caa a22 4500 605527768 CHVBK 20210128100810.0 cr unu---uuuuu 210128e20150801xx s 000 0 eng 10.1007/s10531-015-0912-x doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1007/s10531-015-0912-x Assessing long-term spatial changes of natural habitats using old maps and archival sources: a case study from Central Europe [Elektronische Daten] [Markéta Šantrůčková, Jiří Dostálek, Katarína Demková] Landscapes intensively farmed over a long time period represent a threat for natural habitats and high levels of biodiversity. Information on the historical land use and spatial changes of natural habitats can help to explain the causes of a number of contemporary phenomena, which are important for the development of effective conservation and ecosystem management. This case study from the Czech Republic shows that archival written sources describing landscape quality, including vegetation cover, allow the reclassification of old maps to the level of natural habitat categories (sensu Natura 2000), with the aim of analyzing historic changes in land cover. Significant natural habitat decreases began by the middle of the 19th century. Over the course of 250years, this area of formerly widespread natural wet meadows has declined by 99%. An area of water vegetation was reduced by 95%, willow carrs by 98%, and a mosaic of willow carrs, wet Cirsium meadow, and alder carrs has decreased by 100%. These decreases were caused by the conversion of meadows, pastures, and ponds into arable lands. Areas of oak-hornbeam forest, acidophilous oak forest, and thermophilous oak forest were primarily converted into monocultures of coniferous trees. Similarly, the areas with alluvial forests decreased. We conclude that old maps and other archive materials, despite their coarse accuracy, can serve as useful tools for disclosing natural habitat changes and their causes, providing a foundation for formulating biodiversity conservation strategies. Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht, 2015 Agricultural landscape nationallicence Natural habitat loss nationallicence Biodiversity nationallicence Data mining nationallicence Czech Republic nationallicence Šantrůčková Markéta Silva Tarouca Research Institute for Landscape and Ornamental Gardening, Publ. Res. Inst., Květnové náměstí 391, 252 43, Průhonice, Czech Republic aut Dostálek Jiří Silva Tarouca Research Institute for Landscape and Ornamental Gardening, Publ. Res. Inst., Květnové náměstí 391, 252 43, Průhonice, Czech Republic aut Demková Katarína Silva Tarouca Research Institute for Landscape and Ornamental Gardening, Publ. Res. Inst., Květnové náměstí 391, 252 43, Průhonice, Czech Republic aut Biodiversity and Conservation Springer Netherlands 24/8(2015-08-01), 1899-1916 0960-3115 24:8<1899 2015 24 10531 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-015-0912-x text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-015-0912-x text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Šantrůčková Markéta Silva Tarouca Research Institute for Landscape and Ornamental Gardening, Publ. Res. Inst., Květnové náměstí 391, 252 43, Průhonice, Czech Republic aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Dostálek Jiří Silva Tarouca Research Institute for Landscape and Ornamental Gardening, Publ. Res. Inst., Květnové náměstí 391, 252 43, Průhonice, Czech Republic aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Demková Katarína Silva Tarouca Research Institute for Landscape and Ornamental Gardening, Publ. Res. Inst., Květnové náměstí 391, 252 43, Průhonice, Czech Republic aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Biodiversity and Conservation Springer Netherlands 24/8(2015-08-01), 1899-1916 0960-3115 24:8<1899 2015 24 10531