Transformation of treeless depression wetlands in Central Europe over the last 100 years: Włoszczowa Basin (southern Poland) case study

Abstract

Historical changes in land use and development over the last century were analysed to identify the main causes and directions of changes in depression wetland ecosystems in the Włoszczowa Basin, an area of 1600 km2 in southern Poland. The analysis of Military Cartographic Institute maps and orthophotomaps, as well as field surveys, made it possible to determine the scale of degradation of 247 treeless depression wetlands. It was shown that the nature and extent of transformation of individual wetlands varied depending on the type of wetland and the method of land use in adjacent areas. However, the main anthropogenic factor affecting these changes was land drainage, of which the greatest intensity in Central Europe was pursued during the socialist rule between 1945 and 1989.