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Analysis of landscape geographic impacts of potential climate change in Hungary
41-50Views:153Change of climate can be a remarkable turning point in the 21st century history of mankind. An important task of landscape geographic research is forecasting environmental, nature protection, land use demands and helping mitigation of disadvantageous processes from the aspect of society. ALADIN and REMO numeric climate models predict strong warming and lack of summer precipitation for the area of Hungary for the period between 2021 and 2100. There is a predicted growth in frequency of extreme weather events (heat waves, droughts hailstorms). Changes have been forecasted using data presented in table 1. For analyses of complex landscape geographic impacts of climate change the area of Hungary have been divided into 18 mesoregions with 5.000-10.000 km2 area each (figure 1). The main aspect of choosing the regions was that they should have homogeneous physical, geographic and land use endowments and, for this reason, they should react to climate change the same way. Relationships between landscape forming factors and meteorological elements examined by us have been taken into consideration. Results of analyses of impacts of the meteorological factors on the changes of relief through the mass movements are presented in this paper. Changes of landscape sensibility of mesoregions to mass movements have been presented in the last chapter for the periods between 2021-2050 and 2071-2100 according to numeric climate models.
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Late Renaissance Garden Art in the Carpathian Basin
1-19Views:237The aim of the article was to find, scientifically define and locate the most frequent occurrences of the Late Renaissance garden units of the Carpathian Basin. This article - as partial result of a research work entitled "Castle Garden Inventory in the Carpathian Basin" and conducted by teachers and students of the Faculty of Landscape Architecture and Urbanism of Szent István University, Budapest - aims to identify through historical research, on-site visits and assessments the current status of 148 Late Renaissance residency gardens located in seven different countries of the Carpathian Basin (Austria, Hungary, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Croatia and Slovenia). Based on the archival and literary sources as well as the field studies carried out, we defined the spatial distribution of Late Renaissance residential gardens, we delineated six very characteristic Late Renaissance garden units and we defined the most typical Late Renaissance garden features for the region. At the same time, we explored and documented still existing values of garden history at some locations from the Renaissance era.
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The effect of aridification on dry and wet habitats of Illancs microregion, SW Great Hungarian Plain, Hungary
11-22Views:85By the beginning of the 21st century, investigations aiming landscape history and landscape changes became especially important in the environmental research. The decreasing number of natural areas called the attention of the world to the rapid changes in the landscape caused by human activities and climate change. Certain places are facing with increased problems caused by the sensitiveness of landscapes. In Hungary, in the Danube–Tisza Interfluve a continuous groundwater-table sinking process was observed, as a result of anthropogenic effects of the last century and the consequences of climate change. On the highest part of this mesoregion (e. g. Illancs microregion), the decrease of the groundwater-level has reached 7 metres compared with the 1970s which affected significantly the nature and the local inhabitants as well. This study aimed to investigate the effect of this aridification process on dry and wet habitats of Illancs microregion. It reveals the ongoing processes in the landscape, referring to the previously affecting factors. In case of dry habitats, fragmentation and invasive species play important role as threatening factors. Wet habitats are significantly decreasing, shift of the vegetation zones can be observed. The stands are degraded, their steppification is dominant and can be observed only in the deepest parts of the depressions.
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Boundless settlements – tendencies and future of urban sprawl in the agglomeration of Budapest
75-88Views:192The Budapest agglomeration is a rapidly changing environment. Urban sprawl has been a prominent process in municipalities around the Hungarian capital, and its pace has significantly increased since the change of regimes. In our paper, we analyse the tendencies of urban development, the role of territorial protection and the types of land use mostly threatened by urban sprawl in two study areas within the Budapest agglomeration. A significant part of the Northern study area – located on Szentendre Island – is under territorial protection, while the Southern study area – located on Csepel Island – has a considerably lower amount of protected areas. We found that the settlements of the Northern study area have been expanding at a much slower pace than their Southern counterparts, where in the absence of effective restrictions, extensive areas – mostly former agricultural fields – have been converted into built-up areas. In addition, the Spatial Plan of the agglomeration allows the same tendencies to continue in both areas in the future as well.
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Evaluation of the possibilities for stream restoration: preassessment of the Váli-stream (Hungary)
26-44Views:229The purpose of this study is to evaluate the potential of restoration of a stream section. The starting point of the multiple-step assessment process was a historical analysis, which resulted in the definition of different sections within the study area, providing a base for the further restoration goals. The assessment of the current conditions was elaborated particularly to determine those factors, which could limit restoration. These assessments cover the land use pattern, furthermore the analysis of vegetation and habitat patches. As a result of the historical analysis, it has been found that the stream side habitat patches have decreased significantly despite the constant space available. This change was not caused by the increased area of the settlement, but rather by the higher dominancy of arable forms of land use. The greatest share of wet and mesic meadows and agricultural habitats in the study areas, covering 57.5% of the total area, indicates significant anthropogenic effects. Consequently it can be stated that the reference conditions are not the only determining factors of the restoration possibilities. Restoration style and intensity have been defined on basis of all assessed factors.