Darijus Veteikis

Studies of long-term land-use changes can reveal significant results about land use in the past and lead to the main causes of these changes being revealed. We georeferenced 27 selected sheets from 1846–1872 topographical maps of the Russian Empire, covering the territory of the modern Republic of Lithuania. The georeferencing was based on using ground control points. We discuss the overall insignificant errors obtained from joining the georeferenced sheets of this historical map. Manual digitizing (vectorizing) was preferred over automated means because of the specifications of the map. All the data were merged into five land-use categories: (1) forests; (2) wetlands; (3) built-up areas; (4) water bodies; and (5) other (mostly including arable land, grassland, and pastures). The reconstructed land-use structure of the 19th century was assessed for its compatibility with the spatial data of the CORINE land cover in 2018. The results showed that forest land use increased from 26.57% to 33.52%, built-up areas increased from 4.35% to 3.23%, and water bodies increased from 2.24% to 5.78%. Meanwhile, wetlands decreased from 4.35% to 0.84%, and other land use decreased from 66.56% to 56.63%. The main LULC change trends were determined to have resulted from political and economic decisions. The reconstructed LULC situation and identified LULC changes can provide the background for land management and future studies in various academic fields.

Given the growth in the number of biogas power plants and the increase in the generation of waste from energy production, it is relevant to study the sustainable nature of this waste. Digestate is a product of the anaerobic digestion process, and is a valuable bio-fertilizer containing organic matter and nutrients necessary for agricultural plants’ growth. The study showed that different rates of liquid and solid phases of anaerobic digestate influenced the contents of carbon and nitrogen in genetically young soil in alluvial deposits—Fluvisol. The application of solid digestate (SD) considerably increased soil organic carbon content (SOC) in the 0–10 cm soil layer; however, SOC did not reach the 20–30 cm layer. Liquid digestate (LD) significantly increased SOC in the deeper layers. The levels of mineral nitrogen (N_min) and water extractable organic carbon (WEOC) increased in the 0–10 cm soil layer soon after fertilization with LD and SD. The mobile components of the soil (N_min and WEOC) were characterized by high variability during the growing season. Within the 2-month period, their concentrations decreased drastically and were close to those of unfertilized soil. The research indicates that anaerobic digestate had a greater effect on mobile forms of carbon and nitrogen in the soil than on their total amounts.

The increasing anthropogenic impact on landscapes globally has increased interest in assessing landscape naturalness. This study assessed the changes in land cover in Lithuania and identified the most common reasons for land-use change. Coordination of Environment Information (CORINE) land-cover data were used to assess the changes in land cover naturalness in Lithuania from 1995 to 2018. Land-cover types were ranked according to the hemeroby index, ranging from natural landscape with no human impact to anthropogenic landscapes with excessively strong human impact. Land use trends in Lithuania were related to agricultural and forestry activities. During the analysed period, these areas decreased by as much as 11.19%, and the number of areas with a particularly strong impact from human activities also decreased. Land cover naturalness did increase in areas less suitable for agriculture. The impact of human activities on the naturalness of the landscape needs to be explored in detail at the local level, which should be followed by appropriate spatial-planning decisions to ensure ecological balance through as many sustainable solutions as possible, especially with the European Commission adoption the European Green Deal.

On the Curonian Spit, the leading conservation issue is an opposition between the two contrasting nature-management principles—anthropocentricity and biocentricity. Land managers still waver between the two options, and the worst-case scenario materializes as a rapid proliferation of vegetation to the accumulative sandplain (palve). It results in the decline of sand drift to the mobile dunes. This article aims to examine how climate change affects the coastal dune landscape and to identify current dune protection and management priorities. The analysis of hydroclimatic changes; succession patterns in forest, herbaceous, and open-sand ecosystems; and phenological-based evaluation (NDVI from MODIS, 2000–2020), influencing possible management directions, were carried out in this study. The results show the significant hydro-climatic changes (air temperature, precipitation, and sea level) occurring over the last thirty years. They influence the prevailing overgrowth trends in recent decades, especially in herbaceous ecosystems. Therefore, if the EU’s priority habitat—open-sand ecosystems—is to be preserved, the main policy recommendation is to apply adequate management tools such as grazing, and to pay more attention to the aesthetic ecosystem services of the mobile dunes parallel to biodiversity conservation.

1990 m. pradėta labiau domėtis kraštovaizdžiu ir jo komponentų tyrimais, tad buvo atkreiptas dėmesys ir į savaiminio ataugimo, kitaip sakant – savaiminio miškėjimo procesus. Išsamių renatūralizacijos kitimo tyrimų nebuvo atlikta, tad šio darbo pagrindinis tikslas – prisidėti prie kraštovaizdžio tyrimų Lietuvoje. Analizuota per pastaruosius 15 metų (1995–2010 m.) įvykę šalies kraštovaizdžio renatūralizacijos pokyčiai. Naudojantis originalia metodika išskirtuose 90 kraštovaizdžio monitoringų etalonų įvairaus tipo kraštovaizdžiuose trimis skirtingais laikotarpiais buvo tiriami renatūralizacijos pokyčiai. Nustatyta renatūralizacijos proceso klasifikacija, jos formos bei stadijos.