case of analyses concerning land use and slope intervals. The very distinct influence of land relief, type of landforms, and slope gradient on present-day land use in the loess areas of SE Poland was indicated by Zgłobicki and Baran-Zgłobicka (
2012). Similar patterns were found in the loess areas of China (Fu et al.
2006). The role of slope gradient and elevation above sea level, on the spatial distribution of forests, was also noted in research conducted in central Poland (Ciupa et al.
2015), Germany (Hietel et al.
2004) and the Czech Republic (Opršal et al.
2013). Wulf et al. (
2010) found a clear relationship between forest cover changes and soils in NE Germany. Reforestation processes occurred primarily within less productive sandy soils. Iverson (
1988) reached similar conclusions, when studying the prairie soils of Illinois (USA). Impact of topography, slopes, and altitude on forest transition in Carpathians was also found by Kozak et al. (
2007b).
The recently observed increase in forest area within loess uplands is partially related to the threat of erosion occurring there. This factor can be the driver of land use changes (Bakker et al.
2005). Increased forest-land area, especially within steep slopes and gullies is advantageous from the perspective of flood and soil erosion control (Rodzik et al.
2009; Baran-Zgłobicka and Zgłobicki
2012).
The present-day landscape contains natural and cultural elements. Its changes result from the joint impact of socio-economic and environmental factors (Bürgi et al.
2004; Hietel et al.
2004,
2005). In most cases the former plays a more important role in land use changes. However, research conducted around the world shows that the role of natural factors may be significant, in many cases. The sustainable development of specific areas has to take into account the natural determinants of land use. Analysing the natural conditions of the province Maruszczak (
1952) estimated that its optimum forest cover was about 29 %. Similar levels are assumed for the entire country in national programmes concerning forest cover. This indicates a need to increase the area of forest land, primarily in areas featuring numerous gullies and having high slope gradients (Baran-Zgłobicka and Zgłobicki
2012). In our opinion, the results of this study may help in forecasting trends in forest cover changes, in the agricultural areas of E Poland, and in similar regions in Central Europe.