Zsuzsanna Ladányi

Drought Severity and its Effect on Agricultural Production in the Hungarian-Serbian Cross-Border Area

Abstract Several environmental and economic consequences of drought and the accompanying water shortage were observed in the plain area of the Carpathian Basin in the last decades. This area is mostly used for agriculture, thus it is a key problem in the future to maintain food safety in the changing circumstances. Therefore, involvement and identification of areas affected by drought hazard and revealing steps of efficient adaptation are of high importance. In this study influence of drought severity on agricultural production is investigated in the Hungarian-Serbian cross-border area. The tendency in drought severity was analysed by PaDI and MAI drought indices. The effect of drought on agricultural production is evaluated on maize yield data as the most drought sensitive crop in the region. Increasing drought frequency and severity was indicated for the study area for the period of 1961-2012. The spatial assessment of annual PaDI maps revealed the higher exposure of the north and northeastern part of the study area to drought, where drought frequency was also experienced to be the highest. Increased sensitivity was detected based on maize yield loss after the early 1990s and annual yields were in strong connection with d rought severity. In spite of the technological development of agriculture, environmental factors still substantially affect crop yie lds. The observed unfavourable changes in the region mean that water management and spatial planning faces conceptual challenges to prevent and mitigate the damages of drought.

Evaluation of precipitation-vegetation interaction on a climate-sensitive landscape using vegetation indices

Many places in the world show spectacular landscape changes caused by increasingly rapid alterations of natural phenomena observed in the last 3 to 4 decades. More and more studies reveal the consequences of global climate change strengthened by anthropogenic effects. The cause of rapid changes in the landscape is often due to the alteration of the natural water-cycle. Using moderate resolution imaging spectoradiometer vegetation indices, this study analyzed the relationship between biomass and precipitation, being one of the most important climate elements, over a Hungarian landscape that has been highly affected by the process of groundwater-table sinking in the last decades. Research proved that the reasons for this decrease are mainly the precipitation shortage due to climate change and to a much smaller extent, anthropogenic effects. In the forests of the study area, the annual distribution of precipitation proved to be an important factor, and the biomass produced by forests is influenced by the precipitation over a shorter interval—compared to less sensitive landscapes. Under increasing aridification, further degradation of vegetation can be expected as has already been observed during drier periods in the case of tree species with high water demand.

Assessment of future scenarios for wind erosion sensitivity changes based on ALADIN and REMO regional climate model simulation data

Abstract The changes in rate and pattern of wind erosion sensitivity due to climate change were investigated for 2021–2050 and 2071–2100 compared to the reference period (1961–1990) in Hungary. The sensitivities of the main influencing factors (soil texture, vegetation cover and climate factor) were evaluated by fuzzy method and a combined wind erosion sensitivity map was compiled. The climate factor, as the driving factor of the changes, was assessed based on observed data for the reference period, while REMO and ALADIN regional climate model simulation data for the future periods. The changes in wind erosion sensitivity were evaluated on potentially affected agricultural land use types, and hot spot areas were allocated. Based on the results, 5–6% of the total agricultural areas were high sensitive areas in the reference period. In the 21st century slight or moderate changes of wind erosion sensitivity can be expected, and mostly ‘pastures’, ‘complex cultivation patterns’, and ‘land principally occupied by agriculture with significant areas of natural vegetation’ are affected. The applied combination of multi-indicator approach and fuzzy analysis provides novelty in the field of land sensitivity assessment. The method is suitable for regional scale analysis of wind erosion sensitivity changes and supports regional planning by allocating priority areas where changes in agro-technics or land use have to be considered.

Small-scale agricultural landscapes promote spider and ground beetle densities by offering suitable overwintering sites

ContextIntensive agricultural management practices and landscape homogenisation are the main drivers of biodiversity loss in agricultural landscapes. Agricultural fields are regularly disturbed and provide unstable habitats due to crop management regimes. This may lead to movement of arthropods into neighbouring non-arable habitats, as natural and semi-natural habitats provide suitable overwintering sites.ObjectivesHere we assessed the effect of landscape composition and configuration on the overwintering spider and carabid fauna of grassy field margins and hedgerows.MethodsWe sampled ground-dwelling arthropods at field edges of different types (grassy field margin and hedgerows), landscape composition (diverse and simple) and configuration (mosaic and large-scale agricultural landscapes).ResultsWe detected larger spiders in hedgerows than in grassy field margins and in complex landscapes rather than in simple landscapes. We found a significant effect of interaction between landscape composition and edge type on ballooning propensity of spiders. Agrobiont carabids were more abundant in field edges of compositionally simple and large-scale agricultural landscapes. Furthermore, we showed an effect of interaction between landscape composition and edge type on agrobiont spiders. We collected larger carabids in grassy field margins than in hedgerows and carabids were smaller in simple landscapes than in diverse landscapes. The spider community was affected by edge type, and landscape composition had a significant effect on the carabid community.ConclusionsSmall-scale agricultural landscapes may have higher overall densities of ground-dwelling spiders and carabids than large scale landscapes due to the relatively high edge density and the higher quantity of available overwintering sites.

Public Perception on Hydro-Climatic Extremes and Water Management Related to Environmental Exposure, SE Hungary

Increasing climate extremities, as consequences of climate change, highly affect the public and farmers in the SE Carpathian Basin. Our research aimed at the investigation of the perceptions and experiences of public, farmers and decision-makers on drought and inland excess water problems on the Hungarian part of this region, since their knowledge and cooperation are essential in the future planning of sustainable water management. Their opinions were explored by 481 questionnaires and 52 in-depth interviews addressing the perceived climate change impacts in everyday life and agriculture, causes of drought and inland excess water, possibilities of mitigation and adaptation, and sustainability of the present farming structure. The spatial distribution of the answers was compared with the spatial pattern of drought and inland excess water sensitivity based on environmental indicators. The results confirmed their high correspondence reflecting a realistic knowledge on severity, significance and the contributing factors. Individual responsibility, the lack of financial resources and an uncertain vision of public were considered as major weak points that could be improved to foster the implementation of an effective water management strategy. High efforts are necessary to outline the framework of inclusive planning processes with exact roles of all actors and find ways to motivate co-operation willingness and increase individual responsibility.

Assessment of possible uncertainties arising during the hydromorphological monitoring of a Sand-Bedded Large River

Abstract The riverbed morphology of sand-bedded rivers is dynamically changing as a consequence of quasi continuous bedload transport. In the meantime, the dimension, size and dynamics of developing bedforms is highly depending on the regime of the river and sediment availability, both affected by natural and anthropogenic factors. Consequently, the assessment of morphological changes as well as the monitoring of riverbed balance is challenging in such a variable environment. In relation with a general research on the longer term sediment regime of River Maros, a fairly large alluvial river in the Carpathian Basin, the primary aim of the present investigation was to assess uncertainties related to morphological monitoring, i.e. testing the reproducibility of hydromorphological surveys and digital elevation model generation by performing repeated measurements among low water conditions on selected representative sites. Surveys were conducted with the combination of an ADCP sonar, GPS and total station. The most appropriate way of digital elevation modelling (DEM) was tested and 30-point Kriging was identified to be optimal for comparative analysis. Based on the results, several uncertainties may affect the reproducibility of measurements and the volumetric deviation of DEM pairs generated. The mean horizontal difference of survey tracks was 3-4 m in case of each site, however this could not explain all the DEM deviation. Significant riverbed change between measurements could also be excluded as the main factor. Finally, it was found that results might be affected greatly by systematic errors arising during motor boat ADCP measurements. Nevertheless, the observed, normalised and aggregated DEM uncertainty (600-360 m3/rkm) is significantly lower than the changes experienced between surveys with a month or longer time lag. Consequently, the developed measurement strategy is adequate to monitor long term morphological and sediment balance change on sand bedded large river.

Tree-Ring Width And Its Interrelation With Environmental Parameters: Case Study In Central Hungary

Abstract Tree ring width is influenced by several internal and external factors, among which climate became one of the most dominant due to the altering conditions and patterns of precipitation and temperature. The study aims to analyse the interrelationship between tree ring-width and the dominant environmental parameters in a landscape exposed to water scarcity in the past decades due to climate change and human interventions. Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris), black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) and white poplar (Populus alba) plantations were sampled to reveal their exposure to climatic forcing and water scarcity (different water availability). Correlation and similarity analysis were carried out to compare the calculated ring-width indices to climatic parameters and aridity indices. Tree ring sensitivity was assessed to reveal the impact of water scarcity on yearly ring-growth. Spatial overlapping of significance levels and mean sensitivity with the hydrological changes of the past decades were evaluated to reveal presumable spatial differences of the investigated samples. In the study area (South Danube-Tisza Interfluve) droughts and the deep groundwater table had both impacts on tree growth. The spectacular decrease of ring-width corresponds to the drought years determined by the investigated aridity indices. The relationship between the climate parameters and the ring-widths varies spatially with the changing site conditions. The highest level of correlation coefficients was experienced in areas with the lowest level of water availability. Ring-width sensitivity assessments showed an increasing tendency of sensitivity when comparing the consecutive decades, except for samples with favorable water availability.

Comparative Grain-Size Measurements for Validating Sampling and Pretreatment Techniques in Terms of Solifluction Landforms, Southern Carpathians, Romania

Abstract Grain-size distribution has become in the last years an important indicator in the analysis of periglacial processes and landforms. However, as they exhibit a complex sedimentology, careful sampling is required to draw meaningful conclusions. The aim of the present study was therefore to validate the sampling procedure carried out on solifluction forms and to evaluate the effect of sampling pretreatment during grain size analysis. A comparison between multiple measurements of grain size distribution using the laser diffraction method (LDM) was performed on 54 sediment samples collected from different solifluction landforms at different depths in the alpine area of the Southern Carpathians. The results of parallel measurements were compared using textural and statistical indicators. The received distributions reinforced the properness of field sampling procedure in most of the cases. The results of textural classification and fractional composition showed a high consistency between the two parallel measurements made on untreated and pretreated samples. An overall fining as a matter of etching was identified. Relative deviation increased and correlation decreased as pretreatment advanced. HCl etching resulted a greater deviation and variability in case of the sand fraction, H2O2 rather affected the silt fraction. The greatest deviations were experienced in case of landforms developed on crystalline limestone. Pretreatment of samples introduced a major uncertainty to further comparison and interpretation. Thus, multiple LD measurements on a representative group of samples from the entire sample set were suggested before the geomorphological or environmental interpretation of results to decrease the uncertainties and to validate the processes

Investigating sensitivity in a Central European landscape

In many parts of the world, global climate change strengthened by human activities has resulted in severe landscape changes. With rapidly changing environmental conditions and climate elements, many studies have focused on the causes and consequences of climate change. For at least 30 years, remote sensing has been used for the continuous monitoring of the Earth’s surface, providing opportunities for long-term evaluation of vegetation changes. In our previous research, we focused on indicators that show and qualify processes such as vegetation, groundwater, and soil on the Great Hungarian Plain. We identified the connections