<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p> The cadastral district of Horný Tisovník represents a traditionally managed Carpathian mountain agricultural landscape with extensive terraces. It was historically governed by two counties with different feudal economic systems - agricultural and industrial. This paper aims to enrich traditional methods in environmental history. We applied geospatial statistics and multivariate data analysis for the assessment of environmental factors influencing the distribution of agricultural terraces. Using linear models, the hypothesis was tested that the terrace distribution is functionally related to selected factors (affiliation to the historic counties; average altitude and slope; distance from water, buildings and settlements; units of natural potential vegetation; and current land use). Significantly greater amounts of terraces were located in the agricultural county compared to the industrial county. A principal component analysis showed the coincidence between the current agricultural land use and higher concentrations of terraces occurring in lower altitudes, closer to settlements and buildings, and within the unit of Carpathian oak-hornbeam forests. These findings regarding the most significant factors influencing the distribution of terraces are used in proposals for incentives to improve the management of the traditional agricultural landscape.</p></abstract>

The cadastral district of Horný Tisovník represents a traditionally managed Carpathian mountain agricultural landscape with extensive terraces. It was historically governed by two counties with different feudal economic systems - agricultural and industrial. This paper aims to enrich traditional methods in environmental history. We applied geospatial statistics and multivariate data analysis for the assessment of environmental factors influencing the distribution of agricultural terraces. Using linear models, the hypothesis was tested that the terrace distribution is functionally related to selected factors (affiliation to the historic counties; average altitude and slope; distance from water, buildings and settlements; units of natural potential vegetation; and current land use). Significantly greater amounts of terraces were located in the agricultural county compared to the industrial county. A principal component analysis showed the coincidence between the current agricultural land use and higher concentrations of terraces occurring in lower altitudes, closer to settlements and buildings, and within the unit of Carpathian oak-hornbeam forests. These findings regarding the most significant factors influencing the distribution of terraces are used in proposals for incentives to improve the management of the traditional agricultural landscape.

Environmental factors influencing the distribution of agricultural terraces: Case study of Horný Tisovník, Slovakia

Department of Landscape Planning and Design, Faculty of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Technical University in Zvolen,

Institute of Ethnology, The Czech Academy of Sciences,

Department of Geo and Mining Tourism, Faculty of Mining, Ecology, Process Control and Geotechnology, Institute of Earth Resources, Technical University of Košice,

Moravian Geographical Reports

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

The cadastral district of Horný Tisovník represents a traditionally managed Carpathian mountain agricultural landscape with extensive terraces. It was...

Environmental factors influencing the distribution of agricultural terraces: Case study of Horný Tisovník, Slovakia

Published Online: Apr 12, 2017

Page range: 34 - 45

Received: Jan 04, 2016

Accepted: Dec 20, 2016

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/mgr-2017-0004

Keywords
agricultural terraces, traditional landscapes, environmental history, multivariate analysis, Slovakia

© 2017

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

Environmental factors influencing the distribution of agricultural terraces: Case study of Horný Tisovník, Slovakia

Published Online: Apr 12, 2017

Page range: 34 - 45

Received: Jan 04, 2016

Accepted: Dec 20, 2016

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/mgr-2017-0004

Keywordsagricultural terraces, traditional landscapes, environmental history, multivariate analysis, Slovakia

© 2017

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

Keywords
agricultural terraces, traditional landscapes, environmental history, multivariate analysis, Slovakia