Spatial structure of natural landscapes within the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone

Abstract

The article demonstrates the results of a study of the landscape structure of the Chornobyl Radiation and Ecological Biosphere Reserve (Ukr.: Chornobylskyi radiatsiino-ekolohichnyi biosfernyi zapovidnyk – ChREBR). Because of radioactive pollution, a sharp drop in human activity, and the granting of the territory the status of a protected object, the process of area rewilding took on certain characteristics and led to the return of ecosystems’ natural processes. The studies cover a 7-year period from 2016 to 2022, i.e., from the moment this territory was granted protected status. That territory was abandoned by people more than 37 years ago and the former rural and urban landscapes have either already been transformed or are in the process of being transformed into natural ones. The scale of forest massifs has changed during the previous seven years, which has caused increased pasture overgrowth. huge forest massifs have been lost because of enormous forest fires and floods, particularly along the Pripet and Uzh rivers. Semi-natural successions occur in the gardens, and wooden homes are almost extinct. From orbit, a number of communities no longer resemble settlements. They are cloaked in bushes and trees instead. For places that have been ploughed, the same holds true. The last seven years show that change is happening more slowly than in the decades before. The pattern of natural processes in ecosystems, including periodic fires, the blocking of reclamation channels, and other factors, is the primary driver of changes in the composition of the land cover.