Character of woodland fragments affects distribution of myriapod assemblages in agricultural landscape.

Fragments of woodland fulfil many irreplaceable functions in the agricultural landscape including being the main source of biodiversity of soil invertebrates. Due to intensive farming and land use changes, especially in the second half of the 20 century, fragments of woodland in agricultural landscape almost disappeared. This has led to a decrease in the diversity of invertebrates, especially those for which the presence of these woodland habitats in the landscape is a key element for survival.

Relationships between physical-geographical factors and soil degradation on agricultural land.

It is a well-known fact that soil degradation is dramatically increasing and currently threatens agricultural soils all around the world. The objective of this study was to reveal the possible connection between soil degradation and seven physical-geographical factors - slope steepness, altitude, elevation differences, rainfall, temperature, soil texture and solar radiation - in the form of threshold values (if these exist), where soil degradation begins and ends. The analysis involved the whole area of the Czech Republic which consists of 13,027 cadasters (78,866 km).

Assessment of potential soil degradation on agricultural land in the czech republic.

Many attempts have been made worldwide to develop methods to identify the areas most threatened by soil degradation. Some soils in afflicted areas may be irreversibly degraded and thus have very little resilience (the ability to restore themselves). For the purpose of assessing the current state of soil degradation in the Czech Republic (CZ) we have developed an overall indicator of land vulnerability to the threat of soil degradation on the basis of individual factors that contribute to soil degradation and are monitored on a long-term basis in various research worksites in the CZ.