ИСТИНА

Against the existing built-up landscapes, protected areas of Moscow seem to be "islands of the untouched nature". But, for a long time, all of them have been developing under the anthropogenic influence evidenced by archeological findings in the Moskva River valley and later archival records. The reconstruction of history of land use-land cover change of study area - The Moskvoretsky Natural and Historical park - was based on historical maps, i.e. plans of the general land surveying (the end of the XVIII century), F. Schubert’s map (the middle of the XIX century), first Soviet RKKA maps of the 1930s, and the maps of the General Staff (1960-1980s). Aerial photographs taken by Luftwaffe in 1941 appeared to be an additional and highly informative source. For each historical period, a vector map of land use/land cover was compiled. Data on the modern structure of land use/land cover were obtained through interpretation of satellite images (public Google Maps service) and from the public cadastral map. Localization and changes of the anthropogenic influence indicate the following five main stages of LUCC: 1) extensive agricultural land use – from the end of the XVIII century to the beginning of the XX century; 2) intensive agricultural land use with elements of quarrying – the first quarter of the XX century; 3) hydraulic engineering – the 1930s -1940s; 4) post-war years – beginning of tree planting on the surfaces of flood plain and terraces; 5) the present – mass housing construction on surrounding watersheds, construction of hard-surface roads, and organization of recreation and leisure sites.