Share of scattered woody vegetation in landscape ecological stability and agriculture sustainability

Abstract

Scattered woody vegetation in the agricultural landscape includes more or less fragments of original biotopes and cultivated cultural vegetation as are groves, windbreaks, and infiltration forest belts on slopes, tree alleys, as well as orchards and vineyards. The contribution describes their effectiveness in agriculture sustainability through defined categories of functions and services. At the studied territory, the development of landscape structure was assessed in three time periods of 1869, 1949 and 2010s with regard to the share of scattered vegetation and woody species composition. In 2010, 23 vegetation formations were surveyed, from these 20 are in linear formations and the others in areal formations. Regarding species composition, 47 woody plant species were identified, from these 28 native, 12 alien and 7 fruit trees. The share of scattered vegetation has been proposed to be increased from 5% to 6%. The studied scattered vegetation should be considered as an important contribution to biodiversity conservation, climate, water and soil quality amelioration, pest and disease control and finally crop yield increasing.