Recent Landuse Changes in the Black Forest and in the Vosges - Parallel or Divergent Trends?

Abstract

The actual landuse and the vegetation changes within the last few decades are compared in two regions with similar physical conditions: the Alb-valley around Bernau (Black Forest) and the Chajoux-valley near La Bresse (Vosges). It has been analyzed, whether parallel or divergent trends occur according to location and political conditions. Methods were a remote sense guided mapping of the present landuse and the vegetation formations, as well as retrospective conclusions about earlier landscape structures based upon an interpretation of historical air-photographs. Data about the agrosocial situation and the intensity of grassland farming were sampled by interviews. The own results are discussed in the context of the existing bibliographic records dealing with landscape transformations in both mountain areas. Both regions are quite identical regarding spatial patterns in the plant cover and in the percentages covered by forests, pasture ground and meadows. The tendencies in landscape changes during the 20th...