Marek HAVLÍČEK & Zdeněk CHRUDINA
Department of Landscape Ecology and Geoinformatics, Silva Tarouca Research Institute for Landscape and
Ornamental Gardening, Publ. Res. Inst., Brno, Czech Republic; email: marek.havlicek@vukoz.cz

LONG-TERM LAND USE CHANGES IN RELATION TO SELECTED RELIEF CHARACTERISTICS IN WESTERN CARPATHIANS AND WESTERN PANNONIAN BASIN – CASE STUDY FROM HODONÍN DISTRICT (CZECH REPUBLIC)

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This study examined the relationship between long-term land use changes and selected relief characteristics in the area of Hodonín District, Czech Republic, since the mid-19^th century to the beginning of the 21^th century. The analysis was based on five sets of old maps from 1836-1841, 1876,1953-1955, 1991 and 2002-2006. Map layers of land use were applied to evaluate the number of changesin land use and its overall intensity. Altitude and slope were chosen as basic relief characteristics. Steadyand significant increase in average altitude of permanent grasslands and steady and gradual decrease inaverage altitude of built-up areas, arable land and forests were the most important trends connected withaltitude. Similar major trends in land use changes in relationship with steep gradient as those related toaltitude were identified: significant increase in average slope of permanent grasslands and steady andgradual decrease in steepness of built-up areas, arable land and at first forests as well. These findingsconfirm gradual development of land use intensification primarily in low-lying flat terrain of floodplains in the Dolnomoravský úval Graben.