VEGA 2/0031/23 – Analyses and Assessments of the Environmental History of Selected Landscape Types in Slovakia from the Late Prehistory to the Present (1 January 2023 – 31 December 2026)
Human use of natural resources, ecosystem services, and related activities has directly or indirectly influenced the natural environment and the quality of its components across spatial and temporal scales. The extent and intensity of human impact on the landscape have changed over the centuries and depended on the historical period. To identify the degree to which the landscape has been shaped by humans, it is essential to understand the original, natural landscape that had not yet been fundamentally altered. Since such a landscape no longer exists in Central Europe, it must be scientifically reconstructed.
The aim of the project is to reconstruct the landscape in several periods of historical and archaeological development within model areas representing selected landscape types of Slovakia, and to evaluate the consequences of human activities in these environments. While human influence on the landscape may sometimes appear beneficial to society, it can have negative effects on nature—and ultimately negative consequences for people as well. Therefore, analysing the relationship between humans and their environment within a long-term temporal perspective is crucial.
FORCLIMEX – Extreme Manifestations of Climate Change and Their Impacts on the Growth and Production of Forest Stands (APVV)
Project duration: 07/2017–06/2021
Annotation:
The increasing frequency and intensity of extreme meteorological events have adverse impacts on all components of the environment and cause significant ecological and economic losses in forestry. The National Forest Centre (applicant) and the Technical University in Zvolen (co-investigator) possess an extensive data and instrumentation infrastructure, a network of research plots, and a long-term database of diverse records, all of which provide a unique potential for assessing the impacts of extreme climatic events on forest ecosystems.
The main objective of the project is to develop a functional, long-term sustainable forestry application for online biometeorological monitoring aimed at the operational assessment of a wide range of climate-related risks in forest ecosystems (drought, fires, floods, and initiation of insect pest outbreaks). The application is intended for forestry practice, the wider public, and educational purposes. Additionally, using extensive forestry and climatological databases, the project will analytically evaluate the negative impacts of recent meteorological extremes (particularly droughts and heatwaves) on the growth and productivity of forest stands.
Mapping Phytotoxic Ozone Doses in the Forest Environment of the High Tatras (APVV)
Project duration: 10/2013–03/2017
Annotation:
The project focuses on designing a system for assessing the potential risk posed by ground-level ozone to mountain forest ecosystems. The assessment system is based on analysing exceedances of critical levels of phytotoxic ozone doses (POD), derived from critical thresholds of stomatal ozone fluxes in selected forest stands in the model area of the High Tatras.
The project is divided into four stages.
Stage 1 focuses on selecting and establishing research plots and creating the initial project database.
Stage 2 involves field surveys and local parameterization of the DO3SE model, including continuous measurements of required input parameters, refinement of model parameters for local conditions, and mapping selected soil properties in the model area.
Stage 3 focuses on data analysis and model calculations based on general and local parameterization, including validation and processing of measured data and the calculation of stomatal fluxes and POD for selected plant species.
Stage 4 is dedicated to creating a system for long-term POD assessment through a software application.
The extensive dataset obtained during the project will be applicable for modelling other forest ecosystem processes as well as for evaluating exceedances of ozone critical levels established for the protection of human health.