<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>Loss and degradation of wetlands is now one of the most important environmental issues on a global scale. Previous research based on analyses of cartographic materials allow for quantification of changes in wetland area in recent centuries. The results of lithological research of peat cores, reported in this publication, have established that the processes of anthropogenic loss of wetlands can be much older and in the Kłodnica valley were initiated in the first millennium BC. As a result of increased mineral sedimentation accompanying soil erosion some peatlands have been fossilized whilst the area of others has been reduced. In total, the surface area of peat-forming wetlands in the bottom of the Kłodnica valley decreased by over 60% between the time of the Lusatian Culture settlement and the Middle Ages. Post-peatland habitats are recently used for agricultural or colonized by non-peat forming vegetation. These processes have played a more important role in the degradation of peatland ecosystems than the direct human impact in historic times. Changes in hydrographic networks, land drainage and regulation of water levels in rivers and canals in the last century have contributed to further reducing the wetland areas by almost 50% compared to the 1880s. These processes, however, have mainly affected ephemeral non-peat forming wetlands.</p></abstract>

Loss and degradation of wetlands is now one of the most important environmental issues on a global scale. Previous research based on analyses of cartographic materials allow for quantification of changes in wetland area in recent centuries. The results of lithological research of peat cores, reported in this publication, have established that the processes of anthropogenic loss of wetlands can be much older and in the Kłodnica valley were initiated in the first millennium BC. As a result of increased mineral sedimentation accompanying soil erosion some peatlands have been fossilized whilst the area of others has been reduced. In total, the surface area of peat-forming wetlands in the bottom of the Kłodnica valley decreased by over 60% between the time of the Lusatian Culture settlement and the Middle Ages. Post-peatland habitats are recently used for agricultural or colonized by non-peat forming vegetation. These processes have played a more important role in the degradation of peatland ecosystems than the direct human impact in historic times. Changes in hydrographic networks, land drainage and regulation of water levels in rivers and canals in the last century have contributed to further reducing the wetland areas by almost 50% compared to the 1880s. These processes, however, have mainly affected ephemeral non-peat forming wetlands.

Anthropogenic causes of wetland loss and degradation in the lower Kłodnica valley (southern Poland)

Department of Reconstructing Environmental Change, Faculty of Earth Sciences, University of Silesia, Będzińska Str. 60, 41-200 Sosnowiec, Poland

Environmental & Socio-economic Studies

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Loss and degradation of wetlands is now one of the most important environmental issues on a global scale. Previous research based on analyses of cartographic...

Anthropogenic causes of wetland loss and degradation in the lower Kłodnica valley (southern Poland)

Published Online: Feb 12, 2016

Page range: 20 - 29

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/environ-2015-0070

Keywords
peatland loss, hydrological changes, human impact, macrofossil analysis, upper Odra River basin

© 2016

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Anthropogenic causes of wetland loss and degradation in the lower Kłodnica valley (southern Poland)

Published Online: Feb 12, 2016

Page range: 20 - 29

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/environ-2015-0070

Keywordspeatland loss, hydrological changes, human impact, macrofossil analysis, upper Odra River basin

© 2016

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Keywords
peatland loss, hydrological changes, human impact, macrofossil analysis, upper Odra River basin