The influence of the Danube-Odra-Elbe water canal project on the geobiocoenoses of floodplain forests (Czech Republic)
2010
Ivo Machar
This arcticle deals with influence of the proposed Danube-Odra-Elbe (DOL) water canal on the floodplain forests in the Czech Republic. The project of the DOL water canal is evaluated with using GIS methods and reference assessment of environmental effects. Biogeographic differentiation of the landscape in a biogeocenological concept have been also utilized in this paper. The presented paper has shown the possibilities of use of the GIS analysis for the assessment of the assumed effect of the DOL project on the hydrological regime of floodplain forests. It has been proven that this method is much more efficient in objectivizing the presupposed influences of the DOL canal on the water regime of floodplain forests than the previous assessments. The method employed in this paper for the purposes of the preliminary percentage quantification of the extent of the hydrological influence on individual types of geobiocoenoses of floodplain forests is used generally for the purposes of the environmental assessment of effects on investment plans concerning the landscape (the so-called EIA). It is clear that the assessment of the influences of the DOL project on floodplain forest geobiocoenoses primarily concerns the response of vegetation to changes in the soil moisture regime, which can be compared to the amount of data material (for a summary see PRAX et al., 2008). Results indicate that the potential construction of the DOL canal would significantly, i.e. with an influence value exceeding 50 %, affect 634 km2 of the area of inundations in lowland floodplains in the Czech Republic. Results are discussed in the frame of knowledge about water regime of floodplain forests ecosystems.
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