Toward spatially polarized human pressure? A dynamic factor analysis of ecological stability and the role of territorial gradients in Czech Republic

0573415 - ÚVGZ 2024 RIV DE eng J - Journal Article
Pechanec, V. - Prokopová, Marcela - Včeláková, Renata - Salvati, L. - Plch, Radek - Purkyt, Jan - Cudlín, Ondřej - Pohanková, T. - Jačková, K. - Cudlín, Pavel
Toward spatially polarized human pressure? A dynamic factor analysis of ecological stability and the role of territorial gradients in Czech Republic.
Environmental Monitoring and Assessment. Roč. 195, č. 7 (2023), č. článku 819. ISSN 0167-6369. E-ISSN 1573-2959
Research Infrastructure: CzeCOS IV - 90248
Institutional support: RVO:86652079
Keywords : regional disparities * geographical gradient * indicators * multiway factor analysis * central europe
OECD category: Environmental sciences (social aspects to be 5.7)
Impact factor: 3, year: 2022
Method of publishing: Limited access
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10661-023-11391-7

In light of global change, research on ecosystem dynamics and the related environmental policies are increasingly required to face with the inherent polarization in areas with low and high human pressure. Differential levels of human pressure are hypothesized to reflect development paths toward ecological stability of local systems vis à vis socioeconomic resilience. To delineate the latent nexus between socioeconomic development paths and ecological stability of local systems, we proposed a multidimensional, diachronic analysis of 28 indicators of territorial disparities, and ecological stability in 206 homogeneous administrative units of Czech Republic over almost 30 years (1990–2018). Mixing time-invariant factors with time-varying socio-environmental attributes, a dynamic factor analysis investigated the latent relationship between ecosystem functions, environmental pressures, and the background socioeconomic characteristics of the selected spatial units. We identified four geographical gradients in Czech Republic (namely elevation, economic agglomeration, demographic structure, and soil imperviousness) at the base of territorial divides associated with the increased polarization in areas with low and high human pressure. The role of urbanization, agriculture, and loss of natural habitats reflective of rising human pressure was illustrated along the selected gradients. Finally, policy implications of the (changing) geography of ecological disturbances and local development paths in Czech Republic were briefly discussed.
Permanent Link: https://hdl.handle.net/11104/0343865