ИСТИНА

Five regions with different landscape structure and specific anthropogenic transformation have formed within the territory of Germany. The combination and the relative importance of natural and anthropogenic factors allow subdividing the chronostructural process into several stages. During the 1st stage (subboreal period of the Holocene) natural factors of landscape evolution predominated. At that stage people utilized just small part of ecosystem services (for hunting, fishing, gathering, construction of dwellings), and their impact on landscapes was negligible. The 2nd stage (Roman colonization, before the IV century a.c.) was characterized by diversification of ecological services utilized by people, construction of towns, roads and bridges and large-scale plowing. During the 3rd stage (preindustrial period, IV-XVII centuries) ecosystem services became a key point in the transformation of natural landscape. The inner structure of landscapes gained a mosaic pattern. The 4th stage (industrial period, XVII – middle of the ХХ century) was marked by growing importance of mineral resources as an ecosystem service. Technogenic landscapes appeared, natural forests were replaced with plantations and arable lands widely ameliorated. During the recent period (post-industrial, since the middle of ХХ century) landscapes are considered not only as a source of natural resources, but increasingly a basis of supporting and recreational services. The GIS-based calculations resulted in a series of maps illustrating the changes in priorities of and demand for ecosystem services of five natural regions of Germany during different historical stages. This provides for the analysis of correlations between the utilization of ecosystem services and the structure of the present-day landscapes.