Destruction of Vegetation- and Ground-Cover Owing to Man Influences on the Southern Exposure of the Belanské Tatry Mts
Authors: Midriak Rudolf 
Published: August 2023

The heaviest impairment of forest stands and dwarf-pine ones in the West Carpathians (where the Belanské Tatry Mts also are included) was made owing to man action during the Walachian colonization. Forests are damaged with the exception of preserved areas practically up to this time. Besides a decrease of the timber-line, scenes of fire in dwarf-pine stands and other ways of the impairment of the vegetative cover an intensive ground destruction has appeared, too. This contribution deals with a history of man influences evolution on the southern side of the Belanské Tatry Mts, where derogatory anthropogemic hits on the vegetative- and ground cover have presented the most strikingly. In the present, all ground destruction processes as soil erosion, slope moves and cryopedological processes (creating by means of frost action on the ground) are accelerated owing to an unpropitious action of man in this range of mountains. Altogether 18.5 per cent of area is immediately damaged by various forms of the ground destruction above the empirical (contemporary) timber-line mostly from 1,500 to 2,100 metres above sea level in the subalpine and alpine zone of the central part of the Belanské Tatry Mts (area of 1,024 ha). But an individual areal proportion of the anthropogennic ground destruction forms is not possible to express in numbers exactly. Still a representation of the anthropogennic ground destruction forms, but especially an injury of the vegetative cover, is more manifest (after the author's recognition in the field) in the southern side of the Belanské Tatry Mts in comparison with their other parts. It is called forth above all by it that the southern side of the Belanské Tatry Mts implies in comparison with northern one only imperceptible signs of the glacial action. Consequently smooth relief forms have been created here. Their slopes with excellent pasture conditions have always attracted an attention of man. A pasturage had influenced the study area mostly, because it has come down there already from the 13th century. There were especially flocks of sheep and black cattle kept out at a grass in the subalpine and alpine zone. A number of sheep emounted to 1,670 during its reduced capacity in 1954 when the pasturage was stoped by the Tatra National Park Administration. In this year an area of the grazing-land amounted to about 650 ha. There were 1,800 ha of area owing to an irregular pasture endangered in the Belanské Tatry Mts together. An average upper limit-line of originally employed natural grazing-lands had reached up to 1,660 metres above sea level, a maximum one to 2,038 metres, a. s. l. on the southern slopes of the Belanské Tatry Mts. Shepherds lowered an original timber-line of 300 metres sporadically during a deforestation of that area. In tho present the timber-line extends on the average about 1,400 metres a. s. l., continuos dwarf-pine stands only 1,717 metres a. s. l. there. Besides a destruction of the vegetation also a direct ground destruction was found as a result of the hoof-stamp of grazing sheep and cattle. The same damage is made by chamois but its extent is comparatively smaller. The pasturage has influenced a confusion of plant-associations, too. The most marked plant-associations are (nearly former chalets, in the places of the intensive pasture and a concentration of cattle) the following: Rumicetum obtusifolii, Alchemilletum pastoralis, Urticetum dioicae, Deschampsietum caespitosae, Calamagrostidetum villosae and Nardetum strictae. There are the infiltrate conditions deteriorated (as much as seven times worse in comparison with natural plant-associations under a dwarf-pine) in these associations. Further unpropitious influences of man had appeared owing to his mining action in the Belanské Tatry Mts. There was mined above all copper, iron, silver and gold in dispersed mines from the 15th to 18th century. A lot of topical place-names of peaks, mountain ridges, slopes and valleys are an evidence of the heavy influence of both the pasturage and the mining. Destruction of the dwarf-pine stands was connected also with getting of raw-material for the dwarf-pine oil production. We can find recent forms of the ground destruction (when no pasturage and miming exist in the Belanské Tatry Mts) especially at both the tourist paths and the building site of tourist facilities (e. g. ski-ing hoists) where an area of the denuded surface is enlarged. On the bare soil the ground ice (especially the needle-ice, so called the pipkrake) is created during days with regelation processes. The pipkrake along with wind erosion and surface ren-off cause a number of the ground destruction forms in those high mountain areas.