Original paper
Inventory of anthropogenic landforms for flood management in small catchments of the Czech Republic
Slabá, Eva; Jakubínský, Jiří; Báčová, Radka; Herber, Vladimír; Kubíček, Petr
Zeitschrift für Geomorphologie, Supplementary Issues Volume 59 Supplementary Issue 2 (2015), p. 75 - 93
published: May 1, 2015
DOI: 10.1127/zfg_suppl/2015/S-59205
ArtNo. ESP023105902004, Price: 29.00 €
Abstract
The long-term trend of increasing human activities has had a negative impact on landscape stability. Anthropogenic pressure directly or indirectly influences approximately 30% of Earth's surface. Environmental problems, which are caused by inappropriate land use, have an adverse effect on society. Such landscape degradation is demonstrated by local predispositions to natural risks (e.g., flood events and slope instabilities). This paper presents a methodology utilizing both field and secondary geospatial data sets to identify landscape change and flood risk. The interdisciplinary approach is applicable in selected areas in the Morava River basin of the Czech Republic. The model areas (Lacnovsky Brook, Leskava Brook, Kloboucka Brook, and Dunajovicky Brook catchments) are set apart by different natural conditions and human activities. During flood prevention and protection planning, unsatisfactory attention is dedicated to small watercourses. Increased flooding of small streams within the region has impacted a significant percentage of the population. This situation is an example of global environmental change on a regional scale in Central Europe. The research identified the degradation of the landscape as related to flooding. It also established an anthropogenic landform inventory, and identified the anthropogenic pressures to the morphological properties of the river beds and their impacts on flood behaviour. The aim of this study is presented by a quantitative and qualitative identification and verification of the relationship between landscape degradation and propensity for flood risks using geographical analysis and cartographic visualization. The identification of the most degraded areas in relation to flood areas is a suitable tool to determine the flood risk susceptibility of small watercourses. These analyses and assessments are key elements in the cycle of disaster risk management.
Keywords
landscape degradation • flood risk • anthropogenic landforms • small catchments • fluvial geomorphology