Ábrahám Levente (szerk.): Válogatott tanulmányok IX. - Natura Somogyiensis 24. (Kaposvár, 2014)
Miókovics E. - Bódis J. - Molnár Zs.: Analysis of landscape change in the Nagyberek (Somogy, Hungary) with the DPSIR Framework
10 Natura Somogyiensis of 2009 (V. 14.) FVM of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development laying down the conditions of support for agricultural environmental management from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development. The management of forests is based on the Act No. XXXVII of 2009 on forests, on the protection and management of forests (Forest Act). The rules of Act No. CXII. (2000) on the Regional Development Plan of the Lake Balaton Recreational District and Rules of the Lake Balaton Regional Development (Balaton Act) refer to the whole area of the Nagyberek. Driving forces inducing environmental changes were induced by the establishment of agricultural cooperatives and their latter privatization. Migration and ageing of population are driving forces which influence the state of marshes and grasslands. The settlement development concepts and Leader programmes aim at solving these problems. Agriculturalsupports help to keep some families in the area. In parallel with this the appreciation of landscape values and the lack of traditional ecological knowledge of farmers became key driving forces. Natural driving forces, such as climate change, influence the local water balance, intensifying the problems of the artificial water system. Drought periods became more frequent, in turn sometimes extreme high precipitation events occur. After the phylloxera epidemic in the 19th century vineyards were planted on the higher sandy areas around the lower centre areas. Soon after, tourism appeared as a driving force in the landscape, first near the lake, later on the whole area of the Nagyberek. Agricultural areas were parcelled out for holiday houses. As a pressure the number of farmers decreased further, the tourists who bought holiday houses have appeared in the last 30 years. The ratio of holiday houses reaches 30% in some settlements. The ratio of abandoned fields increased, which can be considered as an impact in the case of grasslands, because these abandoned areas facilitate the spread of adventive species. Detailed analysis of landscape changes I. marshes: reed beds, tussock sedge communities and non-tussock beds of large sedges The system of large estates has been present for centuries in the Nagyberek. Before the studied period the land use had adapted to the natural conditions for centuries. However, the drainage started in the 19th century, it had no significant impact on the stability and natural cycles of the ecological system as it affected only small areas. The driving forces have become strong enough in the last 100 years to change the social and ecological system of the Nagyberek fundamentally in the 1950. The concept of large-scale farming was the most determining driving force: in accordance with political and economic views the area of the Nagyberek was designated for intensive agriculture to ensure the self-sufficiency of Hungary. Technical development allowed the intensification of agriculture. At the same time the road and rail network was built and developed in the area. As a consequence serial pressures reached the area, e.g. the disruption of water balance: the whole area was drained, grasslands were meliorated. Peat was cut in huge areas. Marshy areas were divided into equal parcels and ploughed in. The heavy use of pesticides and intensive application of fertilizer has begun. In the actual state only the most low-lying areas are covered with water through the whole year, e.g. the fens between Somogyszentpál and Táska ("Martonosi-láp") and the Salix cinerea mires near Fehérvíz-puszta. In the lower parts of the pits (peat, lime mud, loam) homogenous stands of Phragmites australis and Cladium mariscus can be found (e.g. areas near Fonyód and Ordacsehi). It is interesting to note that recently these secondary habitats in the abandoned pits provide refuge for the flora and vegetation of the once widespread marshes and fens. The Balaton Act influences the management of habitats with the tools of regional development. The act says that the actual land use may be changed only if it
