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A GIS-based method for the reconstruction of the late eighteenth century forest vegetation in the Prignitz region (NE Germany)

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Abstract

Our goal was to reconstruct the late eighteenth century forest vegetation of the Prignitz region (NE Germany) at a scale of 1:50,000. We also wanted to relate the historical forest vegetation to the actual and potential natural vegetation. For these purposes, we selected 15 woody species and transferred relevant data found in historical records from various sources together with the recent localities of (very) old individuals belonging to these woody species into ArcView GIS. Following multi-step data processing including the generation of a point density layer using a moving window with kernel estimation and derivation of vegetation units applying Boolean algebra rules together with information on site conditions, we derived 17 forest communities corresponding to the potential natural vegetation. We were able to reconstruct the historical forest vegetation for 90% of the forest area ca. 1780. Only two of the 17 forest communities covered large parts of the forested area. The oak forest with Agrostis capillaris covered about 44% of the total forest area, and alder forests on fenland made up about 37%. Oak-hornbeam forests with Stellaria holostea comprised slightly less than 6% of the forest area, while all other forest communities comprised less than 1%. The historical forest vegetation is more similar to the potential forest vegetation and quite different from the actual forest vegetation because coniferous tree species currently cover approximately two-thirds of the actual forest area. The most beneficial result of this study is the map of high-resolution historical vegetation units that may serve as the basis for various further studies, e.g., modelling long-term changes in biodiversity at the landscape scale.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Ute Jahn, Sigrid Ehlert and Joachim Kiesel for their friendly and extensive technical assistance. The research was supported through basic funding of the research institution by the Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection (BMELV, Bonn, Germany) and by the Ministry for Rural Development, Environment and Consumer Protection of Brandenburg (MLUV, Potsdam, Germany). We thank the American Journal Experts service for polishing our English.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Land Use Systems, Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Research (Leibniz-ZALF e.V.), 15374, Müncheberg, Germany

    Monika Wulf

  2. Faculty of Biochemistry and Biology, Potsdam University, 14469, Potsdam, Germany

    Monika Wulf

  3. 03046, Cottbus, Germany

    Hendrik Rujner

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  1. Monika Wulf
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  2. Hendrik Rujner
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Correspondence to Monika Wulf.

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Wulf, M., Rujner, H. A GIS-based method for the reconstruction of the late eighteenth century forest vegetation in the Prignitz region (NE Germany). Landscape Ecol 26, 153–168 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-010-9555-1

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