Management and Land Cover Changes in the Western Carpathian Traditional Orchard Landscape in the Period after 1948

In Slovakia, traditional orchards, like other European rural landscapes and their agricultural systems, are at long-term risk from changes in land use and management. We focused on this issue in the Nová Baňa dispersed settlement region (central Slovakia), which contains numerous traditional orchards. Management changes over the period 1949–2017 were evaluated on the basis of structured interviews conducted with the owners of 63 traditional orchards. Management measures were evaluated separately for 1949, 1970, 1991, 2000, 2007 and 2017. These data were supplemented by data on land cover over time, with an emphasis on orchards, evaluated for the years 1949, 1976, 1991 and 2017 using historical orthophoto maps. Traditional orchard management included mowing, grazing, plowing, fertilizing, and litter raking. By 2017, the management regime had changed in 92% of orchards. The use of plowing and grazing in orchards decreased, and the use of mulching has increased since 2000. From 1949 to 2017, the number of identifiable management regimes doubled; regimes consisting of a single management measure appeared, while regimes of multiple management measures decreased in frequency. Between 1949 and 2017, there was a total decrease of 38.36% in the area of traditional orchards; 31.62% of orchards remained unchanged. The largest decrease was caused by orchard conversion into grasslands (18.93%), forests (13.81%), shrubs (9.42%) and urbanized areas (8.87%).