Časopriestorová transformácia rieky Žitavy v oblasti Žitavského luhu

Spatiotemporal Transformation of the Žitava River in the Žitavský Luh Area

Adam Čaplák, Klaudia Koperdanová, Henrich Grežo

In: Geografické informácie (Geographical Information), Ročník (Volume) 29, Číslo (Issue) 1, 2025, p. 4-14, ISSN 1337-9453

DOI: 10.17846/GI.2025.29.1.4-14

Abstract

Hydromorphological assessment of watercourses provides valuable insights into the river, its historical development, and its interaction with the surrounding landscape. Rivers are dynamic elements of the landscape that naturally change over the centuries; however, human interventions—such as river regulation, land drainage, or infrastructure development—have significantly influenced their natural flow and spatial arrangement. These interventions have often disrupted ecological balance and reduced the landscape's capacity to retain water, thereby increasing the risk of both droughts and floods. Studying historical changes in riverbeds therefore plays an important role in understanding the current state of the landscape. It enables the identification of original river paths and the proposal of measures to restore the natural hydrological dynamics of the area. This paper focuses on the development of the Žitava River network from 1764 to the present, with an emphasis on revitalization efforts within the Žitava Wetland Nature Reserve and the analysis of changes in the lengths of watercourses.

Keywords: historical maps, Žitava Weland Nature Reserve, revitalization

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