185
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to
Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
L. Westra et al. (eds.), Ecological Integrity in Science and Law,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-46259-8_16
Is it Possible to Maintain a Biodiversity
of Natural Habitats Under Global Change
and Increasing Landscape Exploitation?
Pavel Cudlín, Vilém Pechanec, Marcela Prokopová, Lenka Štěrbová,
Jan Purkyt, and Ondřej Cudlín
Abstract In a period of global change, we consider biodiversity as a feature that is
crucial for nature resistance and resilience, which are prerequisites of an ecosystem’s ability to mitigate the negative impacts of global change on human populations. However, biodiversity is also highly jeopardized by the climate and land use
changes. Its decline is alarming and further deterioration is expected.
The goal of this chapter was to detect these changes in the Czech Republic. An
analysis of Corine land cover data time sequences was performed to quantify the
changes at the landscape level, while data of the Habitat layer of the Czech Republic
from two time periods based on Natura 2000 mapping were compared to define
changes in natural habitats. The Habitat Valuation Method was used to quantify the
loss of biodiversity value on both levels.
The results of land cover development showed increased biodiversity value for
the whole Czech Republic, mainly due to significantly increased areas of meadows
and pastures at the expense of arable land and a smaller increase of forest area on
abandoned soil. On the other hand, the biodiversity values of natural and near natural habitats decreased in favour of ruderalized habitats, mostly due to increasing
pressure from landscape exploitation and climate change.
P. Cudlín (*) · M. Prokopová · L. Štěrbová · O. Cudlín
Global Change Research Institute, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic,
České Budějovice, Czech Republic
e-mail: cudlin.p@czechglobe.cz
V. Pechanec
Department of Geoinformatics, Life Science Faculty, Palacky University in Olomouc,
Olomouc, Czech Republic
J. Purkyt
Global Change Research Institute, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic,
České Budějovice, Czech Republic
South Bohemian University, České Budějovice, Czech Republic
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to
Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
L. Westra et al. (eds.), Ecological Integrity in Science and Law,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-46259-8_16
Is it Possible to Maintain a Biodiversity
of Natural Habitats Under Global Change
and Increasing Landscape Exploitation?
Pavel Cudlín, Vilém Pechanec, Marcela Prokopová, Lenka Štěrbová,
Jan Purkyt, and Ondřej Cudlín
Abstract In a period of global change, we consider biodiversity as a feature that is
crucial for nature resistance and resilience, which are prerequisites of an ecosystem’s ability to mitigate the negative impacts of global change on human populations. However, biodiversity is also highly jeopardized by the climate and land use
changes. Its decline is alarming and further deterioration is expected.
The goal of this chapter was to detect these changes in the Czech Republic. An
analysis of Corine land cover data time sequences was performed to quantify the
changes at the landscape level, while data of the Habitat layer of the Czech Republic
from two time periods based on Natura 2000 mapping were compared to define
changes in natural habitats. The Habitat Valuation Method was used to quantify the
loss of biodiversity value on both levels.
The results of land cover development showed increased biodiversity value for
the whole Czech Republic, mainly due to significantly increased areas of meadows
and pastures at the expense of arable land and a smaller increase of forest area on
abandoned soil. On the other hand, the biodiversity values of natural and near natural habitats decreased in favour of ruderalized habitats, mostly due to increasing
pressure from landscape exploitation and climate change.
P. Cudlín (*) · M. Prokopová · L. Štěrbová · O. Cudlín
Global Change Research Institute, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic,
České Budějovice, Czech Republic
e-mail: cudlin.p@czechglobe.cz
V. Pechanec
Department of Geoinformatics, Life Science Faculty, Palacky University in Olomouc,
Olomouc, Czech Republic
J. Purkyt
Global Change Research Institute, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic,
České Budějovice, Czech Republic
South Bohemian University, České Budějovice, Czech Republic