Spatial assessment of the areas sensitive to degradation in the rural area of the municipality Cukarica

Abstract

In this paper, the assessment of the sensitivity of the soil in the rural area of Cukarica municipality to the processes of degradation is considered. Land areas, especially in the vicinity of large cities, are exposed to numerous processes of degradation: soil erosion, urban and industrial zone expansion at the expense of fertile agricultural soils, activation of landslides and a number of other significant ecological problems. Based on the characteristics of the research area, the MEDALUS (Mediterranean Desertification and Land Use) model was applied, and for the assessment of sensitivity to the processes of degradation the main quality indicators were considered: soil, climate, vegetation and management. For each of the analyzed quality indicators, parameter groups were identified. Each parameter is quantified according to the defined method by giving them a sensitivity coefficient between 1.0 and 2.0. ArcGIS 10.0 has been applied to analyze and prepare layers of quality maps. Subsequently, the geometric mean for all four quality indicators was used to generate the map of environmental sensitivity to degradation. The results obtained show that 41.54% of the study area is classified as critical; 22.34% of the surface as fragile; 8.47% of the areas are potentially endangered and 9.58% not threatened to degradation processes. The results have also shown that MEDALUS model is a functional tool for simulations which support sustainable land management in the areas prone to degradation.