Landscape heterogeneity—a quantitative criterion for landscape reconstruction

The North Bohemian brown coal basin is located near to the frontier between the Czech Republic and Germany. It is a part of wider region known as the Black Triangle. Open-cast coal mining has caused total destruction of original ecosystems, as well as changes of relief and also land-use changes in the surrounding areas. Specialists call this situation landscape memory loss. Reconstruction of a landscape or creation of a new landscape is very difficult in areas where mining has come to an end. One of the most difficult issue is the reintroduction of target species. Recent studies suggest that large inhospitable patches are avoided by animals, and that many species need more than one landscape element in proximity. Generally, species diversity is greater in heterogeneous landscapes. Greater landscape heterogeneity also provides better conditions for fast reintroduction of target species into the wasteland. This paper presents a case study on land use—the recultivation of landscape in the Chabarovice area (1400 ha). Landscape heterogeneity is the quantitative criterion for the final proposal of a new landscape mosaic. Three comparative areas were analyzed—two of them adjacent to the study area (present state), while the other analyzed the historical state of the study area in 1842. The information gained from the studies of adjacent areas, and from the historic study of the study area itself, was not used in order to reconstruct the area as it had once been, nor even in order to reproduce a situation similar to that in nearby areas. The aim was to take advantage of the opportunity to improve the environment in the study area considerably, and to do so a way that will benefit biodiversity throughout the whole region.