Susceptibility of the Czech Republic's Territory to Degradation

We assess the susceptibility of areas to degradation – the loss of the ability to perform ecosystem functions and provide ecosystem services – using the Environmental Sensitivity Assessment Index (ESAI+):

  • This method combines environmental and socio-economic indicators, allowing potential risks of land degradation to be identified well in advance.
  • The method was originally developed for the Mediterranean region. We have adapted it to the conditions of the Czech landscape and further elaborated it for more detailed assessments of landscape functioning and resilience to external negative affects.

▶ How does ESAI+ work?

The method begins with the evaluation of 15 parameters, whose assessment and combination provide information on the landscape quality and its level of susceptibility to degradation. These parameters are grouped into four thematic components:

  • climate condition
  • vegetation condition
  • soil condition
  • intensity of human activity

From these parameters, an index of susceptibility to degradation is calculated — first for individual components, and then as a final overal index. This index is classified into 8 categories for practical use. Mapping and evaluation have been conducted for the entire Czech Republic at a detailed scale of 1:10,000, at the level of individual habitats in the landscape.

The method allows aggregation of values to any administrative or natural boundary. Based on the comparison of categories across selected territorial units, regionalization can be performed and the most at-risk areas identified — areas where mitigation and adaptation measures should be prioritized.

Territorial Susceptibility to Degradation at the Level of Municipalities with Extended Powers (MEP) and Individual Municipalities

Application preview Launch Application
  • The application provides categorization of the entire Czech Republic in terms of susceptibility to degradation, both at the level of individual MEPs and municipalities.
  • For each territorial unit, values of the overall index and individual components are available, aggregated into 8 categories using a weighted average.
  • By selecting an overall or component category, the most vulnerable or most degraded territorial units in the Czech Republic can be identified and visualized on the map.

The subsequent steps of the entire process for assessing landscape vulnerability and functioning (ESAI+) are illustrated using the municipality of Černovice (Czech-Moravian Highland) as an example:

Launch Application

The data were processed as part of long-term scientific cooperation between the Global Change Research Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences (CzechGlobe) and the Palacký University Olomouc (Department of Geoinformatics, Faculty of Science).