Forest fires causes and motivations are poorly understood in southern and south-eastern Europe. This research aims to identify how experts perceive the different causes of forest fires as defined in ...the classification proposed by the European Commission in 2013. A panel of experts (N = 271) was gathered from the EU Southern Member States (France, Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain) and from Central (Switzerland) and south-eastern Europe (Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republic of North Macedonia, and Turkey). Experts were asked to answer a questionnaire to score the importance of the 29 fire causes using a five point (1–5) Likert Scale. Agricultural burnings received the highest score, followed by Deliberate fire for profit, and Vegetation management. Most of the events stem from Negligence, whereas malicious fire setting is arguably overestimated although there are differences among the countries. This research demonstrates the importance of different techniques to enhance the knowledge of the causes of the complex anthropogenic phenomenon of forest fire occurrence.
This paper analyses impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Croatian tourism. The analysis is based on data on tourism arrivals, overnight stays and tourist beds in the period January – September in 2019 ...and 2020, as later data for 2020 was not available at the moment of writing. Generated from the online-registering system data was specially prepared by the Croatian Tourist Boards. Apart from an immense decline in all tourism parameters, which goes in line with global trends, the results of our research reveal changes that occurred in terms of seasonality, spatial distribution of tourism, average stay, organization of arrival, age, origin and type of accommodation used, according to the data available. The paper further discusses the global context of the pandemic situation and local and personal responses that have an important impact on re-directing and tracing eventually new tourism trajectories of the (post)pandemic time. Two principal groups of factors have been recognized as mostly affecting the processes, trends and possible future trajectories have been identified: on the one hand global movement and travel bans and restrictions, on the other hand personal responses reflected in motivation and behavioural changes. Changes that occurred in pandemic time are seen as catalysts for re-enforcement and raised interest in escapism and slow movements in tourism. Instead of seeking to ‘go back to business as usual’, the authors argue to reconsider the trajectories that emerged during the time of the pandemic and to envisage other approaches towards more sustainable tourism.
Wildfires are an important factor of landscape dynamics in fire-prone environments of the world. In the Mediterranean, one of the most fire-susceptible environments globally, between 45,000 and ...50,000 wildfires are recorded every year, causing disturbances in forest and grassland ecosystems. As a Mediterranean country, Croatia faces these problems, averaging over 1000 registered wildfires annually, with the coastal areas dominated by forest fires and continental Croatia by fires on agricultural lands. This research combines various landscape and socio-economic factors in the analysis of fire occurrence in Croatia's southernmost region of Dalmatia. Around 275 of the largest fires (encompassing 98% of the total burnt area) registered in 2013 were investigated using OLS, and different spatial indices were employed to analyse regional variability in fire distribution. The results revealed that areas more prone to fires are the northern inland areas of Dalmatia and its entire coastal zone. Altitude and vegetation type demonstrated a correlation with fire occurrence, but an increase in population in the study area was also correlated with wildfire occurrence. Regarding vegetation, the grasslands and Mediterranean shrubland (maquis) were found to be the most fire-prone vegetation types in the study region, the distribution of which can be linked to different socio-economic and demographic processes occurring in the Eastern Adriatic.
ABSTRACT
While not necessarily actual in the contemporary administrative divisions, vernacular regions are an integral part of regional identities. As such, they are a type of perceptual regions ...based solely on the inhabitants’ inner perception of a region. Vernacular regions are usually articulated through the occurrence of a region's name in various informal narratives such as labels of interest groups. The aim of the paper is to use the official online databases as a means to identify and extract interest groups such as businesses, companies and public associations with labels containing the name of Zagora region in southern Croatia. The extracted data is used to map the vernacular region and reach conclusions about the applicability of the method and the utilised data sources, as well as to find out how external perception influences regional affiliation in a traditional region without institutional frame.
The paper presents structural features and the process and intensity of landscape changes in the Central Lika Region of Croatia, in the transitional, post-socialist and post-war periods (1980–2012). ...The aim of this paper is to analyse regularities and interrelations between the changes in structural features and the intensity of the processes that cause change. By using GIS spatial analysis methods, the shape, position, and condition of landscape patches were defined for each year. The diachronic process analysis, with the application of a specially-developed index — the Landscape Development Index (di) — made it possible to determine the intensity of development of individual landscape elements. The landscape was observed using the concept of Land Use/Land Cover (LULC) and, for this purpose, data from the CORINE Land Cover database were used for 1980 and 2012. The results showed fragmentation and an increase in the number and complexity of patches, as well as a decrease of the core patch area. Consequently, the increase of the share of edge areas has increased vulnerability to external influences and changes. Applying the Landscape Development Index (di) showed advantages compared to a standard comparison of the two conditions or synthetic indices, enabling the intensity of each observed phenomenon/process to be determined, and allowing for deeper spatial and temporal analysis as well as better understanding of landscape development.
U ovom radu provedena je analiza i definicija razvojnih tipova i podtipova krajolika Srednje Like na temelju procesa promjene u razdoblju 1980−2012. Korišteni su podatci baze CORINE Land Cover za ...1980. i 2012. godinu, pri čemu su utvrđeni tipovi krajolika Srednje Like za navedene godine. Tipovi krajolika Srednje Like određeni su prema zemljišnom pokrovu i načinu korištenja zemljišta. Na temelju međuodnosa utvrđenih tipova krajolika za dvije promatrane godine, uspostavljeno je šest razvojnih tipova i tri razvojna podtipa krajolika Srednje Like. Prostorna distribucija razvojnih tipova i podtipova krajolika Srednje Like provedena je metodom prostorne analize Elipse standardnih devijacija (Distribucija smjerova) (Standard Deviational Ellipse (Directional Distribution)). Dobiveni rezultati pokazali su da se u promatranom razdoblju najveći dio (89,46 %) područja Srednje Like odnosi na razvojni tip krajolika Stagnacija. Ostali ustanovljeni razvojni tipovi zastupljeni su u mnogo manjoj mjeri (ispod 5,5%), a odnose se na tipove Sukcesije vegetacije, Agrarizacije, Degradacije vegetacije i Izgradnje. Utvrđeno je prostorno stupnjevanje triju faza procesa sukcesije vegetacije, odnosno razvojnih podtipova od središnjeg prema rubnom području istraživanja. Također, u promatranom razdoblju proces i trend ekstenzifikacije korištenja zemljišta Srednje Like dvostruko je zastupljeniji od intenzifikacije.
This paper presents an analysis and definition of development types and subtypes in the landscape of Central Lika, based on processes of change in the period 1980−2012 CORINE Land Cover database data ...for 1980 and 2012 were used to establish the landscape types in Central Lika in those years. The landscape types in Central Lika were determined according to land cover/land use. Based on the mutual relations between the established landscape types in the two observed years, we established six landscape development types and three subtypes in Central Lika. The spatial distribution of landscape development types and subtypes in Central Lika was determined using the Standard Deviational Ellipse (Directional Distribution) spatial analysis method. The results obtained showed that in the observation period (1980−2012), most of the area of Central Lika (89.46%) belonged to the Stagnation landscape type. Other development types were present to a much lesser extent (about 5.5%) and were found to be Vegetation succession, Agrarisation, Vegetation degradation and Built-up land. We established a spatial gradation of three phases in the process of vegetation succession, that is, development subtypes from the centre to the margins of the research area. At the same time, in the observation period, the process and trend of extensification of land use in Central Lika was twice as present as intensification.
U ovom radu provedena je analiza i definicija razvojnih tipova i podtipova krajolika Srednje Like na temelju procesa promjene u razdoblju 1980−2012. Korišteni su podatci baze CORINE Land Cover za 1980. i 2012. godinu, pri čemu su utvrđeni tipovi krajolika Srednje Like za navedene godine. Tipovi krajolika Srednje Like određeni su prema zemljišnom pokrovu i načinu korištenja zemljišta. Na temelju međuodnosa utvrđenih tipova krajolika za dvije promatrane godine, uspostavljeno je šest razvojnih tipova i tri razvojna podtipa krajolika Srednje Like. Prostorna distribucija razvojnih tipova i podtipova krajolika Srednje Like provedena je metodom prostorne analize Elipse standardnih devijacija (Distribucija smjerova) (Standard Deviational Ellipse (Directional Distribution)). Dobiveni rezultati pokazali su da se u promatranom razdoblju najveći dio (89,46 %) područja Srednje Like odnosi na razvojni tip krajolika Stagnacija. Ostali ustanovljeni razvojni tipovi zastupljeni su u mnogo manjoj mjeri (ispod 5,5%), a odnose se na tipove Sukcesije vegetacije, Agrarizacije, Degradacije vegetacije i Izgradnje. Utvrđeno je prostorno stupnjevanje triju faza procesa sukcesije vegetacije, odnosno razvojnih podtipova od središnjeg prema rubnom području istraživanja. Također, u promatranom razdoblju proces i trend ekstenzifikacije korištenja zemljišta Srednje Like dvostruko je zastupljeniji od intenzifikacije.
This paper presents the results of a survey on the perception of the population of Central Lika on the characteristics and changes in land use on their own households/farms at the turn of the 20th ...and 21st century (after the 1990s) as well as their perception of landscape development. The survey was conducted by a combined (quantitative and qualitative) survey method on a sample of anonymous respondents selected by a simple random sample method »on the spot« (in situ) in several settlement groups that differ in terms of their location (proximity to roads, altitude, etc.). The survey questionnaires were analyzed by the IBM SPSS Statistics computer program. The results of the survey questionnaire were analyzed by descriptive statistics procedures, while individual relationships were analyzed by inferential statistics procedures, i.e., by the Hi-square (χ2) test. The analysis was conducted at the level of Central Lika region as a whole, and at the intraregional level of three groups of settlements in Central Lika region. One of the obtained important results of the research is that the respondents of the most rural, southeastern area perceive the landscape of Central Lika region more forested, as they have been much more engaged in the connection with the environment (working the land), and thus aware of changes in the landscape and the process of extensification and reforestation, unlike the urban population of Gospić and the population of larger settlements in the northern area, whose perceptions of afforestation were very heterogeneous.
Koristeći odabrani informativni medij kao izvor podataka o percepciji prostora, u radu se istražuju imena korištena u svakodnevnoj komunikaciji za identitet pet područja dalmatinske unutrašnjosti: ...Zagoru, Bukovicu, Ravne kotare, Zabiokovlje i Neretvanski kraj. Analizom i pretragom arhive odabranoga medijskog izvora uz detaljno razrađen skup kriterija te izdvajanjem i prostornom klasifikacijom geografskih imena nastoje se prepoznati i definirati prostorni obuhvati percepcije pojedinih regija kao misaonih modela (koncept vernakularne regije). Dobivenim rezultatima za pet vernakularnih regija, standardiziranim na razini službenih upravnih jedinica, konstruira se imaginativna karta dalmatinskoga zaobalja kao odraz kolektivne predodžbe njihova prostornog obuhvata.
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