RESEARCH FOR FOUNDING THE PROTECTION OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHICAL VALUES

A new research topic of the Department is the study of geographical aspects of nature conservation, the evaluation of abiotic natural objects and soils for the conserva­

tion of the biotic components. Today this field does not receive due attention in nature conservation, which focuses on the preservation of the living nature. Although it is basi­

cally a correct concept, but, along with botanical and zoological values, abiotic natural objects and soils, transitional between living and non-living nature, should also be pre­

served. These systems are constituents of the same rank of nature systems and, primarily because of their significance in science and education, are worth of preservation.

To decide what a geological, geomorphological, hydrological or pedological value is, needs scientific investigations. However, special studies expressly aimed at the evaluation of abiotic natural objects and soils for nature conservation are still missing.

This neglect also applies to the methodology of identification of these values.

Therefore, our first objective was to elaborate methods for this evaluation. In the fol­

lowing sections the method applied for the evaluation of landforms and soils aimed at nature conservation is presented.

A method o f evaluation o f landforms and soils fo r nature conservation

The objective of evaluation fo r nature conservation is to express the qualitative features of nature in quantitative parameters in order to determine the value o f certain natural objects and areas numerically (de Groot 1992). The nature conservation values resulting from the evaluation allow the comparison and ranking of the objects and areas investigated and the setting of protection priorities.

The first step is the selection o f criteria. First of all geomorphological and pe- dological values have to be defined and the applied criteria have to be derived from the definitions. In our concept geomorphological and pedological values include

- special geomorphological and pedological objects and

- typified occurrences of all landform and soil types in Hungary, out o f which those of representative and rare types are particularly valuable.

Such criteria determine the scientific significance of the object, which is an objective value, most independent of human considerations. In addition, however, the investigation of two practical aspects is regarded important. The degree of endanger- ment defines the need for legal conservation, while educational significance expresses the applicability of the given object in the development of nature conservation thinking.

The second step of evaluation is to establish the role o f the criteria. The method applied is multi-phase interpretation (Margules in Usher 1986). The greatest advantage of this approach lies in avoiding weighting, a generally applied, but undoubt­

edly most criticised technique, in evaluation. On the other hand, no single score is ap­

plied to express the value for nature conservation and, thus, a more differentiated picture is provided about the preservation of objects. The method employed for the evaluation of landforms and soils is presented in Figure 4.

The next step of evaluation is the identification o f the numerical value o f the individual criteria. In the following sections the method for establishing the typifiedness of soils is described.

Determining the typifiedness o f soils

For the exact identification of the most typified profiles within each soil type a scoring system has been elaborated. The steps in computing the value of typifiedness are the following:

1. Selection o f soil properties controlling typifiedness. When selecting the properties, the following factors are taken into account:

- comparability (only those properties are employed for which data are available from each occurrence);

- exactness (only properties which can be exactly determined are assessed);

- permanence (only properties described with relatively permanent values are used).

Level I Selection of the valuable objects

Level 2 Determination of the value level

Level 3: Decision on the necessity of the legal protection and the possibility of the

educational use important connection

♦ less important connection Fig. 4. Levels o f investigations in the evaluation of landforms and soils and the role of various criteria in the evaluation process

2. Weighting properties. Properties are referred into three groups according to their significance in typifiedness (primary, secondary and tertiary properties). The classi­

fication is based on the nature of soil formation processes (characteristic and prevailing process) responsible for the soil properties in question.

3. Setting limit values. To identify the limit values of the properties, in addition to our own investigations, a statistical processing of profile descriptions available in literature is also necessary. An important consideration is that only those profiles are processed which are described from natural or quasi-natural sites.

4. Computing weighted scores. The calculation of partial scores for the individ­

ual properties is made with the help of an evaluation table, which has to be elaborated for each soil type and subtype investigated. It has been elaborated for podsolised brown forest soil (Kiss, G. 1997). Maximum score is attributed to a profile for a property if its values are within the limit values of typifiedness. If values are beyond this interval, score reduction is applied in proportion to deviation. The maximum score for typifiedness and the degree of score reduction - in proportion to the weighting of properties - is the highest for primary properties, while the lowest for tertiary properties.

5. Computing typifiedness value through summarising partial scores. It is a simple mathematical operation: the partial scores are summarised and the percentage of the maximum score reached by the given occurrence is computed. This percentage value is called typifiedness value. It helps select the most typified profile out of those of the same type and, on the other hand, the typifiedness of soils of different types can be com­

pared.

REFERENCES

de Groot, R. S. (1992). Functions o f Nature. Evaluation o f Nature in Environmental Planning, Man­

agement and D ecision Making - Wolters-Noordhoff, 315 p.

Kiss, G. (1997). Talajok típusossági értékének meghatározása a podzolos barna erdőtalaj példáján (Determination o f Typifiedness Values o f Soils, with the Example o f Podzolized Brown Forest Soil), Agrokémia és Talajtan, under publication

Margules, C. R. (1984). Conservation Evaluation in Practice II. Enclosed Grasslands in the Yorkshire Dales, Great Britain, Journal o f Environmental Management, No. 18., pp. 169-183.

Margules, C. R. - Usher, M. B. (1984). Conservation Evaluation in Practice I. Sites o f Different Habi­

tats in North-East Yorkshire, Great Britain, Journal o f Environmental Management, N o. 18, pp.

153-168.

Usher, M. B. (ed.) (1986). W ildlife Conservation Evaluation - Chapman and Hall, London, 394 p.

Márton Pécsi