The Impact of Past Human Activities on the Current State of Vegetation in Historical Settlements of a Wine-Growing Cultural Landscape (Svätý Jur, Slovakia)

Natália Hurajtová (), Veronika Piscová, Petra Gašparovičová and Michal Ševčík
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Natália Hurajtová: Institute of Landscape Ecology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Akademická 2, SK-949 01 Nitra, Slovakia
Veronika Piscová: Institute of Landscape Ecology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Akademická 2, SK-949 01 Nitra, Slovakia
Petra Gašparovičová: Institute of Landscape Ecology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Akademická 2, SK-949 01 Nitra, Slovakia
Michal Ševčík: Faculty of Natural Sciences, The Constantine Philosopher University, Tr. A. Hlinku, SK-949 74 Nitra, Slovakia

Land, 2023, vol. 12, issue 9, 1-13

Abstract: The aim of our study is to reconstruct the human influence on the current vegetation in selected parts of the cadastral territory of Svätý Jur. Svätý Jur is a town with more than 700 years of winemaking tradition, located on the oak-hornbeam-forested slopes of the Little Carpathians and surrounded by terraced vineyards. Human activity has changed the natural landscape of Svätý Jur since the Neolithic period. It is possible to trace the influence of past human activities on current vegetation by mapping vegetation onto historical landscape structures. For our research, we chose two study sites—Biely Kameň Castle and Hillfort Neštich. Our research has shown that there are significant differences in plant communities as well as in their environmental requirements between the investigated sites. Nitrophilous species indicative of human activities were recorded at both sites. At Hillfort Neštich, we recorded the occurrence of an interesting combination of species of Atropa , Phytolacca and Rubus . We have recorded their current occurrence and searched for its causes. In addition, we evaluate the current state of the vegetation of the castle and the hillfort in relation to the human past and today’s use.

Keywords: Svätý Jur; human impact; vegetation; cultural landscape (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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