Land-cover change in the Tatra Mountains, with a particular focus on vegetation

Abstract

This paper evaluates land-cover change in the high mountain landscapes of parts of the Tatra Mountains (Western Carpathians, Europe). As well as carrying out a basic analysis of land-cover changes, we compared how these changes related to several abiotic variables and socio-economic influences. We used a geographic information system to analyse aerial images from surveys made in 1955, 1986 and 2010. The areas studied have undergone a number of changes, due most importantly to the establishment of a national park, long-term forestry management, natural disturbances, land abandonment, and the development of tourism. With regard to changes in vegetation cover, it is debatable whether these are related to climate change or to land-use change. Our study revealed two main changes: coniferous forest disturbance, and the expansion of shrubs (Pinus mugo) into the alpine zone. We also observed a slight upward shift of vegetation boundaries for coniferous forest, shrubs and alpine meadows over a period of more than 50 years (1956 to 2010). If we take into consideration (1) that forest ecosystems (and the tree line) have been changed significantly by human influence, and (2) that windstorms provoking outbreaks of spruce bark beetle are not a new phenomenon but more or less periodical in the Tatra Mountains, our results cannot provide clear evidence that climate change is partly responsible for the shift to higher elevations of the boundaries of mountain vegetation. Profile