Spatial Provision and Specific Features of Land Fund Concentration in the Natural Regions of Chernivtsi Oblast

Abstract

The issue of spatial analysis of Ukraine's land fund is relatively rare and predominantly concerns specialized studies of its dynamics at the beginning of the 21st century. The testing of geoecological analysis methodology, as well as the features of landscape differentiation and anthropogenic transformation of the land fund, was conducted using the example of geoecological zoning of the Zhytomyr region. In the Polissya region of Volyn Oblast, Nestarchuk I. et al. studied the current use of built-up lands and changes in the area of settlement landscapes by analyzing maps from different time periods. I. Krainova performed a comprehensive spatial analysis of the land fund under the influence of agricultural, settlement, recreational, and other types of land use. Quantitative indicators of land area and arable land quality were studied in the geospatial data descriptions by A. Moskalenko. These calculations aimed to examine the state of provision and evaluate all land resources and their component structure in Vasylkiv District, Kyiv Oblast.

Spatial analysis of land resources beyond Ukraine has not been conducted by domestic scientists. However, such studies are present in publications by Spanish, Italian, Belgian, German, American, Canadian, Chinese, and other researchers. A study on the driving factors behind changes in the ratio of key types of land resources and their use in the Spanish Mediterranean was conducted by Serraa P. et al. from the Department of Geography in Barcelona. The results revealed an intensification of land use processes, with dominance of meadows and pastures on plains and the recovery of forested lands in the mountainous landscapes of Catalonia. 

Practical recommendations for specialists applying quantitative approaches to sustainable planning and development of rural landscapes in Canada and Italy were offered in joint Canadian-Italian studies. A team of American researchers explored the impact of changes in the spatial extent of land resources on landscape diversity. Continued development and testing of new methods for spatiotemporal analysis of land dynamics using GIS technologies were presented in another study by the same researchers. The Canadian-Italian landscape planning methodology and comparisons across different years involve the application of landscape structure indices, such as size, shape, nearest-neighbor distance, proximity index, and others.

It is important to emphasize that quantitative approaches to the analysis and interpretation of landscape spatial models are rapidly evolving. However, relatively few methodologies have been tested in this regard. A research team from the University of Tartu (Estonia) and Ghent University (Belgium) noted that in the titles and keywords of scientific articles published in journals indexed by the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) and Web of Science (WoS) from 1994 to 2008, most publications did not utilize quantitative-qualitative landscape characteristics, their indicators, or indices. Only a limited number of studies in the academic community addressed these aspects. After 2010, the use of landscape indicators and their functions in evaluating land-use changes and land resources significantly increased.

Geographical studies conducted by researchers at Pennsylvania State University, led by Wardrop D. H. et al. in 2005, utilized forested, agricultural, and urbanized lands on moderate slopes for territorial assessment and cluster analysis of land resources in the physiographic provinces of the Mid-Atlantic coastal region. Spatially non-stationary relationships between anthropogenic impacts and elements of the urban landscape in Shenzhen (Guangdong Province, China) were analyzed by Gao Jiangbo et al. for land management and urban planning. This study employed geographically weighted regression to assess the influence of distances to major roads. Specific solutions for integrating several spatial landscape categories were proposed by German researchers. Their methodology provides a framework for better accounting of social and cultural components within cultural landscapes that are not classified as ecosystems. This approach emphasizes the importance of cultural distinctiveness in landscape analysis.

In the methodologies of Ukrainian scientists for analyzing land resources of landscapes, either point-based evaluation or quantitative and qualitative indicators are utilized. For example, I. Koynova, using a retrospective method and topographic maps at a scale of 1:100,000, along with 21 criteria for the intensity of anthropogenic impact, studied the dynamics of landscape anthropogenization throughout the 20th century.

The territorial analysis of the concentration of major land types is most appropriately defined using an index or coefficient of territorial concentration (Kt.c.). Based on the analyzed trends in the spatial distribution of Kt.c. across the physiographic regions, the following patterns are observed:

          Agricultural lands dominate extensively in the Prut-Dniester Highland region, whereas their concentration is insufficient in the Skybovi and Verkhovyna Carpathians as well as in the Prut-Siret Highland region.

• Forests and other forest-covered areas exhibit a general pattern of insufficient concentration in the Prut-Dniester region (almost completely) and to a lesser extent in the Pre-Carpathians. However, there is a high and sufficient concentration in the mountainous part of the Carpathians. The Carpathian mega-cluster represents an area of extreme territorial concentration of forest-covered areas.

This distribution highlights the significant contrast in land use intensity and ecological zoning between the lowlands and highlands of the region.

Half of the physiographic regions with optimal concentrations of built-up lands are isolated, while others share common boundaries, forming two clusters: one in the Prut-Dniester region and the other in the Prut-Siret interfluve. The most untouched areas are the physiographic regions of the Verkhovyna and Polonynsko-Chornohirsky Carpathians. From Zastavna to Novoselytsia physiographic regions of the Prut-Dniester Highland area, a continuous zone of excessive land waterlogging has developed. In contrast, the Northern Bessarabian cluster and the high-altitude areas of the Carpathians are characterized by the absence of waterlogged lands. The territorial concentration of open lands without vegetation, according to corresponding coefficients, shows the greatest variety in the Pre-Carpathian region. Based on the overall analysis of the territorial concentration of water-covered lands, a clear pattern emerges: sufficient concentration is observed in the Prut-Dniester Highland area, whereas it is insufficient in the Pre-Carpathian and Carpathian regions. This distribution highlights distinct regional contrasts in land use and natural conditions, reflecting the varying ecological and geographical dynamics across the area..