# Intensity and Driving Forces of Land Abandonment in Eastern Poland
## 4 Discussion
Most of them ceased to be used for agricultural purposes at least 25 years ago because the vegetation occurring there consists mainly of trees and high shrubs. Similar patterns were found in the case of analyses carried out for the counties, greater forest cover was usually conducive to land abandonment. Similar conclusions were reached by [PERSON] et al. [20] who studied the determinants of forest cover changes in Lublin Province during the last 180 years. A decreased need for agricultural land and shift to forested areas was also observed in the northern Czech Republic [57]. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c l c c c c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**Group**} & \multirow{2}{*}{**County**} & \multirow{2}{*}{**Land Abandonment**} & \multirow{2}{*}{**Agarian**} & \multirow{2}{*}{**Productivity and**} & \multirow{2}{*}{**Socio-Demographic**} & \multirow{2}{*}{**Technical**} & \multirow{2}{*}{**Agricultural**} \\  & & **(\%)** & & & & **Profitability** & **Features** & **Infrastructure** & **Production Structure** \\ \hline \multirow{4}{*}{1} & Hrubieszów & 2 & (IV) & (IV) & (IV) & II & IV \\  & Lublin & 6 & II & I & I & II & III \\  & Swidnak & 6 & II & II & II & I & IV \\ \hline \multirow{4}{*}{2} & Zamosé & 6 & IV & III & II & II & IV \\  & Tomaszów & 5 & III & II & II & II & IV \\  & Lubskii & & & III & II & II & IV \\  & Krasnik & 7 & II & III & IV & II & IV \\ \hline \multirow{4}{*}{3} & Chelm & 7 & I & I & I & II & II \\  & Krasnystaw & 5 & IV & III & III & II & IV \\  & tezza & 7 & I & II & III & II & IV \\  & Opole & & & & & IV & III & I \\  & Lubelskie & 8 & IV & III & IV & III & I \\  & Radzyri & 4 & III & III & III & II & II \\  & Podlaski & & & & & & \\ \hline \multirow{4}{*}{4} & Biala & 5 & II & III & III & III & II \\  & Polalska & 11 & III & II & I & II \\  & Luków & 7 & III & III & III & III & III \\  & Pracrew & 6 & II & III & III & IV & II \\  & Ryki & 12 & I & III & III & I & III \\ \hline \multirow{4}{*}{5} & Bilgoraj & 10 & I & III & III & II & II \\  & Janow & & & & & & \\  & Lubelski & 5 & II & IV & III & III \\  & Puuavy & 13 & III & III & III & I & I \\  & Wlodawa & 8 & II & IV & III & I & I \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 4: Intensity of land abandonment versus the absorption of Common Agricultural Policy funds in the specific groups of counties. After [PERSON] [51], I: low absorption of funds, II: medium absorption of funds, III: high absorption of funds, IV: very high absorption of funds. The influence of natural conditions on the process of land abandonment in Susiec District, as demonstrated in this study, is modified by very local social and economic factors that cannot always be analysed in spatial terms. There is no doubt that being a large distance from built-up areas can lead farmers to decide to stop cultivating the land. This is particularly visible in the situation of the considerable fragmentation of land within a single farm holding. The analyses conducted in this study show that plots located close to built-up areas are excluded from agricultural use more rarely than those lying further away. The increased size of forest areas as a result of land abandonment is advantageous from the perspective of flood, soil, and gully erosion prevention [58; 59; 60]. For example, [PERSON] and [PERSON] [61] estimated that land cover changes (mainly afrosteation) within Wawolnica District (Lublin Province) in the 1962-1997 period had led to a 20-25% reduction of the amount of material transported due to soil erosion. [PERSON] et al. [62] reported that land abandonment in the Sudetes resulted in the mean reduction of soil erosion intensity by 3 t ha\({}^{-1}\) y\({}^{-1}\) (locally by 8-16 t ha\({}^{-1}\) y\({}^{-1}\)). The abandonment of agricultural land adjoining gullies clearly reduces the dynamics of the geomorphological processes occurring there [63].