Autor(i)/Author(s): Peter Kurz
Názov/Title: Planting sustainability? On the management of hedgerows in Alpine bocage landscapes
Zdrojový dokument/Source: Plants in Urban Areas and Landscape
Typ dokumentu/Document Type: Scientific paper
ISBN: 978-80-552-1262-3
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15414/2014.9788055212623.132-137
Vydavateľ/Publisher: Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra
Rok, strany/PY, pages: 2014, 132-137
Publikované online/Published on-line: 2015-01-26
Jazyk/Language: eng
Abstract:
The paper deals with hedgerows as a building material in cultural landscapes, focusing on the role of maintenance and management for their sustaining. Based on investigations carried out in several alpine regions, where hedgerow
management has traditionally been an integrated part of peasant farming systems, a typology of hedgerows has been elaborated and linked to certain patterns of management. Historical and current economic contexts of peasant farming
systems have been considered. The presented "cycle of maintenance and rejuvenation" – founded on the basic techniques of trimming, pollarding and coppicing – subsumes some general and recurring principles of hedgerow management, as
practiced by mountain farmers. Taking this scheme as groundwork, ongoing dynamics in alpine bocage landscapes could be identified and linked to the transformations in alpine farming systems. By retracing changes in hedgerow management
and their economic backgrounds we may reconsider possible success or failure of current efforts in implementing new hedgerows in alpine landscapes, in order to improve their ecological and aesthetic qualities. It is argued that planting of
hedgerows may only contribute to sustainability and diversity of rural landscapes, if they are integrated into the current farm households` practice, their farming systems and the underlying economies of labour. It can be observed that without
adequate maintenance and management, planting of hedgerows is not only reduced to decoration, but beyond may even become a serious problem for cultivation of the agricultural land. The paper summarizes some central aspects from research
that has been published in more detail in a book project.
Keywords: cultural landscape, landscape management, agro-ecosystems, green infrastructure
Práva/Rights: Act on copyright and rights related to copyright (Copyright Act) as amended (consolidated version), Slovak Republic; Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Licence
Toto dielo je publikované pod/This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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