INDICATORS OF DESERTIFICATION IN SERBIA

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INDICATORS OF DESERTIFICATION IN SERBIA

• Kostadinov Stanimir1 and Spasov Petar2
• (1) Faculty of Forestry, Belgrade University
• Kneza Vieslava 1, 11030 Belgrade
• (2) Republic Hydrometeorological Service of
  Serbia
• Kneza Vieslava 61, 11030 Belgrade
• SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO

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Figure 1. Study area
Figure 1. Study area
Figure 1. Study area
Figure 1. Study area
Figure1. Study area
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The study of the indicators of desertification
covers the territory of the Republic of Serbia
without Kosovo and Metohija. The reason is that,
due to the well-known events after 1998, the
relevant data on the territory of AP Kosovo and
Metohija are not available. Based on the above
facts, the total area of the study territory is
77,474.0 km2, i.e. central Serbia without AP
55,968.0 km2 AP Vojvodina
21,506.0 km2 Total
77,474.0 km2
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In the aim of a more complete analysis, the study
territory of Serbia is divided into five regions,
i.e. Vojvodina, West Serbia, Central Serbia,
East Serbia and South Serbia. The analysis of
the pluviometric regime and the assessment of the
potential evapotranspiration and standardised
precipitation index was based on the data from
the observatories and the weather stations in
the network of the Republic Hydro- meteorological
Services of Serbia in the study area.
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Depending on the severity, water erosion is
classified into five categories from excessive
to very weak erosion. According to Gavrilovic,
the watersheds have been classified into five
categories with the following coefficients of
erosion (Gavrilovic,S., 1972) I cat. -
Excessive erosion, 1.01 lt Z lt 1.5, average
1.25 II cat. - Intensive erosion, 0.71ltZ lt 1.0,
average 0.85 III cat - Medium erosion, 0.41 lt Z
lt 0.70, average 0.55 IV cat.- Weak (low)
erosion, 0.20 lt Z lt 0.40, average 0.30 V cat. -
Very weak (low) erosion, 0.01 lt Z lt 0.19, average
0.10.
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METHODS OF MEASUREMENT
The measurements related to this indicator
initially require the assessment of land
degradation in arid, semiarid and subhumid areas.
In the case of Serbia, they are semiarid and
subhumid regions. To calculate the corresponding
indices of incidence, the following measurements
were made area affected by extreme degradation
X km2 (UNEP stated two categories extreme and
very extreme degradation) areas affected by
moderate degradation Y km2 areas affected by
weak degradation Z km2 area of national
territory (without aquatic area) N km2 area of
arid lands subject to desertification, which
consists of arid, semiarid and subhumid areas D
km2.
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THE MAIN CAUSES OF LAND DEGRADATION IN SERBIA
1.Soil erosion by water and wind, ?
water erosion ? wind erosion 2.Heavy
metals and pesticides, and other chemical
problems 3.Salinization of soils 4.Surface
mining 5.Construction of hydro-power plants and
their reservoirs 6.Urban and industrial
expansion On average, the agricultural land
in Serbia are reduced annually by 117 km2 (11
700 ha) 7.Flooding 8.Waterlogging 9.Compaction 10.
NATO bombardment in 1999
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RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Trends of temperatures and precipitations
A statistical analysis of long-term data series
of annual air temperature (for period 1951-2000)
showed that the territory of Serbia can be
divided into two parts in one of them,
northwards of the line Kragujevac-Zajecar, the
positive temperature trend is gained, and in the
other one, southwards of this line, there is a
negative temperature trend (Fig.2). But, in
despite of global trend lines, the last two
decades of 20th century should be taken because
of extremely high rising of annual air
temperature which is registered throughout the
entire territory of Serbia. The average
increasing of 10-year running mean for period
1990-2000, regarding to the period (1976-1985) of
the lowest mean values, was most often 0,6-0,8oC
(or 0,4-0,5oC/10year) with maximum rising of
1,0oC (0,6oC/10year) in Eastern Serbia (Timocka
Krajina). ( Spasov,P., et all, 2002).
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Figure 2. 10-year running mean of the annual
temperatures (0C) in Serbia, 1950-2000.
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Figure 3. 10-year running mean of the annual
precipitations (mm) in Serbia, 1950-2000.
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OTHER FACTORS OF LAND DEGRADATION AND
DESERTIFICATION
Table 3 presents land use in Serbia without AP
Kosovo and Metohija in the period 19992002. If
the entire territory of Serbia (88,361 km2) is
analysed, the land use percentage is as
follows cropland about 53
forests about 27 pastures
about 11. In Serbia without AP Kosovo and
Metohija, the situation is as follows -
cropland about 55 - forests
about 24 - pastures about 11
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Water Erosion map of Serbia
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Wind erosion in the Northern Vojvodina
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Table 6. Average ratio of annual precipitation-R
to annual potential evapotranspiration- PET,
for the regions of Serbia in the
period 19922002
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Table 8. Occurrence of arid areas and
desertification per regions
Incidence of arid areas and desertification
Absence of arid areas
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CONCLUSION
Indicators of desertification, primarily soil
erosion and the ratio R/PET, were analysed for
the period 1992-2002, while the trends of the
causes of this process, air temperature and
precipitation, were analysed for the period
1950-2000. The trends of air temperature which
increased by the end of the 20th century and the
annual precipitation which decreased, especially
during the period 1986-2000, point to the
existence of all the conditions for the
development of intensive processes of
desertification in Serbia. These trends of
climate changes combined with inadequate land use
in Serbia condition the development of severe
degradation processes in the form of water and
wind erosion, which affect (with different
intensities) practically the entire territory of
Serbia.
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• The study period (1992-2002) is relatively short
  for this type of research. Still, some
  conclusions can be drawn
• The study period can be divided into three
  periods, i.e.
• - period 19921994 when the territory of
  Serbia, without West Serbia, was threatened by
  desertification
• - period 19951999, when only individual
  regions were threatened by desertification (1995
  and 1997), and during 1996, 1998 and 1999, the
  whole territory of Serbia was classified in the
  group of humid areas, without the desertification
  risk
• - period 20002002, when the entire Serbia was
  threatened by desertification (2000), and in 2001
  and 2002 only individual regions were affected

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2. The region which is the most threatened by
desertification is East Serbia (six years),
followed by Vojvodina and South Serbia (five
years each), Central Serbia (three years) and the
least affected area is West Serbia (one
year) 3. Although this is a short period of
research, it can be concluded that practically
the whole territory of Serbia, except West
Serbia, was threatened by desertification
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