ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF SUGAR BEET PLANTATION IN THE PAST ON CURRENT CULTURAL LANDSCAPE IN OLOMOUC ARCHDIOCESE AREA (CZECH REPUBLIC)

The paper deals with environmental impacts of sugar beet plantation in the 19th century on current landscape character in study area Olomouc Archdiocese territory, which is typical central European cultural landscape. This study is based on results of a comparative landscape analysis based on methodological approach of environmental geography. The focus of analyses is on land-use changes of agricultural land from the 19th century to 2017. Olomouc Archdiocese territory was selected as the study area because this region is one of the most important agricultural regions both in the historic Czech lands and in Central Europe. A dynamic historical development of the sugar beet plantation (and sugar industry) has been found in study area during the period between the second (1836-1838) and third (1876 1878) historical Austrian military surveys. Results of the comparative analysis indicate an important influence of the introduction of sugar beet plantation on the land-use in the study area. The needs of fields for sugar beet plantation lead to a sharp decline in the percentage of area covered by permanent grasslands and ponds. These changes in land-use of agricultural land in the 19th century are comparable to significant land-use changes, which were connected with a socialist collectivization of agriculture in Central Europe in the mid-20th century. These historical land use changes have important environmental consequences for cultural landscape in 2017. Findings of this paper are discussed in the frame of prevailing trends in land-use changes of cultural landscape and its environmental aspects in Central Europe context.