Assessment of Landscape Functions of Abandoned Lands to Develop a Scenario for Their Future Use (a Case Study of the Meshchera Lowland)

Abstract

After the demise of the Soviet Union, many drained reclaimed lands were abandoned, which resulted a new postreclamation type of landscapes. Identification of new trends in their dynamics and evolution makes it possible to create a database for assessing the loss of socioeconomic functions earlier fulfilled by these landscapes. A landscape in Central Meshchera drained in 1966 was used as a model area. The dynamics and functioning of the landscape in the zone affected by the reclamation system and outside it have been monitored at experimental stations since 1977. Changes in landscape functions as a result of intensive use of drainage systems from 1966 to 1991 and its abandonment in 1993–2015 have been qualitatively assessed on the basis of 18 ecological and socioeconomic indicators. A relative scaling method is substantiated and used to analyze four landscape functions: biological production, regulation of surface water quality, soil fertility, and cultural (aesthetic) function. Etalons of regional level have been chosen for the assessment of landscape functions from the point of view of local society. The use of weighted coefficients for the given functions permit to conclude that at the present time, this area is of the greatest value for agricultural activity and is useless for the solution of nature protection problems, though the differences in the integral value are small.