DOI - Mendel University Press

DOI identifiers

DOI: 10.11118/978-80-7509-963-1-0306

TEMPORAL TRENDS OF HUMAN ACTIVITY IN THE LANDSCAPE AND IN THE CROSSING STRUCTURES ACROSS MAIN ROADS IN AUSTRIA

Mořic Jurečka1, Jitka Fialová2, Florian Danzinger3,4, Christoph Plutzar5, Petr Čermák1
1 Department of Forest Protection and Wildlife Management, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, Mendel University in Brno, Zemědělská 3, 613 00 Brno, Czech Republic
2 Department of Landscape Management, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, Mendel University in Brno, Zemědělská 3, 613 00 Brno, Czech Republic
3 Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Vienna, Rennweg 14, 1030 Vienna, Austria
4 Environment Agency Austria, Spittelauer Lände 5, 1090 Vienna, Austria
5 Kommunalkredit Public Consulting GmbH, Türkenstraße 9, 1090, Vienna, Austria

In recent decades, the pressure on the environment and biodiversity has increased dramatically, mainly due to human activities. In order to improve the connectivity between habitats and also to safeguard both nature conservation and human well-being, elements of grey and green infrastructure have recently been increasingly implemented. Understanding how different human activities change over time is an essential information for conservation and landscape planning. To reveal temporal trends in human activity, annual photo-trapping data were used at sites in the cultural landscape and at crossing structures across main roads in Austria. Data collected throughout the year 2022 were categorized into eight categories of human activity involving pedestrians, pedestrians with dogs, cyclists, equestrians, motorcyclists, cars, farm and forest machinery, and others. Cars were the most represented category (48 %), followed by pedestrians (21 %) and farm and forestry machinery (13 %). Overall, the highest level of human activity during the year was recorded in the spring months. The daily pattern was dominated by human activity before and after noon. The individual categories varied according to the distribution of records over the days of the week, but in general most records were taken on Tuesdays and at the weekends. To understand human behaviour in detail, a focus on a specific category of human activity, is essential.

Keywords: human landscape utilization, monitoring, temporal patterns, underpasses, overpasses, recreation

pages: 306-310, Published: 2024, online: 2024



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