Scholarly record
RESTORATION POTENTIAL OF AGRICULTURAL UNUSED LAND FOR REINTRODUCTION INTO AGRICULTURAL USE
Abstract
The research analyses agricultural unused land (AUL) identified within the cadastral territory of Velke Trencianske Stankovce (western Slovakia) with the objective of evaluating restoration potential and determining suitable management pathways for reintroduction into agricultural use. The methodological framework combines Sentinel-2 vegetation indices, LPIS data, soil characteristics, and site-specific attributes including terrain configuration, parcel accessibility, and environmental constraints. Restoration potential is evaluated through a multicriteria classification framework integrating succession stage, vegetation structure, and feasibility of management interventions. Decision criteria distinguish restoration suitability classes based on vegetation characteristics, terrain limitations, and accessibility conditions. Classification performance and restoration classes were verified through field surveys and selected validation localities. The results indicate considerable variability in restoration potential among individual parcels and identify differing management pathways depending on succession intensity and site conditions. The resulting classification framework enables differentiation between parcels suitable for woody vegetation removal, restoration of permanent grasslands, extensive agricultural management, or continuation of natural succession under environmentally suitable conditions. The methodological novelty lies in integrating Earth observation data and spatial decision criteria into a restoration-oriented classification framework transferable to agricultural landscapes with comparable agro-climatic and land-use conditions. The framework provides decision support for land restoration planning and targeted landscape management.
Publication details
References12
Fayet C.M.J., Reilly K. H., Van Ham C., Verburg P. H., What is the future of abandoned agricultural lands? A systematic review of alternative trajectories in Europe, Land Use Policy, Volume 112, 2022. DOI: 10.1016/j.landusepol.2021.105833.
MacDonald D., Crabtree J.R., Wiesinger G., Dax T., Stamou N., Fleury P., Gibon A., Agricultural abandonment in mountain areas of Europe: environmental consequences and policy response. J. Environ. Manag. 59 (1), 47-69, 2000. https://doi. org/DOI: 10.1006/jema.1999.0335.
Bański J., The consequences of changes of ownership for agricultural land use in Central European countries following the collapse of the Eastern Bloc, Land Use Policy, Volume 66, Pages 120-130, 2017. DOI: 10.1016/j.landusepol.2017.04.045.
Kolecka, N., Greening trends and their relationship with agricultural land abandonment across Poland. Remote Sensing of Environment, Volume 257, 2021. DOI: 10.1016/j.rse.2021.112340.
Cramer V., Hobbs R., Standish R., What's new about old fields? Land abandonment and ecosystem assembly, Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 23, 104-112, 2008. DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2007.10.005.
LazÃková J., Bandlerová A., LazÃková Z., Legislation on land protection in Slovakia, Scientific journal of the European Ecocycles Society, Vol. 6, No. 1, pp. 98-105. 2020. DOI: 10.19040/ecocycles.v6i1.170.
Duncan D. H., Dorrough J. W., Historical and current land use shape landscape restoration options in the Australian wheat and sheep farming zone, Landscape and Urban Planning, Volume 91, Issue 3, Pages 124-132, 2009. DOI: 10.1016/j.landurbplan.2008.12.007.
Dikou A., Papapanagiotou E., Troumbis A., Integrating Landscape Ecology and Geoinformatics to Decipher Landscape Dynamics for Regional Planning, Environmental Management, 48:523-538, 2011. DOI: 10.1007/s00267-011-9714-4.
Rega C., Ecological Rationality in Spatial Planning. Concepts and Tools for Sustainable Land-Use Decisions, Cities and Nature, Book, 2020. ISSN 2520-8306. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-33027-9
Lunt I. D., Spooner P. G., Using historical ecology to understand patterns of biodiversity in fragmented agricultural landscapes, Journal of Biogeography (J. Biogeogr.), 32, 1859-1873, 2005. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2699.2005.01296.x.
Minárik M., KiÅ¡Å¡ V., Ziernicka-Wojtaszek A., PrÄÃk M., ÄŒimo J., Mikulová K., From Optimism to Risk: The Impact of Climate Change on Temperature Sums in Central Europe. Climate. 13(3):49. 2025. DOI: 10.3390/cli13030049.
PagÃ¡Ä J., Gubáňová M., PagÃ¡Ä Mokrá A., Tools for decision-making in the field of regional development focused on the needs of climate change through blue-green infrastructure. SGEM, Section Environmental Economics, Volume 24, Issue 5.1, 2024. DOI: 10.5593/sgem2024/5.1/s21.87.