TRANSFORMATION OF GRASSLANDS INTO FORESTS IN BANAT MOUNTAINS, BETWEEN 1990 AND 2023

Abstract

The semi-natural grasslands on the Romanian territory and essentially the Banat Mountains, generally framed by forest areas, over time, can be transformed into forests by the lack of adequate management (grazing, care work) with a significant impact on the rural economy. Having access to geospatial resources and techniques specific to Geographic Information Systems (GIS), this study investigated the transformation of grasslands into forests in the Banat Mountains over a period of over 30 years and their arrangement on altitude steps. The research methodology was carried out in four stages: localization and delimitation of the area of interest; analysis of land use, especially of the grassland areas; analysis of forested grasslands in territorial profile and in altitudinal profile. ArcGIS 10.4 software was used to apply the workflow. Research results show that grasslands undergo a series of transformations as a result of the post-communist socio-political situation. Most of the lost grassland areas, namely an area of 8,237 ha was wooded and therefore passed to forests, a phenomenon that occurred in all component subareas, in different proportions. The analysis of grassland afforestation at ATU level showed that the largest wooded areas were in Sicheviţa ATU (991 ha). On the altitude gradient 57% (4,707 ha) are located below the altitude of 500 m, 24%, between 501 – 700 m, respectively 12%, between 701 – 900 m. At higher altitudes grassland afforestation occurs to a lesser extent, given the smaller grassland areas. Generally, afforestation of grasslands occurs through their abandonment, expressed by the lack of maintenance and exploitation works.