Vegetation mapping as an aid in detecting temporal vegetation changes in the Demer valley (Belgium)
1999
Butaye, J. | Honnay, O. | Hermy, M. (Katholieke Univ. Leuven (Belgium). Lab. for Forest, Nature and Landscape)
Attempts to get an insight in the major physical processes which lie at the basis of the recent plant species diversity decline in Flanders are mostly based on a black-box analysis of species lists. We argue that plant diversity monitoring programs should be based on a geographically explicit vegetation description approach. In this paper we present a phytosociological analysis and subsequent vegetation mapping of the Demer valley between Diest and Werchter. We used Geographic Information System analysis tools to compare the derived vegetation map with a vegetation map of the same area made in the 50's. Land use changed dramatically and a clear dichotomy could be noticed between land use changes on dry versus wet sites. Most ecologically valuable grasslands seriously declined or disappeared as a result of urbanization, poplar plantation and intensive drainage and fertilization. Besides the total area of these grasslands, also the mean patch area decreased leading to smaller, spatially isolated communities. This development threatens the long term species survival within these remnants.
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