Múzeumi Füzetek Csongrád 5. (Csongrád, 2002.)

Deák József Áron: A Csongrád környéki táj története a XVIII. század végétől napjainkig élőhelytérképek tükrében

The late 19

th - early 20* situation can be described with the help of the 3

rd military survey. These maps show the landscape after the regulation of the riverways, which changed the hidrogeological circumstances: no more sandbanks or islands were built. Some of the islands (like Gyójai- and Lófogó-island) was used as a bridge at the building of the dyke, so the former branches of the river surrounded these islands became halfly saved-side backwaters, partly floodarea bakwaters. The channels for the new river-bed can be clearly seen. It's also typical that the former flood areas except the Szentesian area weren't broken up directly. They slowly dried out and became damp fields. The lower elevated areas (former river-beds) persisted as swamps. So the livestock-raising (especiallly cow) remained the main use (see Kelem, Bokros-puszta, Nagyrét, Kisrét, Kilences, Böldi-rét). The area of the willow-poplar forests hasn't grown much: new or bigger patches were opposite of Csongrád, in Mámairét, Györfös or Bokros. The other areas remined the same. The small patches of oak-elm-ash forests were reduced more. The Tiszasaswood were cut out, and the Erzsébet-erdő was also reduced. The major changes happened on the western Csongradian fields. Almost all the good quality grasslands were broken up and was used as plough-land according to the claims of the growing population and economy of those ages. The area of grasslands became limited almost to those areas where we can find them now: in the lower alkali-soda basins. Here a wide network of hamlets has been also developed. The area of vineyard in Bokros incresed a little bit. The changes of the first half of the 20

th century can be interpreted on the base of the 1950 military map. By 1950 the majority of the former and even the present flood-areas became cultivated. The hamlets with orchards and small-field ploughlands became typical in the Mámairét, Nagyrét, Kisrét, Bökény, Szentesian Mentett Rét, Felső-rét, Alsó-rét area. While the surroundings of Tiszasas and Magyartés were used as large-scale plough-lands in the early 1950-s. Near to Magyartés at Csárdás even rice-fields were established. In the former flood-area remained grasslands only in Bokros, Jaksor, Kistőke and Zalotai-lapos. The majority of these became secondary alkalized. It was also typical that in the actual flood-area of the river Tisza there were numerous orchards especially in the Nagyrét, Mámairét and Szentpál secdon, beside plough-lands, while the actual flood-area of the river Körös and the left side of the river Tisza (Szentes town) was dominated by damp grasslands. The area of willow-poplar forests incresed alongside the river Tisza, and the dykes where the so called navvy-holes situated (little pond-like depressions from where the soil was digged out to build the dyke). This latter forests covered bigger places as the cultivated fields streched almost down to the riverside. Unfortunatelly the thin wood patches of the backwaters begin to disappear too. The vineyards between Bokros and Csongrád incresed so that they covered almost the whole sand area. The grasslands situated west from Csongrád and Bokros decresed a little and reached their present size by 1950. The socialist agriculture and forestry brought a lot of new habitat type into the system. Because of the collectivization the high-scale plough-lands increased all over the area. Large-field vineyard (in Bokros) and orchards (south from Csongrád) were also established. In the last 50 years the flood-area became gradually the place of the forestry. It's welcomed that beside the surviving willow-poplar forest patches newer native forests were planted. Sometimes these forests grown up from the propagulum-storage of the soil. In Elléspart even oakalm-ash forest reconstruction attempt has happened (unfortunatelly just the oak came back). In contrast it isn't good that the old orchards were cut off and cultivated poplars were also planted in the flood area. The flood-area damp grasslands were remained mainly alongside the river Körös in this area. The most worrying thing is the question of agressively expanding invasive trees: Amorpha fruticosa, Fraxinus pennsylvanica, Acer negundo which cause not just nature conservational but economical damages as they hinder the natural grow up of the willow-poplar forests.