scholarly journals SOIL TILLAGE FOCUSING ON THE REDUCTION OF WATER EROSION OF SOIL IN THE CULTIVATION OF SELECTED FIELD CROPS

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petr NOVÁK ◽  
Jiří MAŠEK ◽  
Josef HŮLA ◽  
Lukáš BENEŠ ◽  
Jitka KUMHÁLOVÁ
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Surface Runoff ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Water Erosion ◽  
Appropriate Technology ◽  
Soil Tillage ◽  
Row Crops ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Stand Establishment

Water erosion is a problem of global significance. Water erosion destroys or damages a vast expanse of usable agricultural land every year. Conditions in the Czech Republic are characterized by high average slope of the land. It is reported that approximately half of land in the Czech Republic is threatened by water erosion. Water erosion is a natural process that cannot be fully prevented. In case of agricultural land an important option is suitable tillage, which may reduce symptoms of water erosion. The problem of water erosion of agricultural land is growing in the Czech Republic, which is mainly caused by the growth of wide areas of crops (maize). This is due to expansion of biogas power plants using parts of maize silage. The aim of paper is to evaluate and assess the crop stand establishment in conditions of resistance to water erosion. For this purpose, a field experiment was set up. This experiment affects the most widely used methods of maize cultivation in Central Bohemia region. It consists of six variants of crops and technologies stand establishment and control treatment without vegetation. To determine the surface runoff and erosive wash was used measurement by runoff microplots. From processed measurement the positive impact of reduced tillage on soil resistance to water erosion results can be confirmed. The consequence is a reduction of surface runoff and especially erosive washes of soil. Impact of ground cover with organic matter is favorable, even in case of conventional tillage. The results of the experiment are directly applicable to agricultural practices. Results of the experiment were used for the legislative recommendations of appropriate technology (wide-row crops on slopes).

scholarly journals Water Erosion Reduction Using Different Soil Tillage Approaches for Maize (Zea mays L.) in the Czech Republic

Land ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. 358
Author(s):  
Ladislav Menšík ◽  
David Kincl ◽  
Pavel Nerušil ◽  
Jan Srbek ◽  
Lukáš Hlisnikovský ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Higher Plants ◽  
Forage Quality ◽  
Dry Mass ◽  
Water Erosion ◽  
Soil Tillage ◽  
Soil Conditions ◽  
Agricultural Practice ◽  
The Czech Republic

In today’s agriculture, maize is considered to be one of the major feed, food and industrial crops. Cultivation of maize by inappropriate agricultural practices and on unsuitable sites is connected with specific risks of soil degradation, mainly due to water erosion of the soil. The aim of this study was to evaluate the yielding parameters, fodder quality and anti-erosion efficiency of different methods of conservation tillage for maize in two areas (Jevíčko—JEV and Skoupý—SKO) with different climate and soil conditions in the Czech Republic in the period 2016–2018, using multivariate exploratory techniques such as principal component analysis (PCA) and factor analysis (FA). Four variants of soil tillage methods were analysed: Conventional Tillage (CT), two slightly different Strip-Till techniques (ST) and Direct Sowing (DS). The analysed parameters were: dry mass of the plants, height of the plants, starch content (SC), organic matter digestibility (OMD) and content of neutral detergent fibre (NDF), soil loss by erosion and surface runoff. The multivariate exploratory techniques PCA and FA significantly differed in two categories of techniques in both locations. The first category consists of soil conservation techniques (SCT): ST (JEV/SKO) and DS (JEV). These techniques are characterised by lower yields of dry mass, lower height of plants, forage quality equal to CT, but a high level of protection of the soil against erosion. The second category consists of CT (JEV and SKO) and partially of DS (SKO). These treatments are characterised by high dry mass production, higher plants, high forage quality, but a feeble capacity of protection of the soil against erosion. The results of the study confirm the presumption of the positive influence of introduction and application of new agronomical practices in the areas of interest and other areas with similar natural conditions in the sense of sustainable management for agricultural management of agricultural land for the conditions of the Czech Republic and therefore of Central and Eastern Europe. PCA and FA were used as an effective method for comprehensive evaluation of the use of STC in agricultural practice.

scholarly journals Economic impacts of farmland degradation in the Czech Republic – Case Study

2019 ◽  
Vol 65 (No. 11) ◽  
pp. 529-538
Author(s):  
Jana Podhrázská ◽  
Jan Szturc ◽  
Petr Karásek ◽  
Josef Kučera ◽  
Jana Konečná
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Detailed Analysis ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Soil Characteristics ◽  
Water Erosion ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
The Past ◽  
South Moravia

To analyse the potential changes in soil characteristics and associated impacts on the land price, the region of South Moravia was selected, strongly threatened by erosion and by claiming the most valuable land in suburban territories due to industrial and housing expansion. For the detailed analysis of the impacts of erosion and land appropriation in the region of South Moravia, the model territories of Brno surroundings with the municipality of Dolní Heršpice and Hustopeče surroundings with the municipality of Starovice were selected. The price of land degraded by potential erosion in the South Moravian region fluctuates between 88 and 2 400 EUR/ha. In the past 180 years, 148 ha of agricultural land in the total value of 822 815 EUR have been used for construction in the location under study in Dolní Heršpice. Further growth of the municipality should involve additional appropriation of agricultural land in the value of 411 000 EUR. In the studied land block of 100.5 ha, located in the Starovice municipality area, water erosion caused degradation in the total value of 92 000 EUR in the period 1978–2013. Extensive losses of fertile agricultural land are to be expected in the future. Their main causes are continuing land appropriation and degradation processes – soil erosion.

Visible marking of wader nests to avoid damage by farmers does not increase nest predation

2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 293-301 ◽  
Author(s):  
VÁCLAV ZÁMEČNÍK ◽  
VOJTĚCH KUBELKA ◽  
MIROSLAV ŠÁLEK
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Nest Predation ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Positive Experience ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Nest Protection ◽  
Vanellus Vanellus ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Ground Nesting

SummaryOnly a few studies have assessed the predation risk on artificially marked nests, or have examined ways of marking nests to avoid destruction by machinery. Until now, however, neither type of study has directly addressed this apparent trade-off experimentally. The impact of marking the nests of Northern Lapwing Vanellus vanellus with thin 2 m-long conspicuous bamboo poles with the top end highlighted with reflective red or orange spray has been tested for three years in two breeding areas of waders in the Czech Republic. A total of 52 pairs of nests on agricultural land, with each pair consisting of one marked nest and one unmarked reference counterpart nest, were monitored for 2004 nest-days until hatching, agricultural operations or failure. The results proved that marking itself does not result in increased nest predation. The nests found in the early incubation stage were under higher threat of depredation, irrespective of the presence of marking. Our results show that it is possible to find a finely-tuned trade-off in nest marking of ground-nesting birds between risk of damage by agricultural machinery and risk of increased nest predation. Our positive experience with Northern Lapwing, and episodically with three other wader species in the Czech Republic, suggests that this direct nest protection could be used effectively for a wider variety of ground-nesting birds.

scholarly journals Values of rainfall erosivity factor for the Czech Republic

2013 ◽  
Vol 61 (2) ◽  
pp. 97-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miloslav Janeček ◽  
Vít Květoň ◽  
Eliška Kubátová ◽  
Dominika Kobzová ◽  
Michaela Vošmerová ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Water Erosion ◽  
Rainfall Erosivity ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Average Value ◽  
R Factor ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Time Division ◽  
R Factors

Abstract The processing of ombrographic data from 29 meteorological stations of the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute (CHMI), according to the terms of the Universal Soil Loss Equation for calculating long term loss of soil through water erosion, erosion hazard rains and their occurrence have been selected, with their relative amount and erosiveness - R-Factors determined for each month and years. By comparing the value of the time division of the R-Factor in the area of the Czech Republic and in selected areas of the USA it has been demonstrated that this division may be applied in the conditions of the Czech Republic. For the Czech Republic it is recommended to use the average value R = 40 based on the original evaluation.

Pre-industrial landscape of the Jeseníky region as a natural and cultural heritage

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaromír Kolejka ◽  
Eva Nováková
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Local Administration ◽  
Economic Pressure ◽  
Forest Land ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Industrial Landscape ◽  
The Subject ◽  
State Protection

Small parcels of agricultural land are rare in the present landscape of Czech Republic and become the subject of interests of the state protection of the nature, the landscape and the environment. At the same time, such areas represent interesting subjects for the local administration as attractive tourist object. In the historical territory of Moravia (the eastern 1/3 of the Czech Republic), a regional inventory of areas with preserved ancient land use structure was carried out on all individual cadastral territories (focused not only on small parcels, but also on large aristocratic estates on agricultural and forest land originated before the main wave of industrial revolution Moravia, before 1850. The sites are still subjects to topic economic pressure on land consolidation. Their existence in the future is under threat and is decreasing every year both in number and size. The inventory results are presented on example of the Jeseníky region.

Enough is enough… Can various legislative tools cause ambiguities when applied in a single area? (Case study: Hády Hill, Brno, Czech Republic)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucie Kubalíková
Keyword(s):  
Nature Conservation ◽  
Czech Republic ◽  
Protected Areas ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Earth Science ◽  
Legal Protection ◽  
Habitats Directive ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Care Plans ◽  
Management Measures

<p>Establishing legal protection to a geosite (or geodiversity site) is considered one of the key tools of how to conserve its values and how to avoid degradation and devastation. The proper management measures (usually included in care plans or other planning and strategic documentation) then help to balance the conservation needs and sustainable use of the sites and allow to gain public finances for these purposes.</p><p>In the Czech Republic, nature conservation is anchored in Act n. 114/1992 Coll. (Nature Conservation Act) which defines several levels of protected areas that can be applied also on geoheritage. However, there are other legislative tools that protect other entities (e.g. agricultural land, water, or forests). The special relationship to geodiversity has Act n. 44/1988 Coll. (Mining Act) which aims to protect the mineral deposits including their deposit areas. Various tools for the protection applied to a single area can cause ambiguities because every protected entity has different management and limitations.</p><p>This is the case of Hády Hill, an area situated in the outskirts of Brno, the second-largest city in the Czech Republic. The area is important from the Earth Science point of view (tectonics, paleontology, geomorphology, stratigraphy, hydrogeology) and has high ecological and cultural values, e.g. occurrence of endangered species linked to the subsoil, remnants of old landscape structures (orchards, pastures), historical mining, use of the building material for Brno monuments. Earth-science and ecological values are protected according to Nature Conservation Act within one National Nature Reserve, two Nature Monuments, and four Important Landscape Elements and partly included in Special Area of Conservation (according to the Habitats Directive - Council Directive 92/43/EEC). Moreover, due to the occurrence of quality limestone, which was extracted from the Middle Ages up to the end of the 20<sup>th</sup> Century, the part of the study area is declared as a reserved mineral deposit and protected deposit area (according to Mining Act). All these areas mutually overlap.</p><p>Concerning geoheritage, some phenomena still have no degree of protection, but they are included in the Database of Geological Localities (kept by the Czech Geological Survey) and proposed for legal protection.</p><p>Last but not least, the site undergoes tourist and recreational pressure which is continuously increasing due to the COVID-19 situation (lack of indoor possibilities of how to spend the free time).</p><p>To find the balance between the various conservation needs, management measures, limitations, tourist/recreation pressure, and urban development, it was necessary to do a complex analysis of the various types of protected areas and their values. Based on the SWOT analysis and Risk Assessment, the main threats, risks, and possible conflicts of interest were identified and assessed. Then, specific proposals and possible solutions were designed with an emphasis on effective geoconservation (e.g. declaration of the new or enlarging the currently protected areas), development of sustainable forms of tourism, and future rational use of an area (e.g. via volunteer activities or participative planning of management).</p>

scholarly journals Revised soil erodibility K-factor for soils in the Czech Republic

2008 ◽  
Vol 2 (No. 1) ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Vopravil ◽  
M. Janeček ◽  
M. Tippl
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Agricultural Soils ◽  
Water Erosion ◽  
Soil Conditions ◽  
Soil Erodibility ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Complex Relation ◽  
Complex Evaluation ◽  
K Factor ◽  
The Subject

In the territory of the Czech Republic there are more than 50% of agricultural soils exposed to water erosion; it is a very urgent problem both at present and for the future. It must be solved now when there is still something to be protected. It is rather complicated to describe the soil properties in terms of soil susceptibility to water erosion because it is a complex relation in which many factors participate. For the complex evaluation of all main factors participating in erosion origination it is possible to apply the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE). It consists of six factors interacting with each other and participating in the origination of soil erosion. One of these factors is the soil erodibility factor (K-factor), the revision of which for soil conditions of the CR is the subject of this study. In total ca. 5000 soil pits from the whole territory of the country were processed and evaluated in detail. The main results of this study are K-factor values (means and variances) for the soil types, subtypes and varieties (represented in the database) according to the Taxonomic Classification System of Soils of the Czech Republic.

scholarly journals Impact of Air Pollution on the Health of the Population in Parts of the Czech Republic

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (18) ◽  
pp. 6454
Author(s):  
Radim J. Sram
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Czech Republic ◽  
Environmental Protection Agency ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Local Heating ◽  
The United States ◽  
Respiratory Morbidity ◽  
Surprising Result ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
The Impact

Thirty years ago, Northern Bohemia in the Czech Republic was one of the most air polluted areas in Europe. After political changes, the Czech government put forward a research program to determine if air pollution is really affecting human health. This program, later called the “Teplice Program”, was initiated in collaboration with scientists from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA). This cooperation made possible the use of methods on the contemporary level. The very high concentrations of sulphur dioxide (SO2), particulate matter of 10 micrometers or less (PM10), and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) present in the air showed, for the first time, the impact of air pollutants on the health of the population in mining districts: adverse pregnancy outcomes, the impact of air pollution on sperm morphology, learning disabilities in children, and respiratory morbidity in preschool children. A surprising result came from the distribution of the sources of pollution: 70% of PM10 pollution came from local heating and not from power plants as expected. Thanks to this result, the Czech government supported changes in local heating from brown coal to natural gas. This change substantially decreased SO2 and PM10 pollution and affected mortality, especially cardiovascular mortality.

scholarly journals Life Cycle Performance of Various Energy Sources Used in the Czech Republic

Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (21) ◽  
pp. 5833
Author(s):  
Markéta Šerešová ◽  
Jiří Štefanica ◽  
Monika Vitvarová ◽  
Kristina Zakuciová ◽  
Petr Wolf ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Resource Use ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Cycle Performance ◽  
Energy Sources ◽  
Black Coal ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
The Impact

As both the human population and living standards grow, so does the worldwide electricity demand. However, the power sector is also one of the biggest environmental polluters. Therefore, options are currently being sought aimed at reducing environmental impacts, one of the potential tools for which concerns the use of life cycle assessment. This study, therefore, focuses on the most commonly used nonrenewable (black coal, lignite, natural gas and nuclear) and renewable sources (wind, hydro and photovoltaic) in the Czech Republic in terms of their construction, operation, and decommissioning periods. Environmental impacts are assessed via the use of selected impact categories by way of product environmental footprint methodology. The results highlight the potential environmental impacts associated with electricity generation for each of the primary energy sources. Black coal and lignite power plants were found to contribute most to the global warming, resource use, energy carriers and respiratory inorganics categories. On the other hand, the impact on water depletion and resource use, mineral and metals categories were found to be most significantly affected by the production of electricity from photovoltaic power plants. Finally, it is proposed that the results be employed to design scenarios for the future energy mix.

scholarly journals Predicted climate change will increase the truffle cultivation potential in central Europe

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomáš Čejka ◽  
Miroslav Trnka ◽  
Paul J. Krusic ◽  
Ulrich Stobbe ◽  
Daniel Oliach ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Czech Republic ◽  
Central Europe ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Truffle Cultivation ◽  
Ecological Requirements ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Future Warming

AbstractClimate change affects the distribution of many species, including Burgundy and Périgord truffles in central and southern Europe, respectively. The cultivation potential of these high-prized cash crops under future warming, however, remains highly uncertain. Here we perform a literature review to define the ecological requirements for the growth of both truffle species. This information is used to develop niche models, and to estimate their cultivation potential in the Czech Republic under current (2020) and future (2050) climate conditions. The Burgundy truffle is already highly suitable for cultivation on ~ 14% of agricultural land in the Czech Republic (8486 km2), whereas only ~ 8% of the warmest part of southern Moravia are currently characterised by a low suitability for Périgord truffles (6418 km2). Though rising temperatures under RCP8.5 will reduce the highly suitable cultivation areas by 7%, the 250 km2 (3%) expansion under low-emission scenarios will stimulate Burgundy truffles to benefit from future warming. Doubling the moderate and expanding the highly suitable land by 352 km2 in 2050, the overall cultivation potential for Périgord truffles will rise substantially. Our findings suggest that Burgundy and Périgord truffles could become important high-value crops for many regions in central Europe with alkaline soils. Although associated with uncertainty, long-term investments in truffle cultivation could generate a wide range of ecological and economic benefits.

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