Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Small Bodies of Water Which Have Disappeared from the Czech Landscape and the Possibility of Restoring Them

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Assessment and Protection of Water Resources in the Czech Republic

Part of the book series: Springer Water ((SPWA))

Abstract

Pond management is a historical and landscape-forming phenomenon in the Czech lands. The ponds, whose traditional role is linked mainly with the economically lucrative fish farming, did, however, play a wider role within the historical landscape, where they fulfilled the requirements of society for water, they formed a potential supply of energy to power production facilities, or they were part of the fortification of noble estates. They also became an important aspect of the landscape, in the role of significant landscape elements. The area taken up by ponds expanded in our mediaeval landscape, but in roughly the last 200 years the number and area of ponds have decreased. The chapter describes the development and decline of pond management in the Czech Republic. It presents the results of spatial analysis using maps from the Second Military Mapping Survey. Results show that 3416 ponds with an area greater than 0.5 ha have disappeared from the Czech landscape over the past 150 years. As is evident from more detailed historical–geographical analysis, a greater number of these had already fallen into disuse before the Second Military Survey (1806–1869) was completed. Due to the lack of positional accuracy of available data (e.g. the First Military Mapping Survey in 1763–1787), their precise identification or spatial reconstruction is very difficult. The majority of the area of former ponds is nowadays used as agricultural land. In these areas, we have carried out detailed analysis relating to soil quality and the (lack of) potential for agricultural production. In forest areas, a total of 645 defunct ponds have been identified. It is apparent that the current use of former pond areas is by no means optimal in all cases, and in a time when we face issues of hydrological extremes—flooding and drought, it is worth considering possible changes in the use of some of these sites within revitalisation and flood prevention measures. It is worth mentioning that about 11,064 additional ponds with an area of less than 0.5 ha have not been processed in this chapter due to the demands of manual operation.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Adámek Z, Hanák R, Ryšavý S, Konečná J (2017) The impact of carp pond aquaculture on nutrient loading of the Vranov reservoir. J Landsc Manag 8(2):7–14

    Google Scholar 

  2. Oláh J, Szabó P, Esteky AA, Nezami SA (1994) Nitrogen processing and retention in Hungarian carp farm. J Appl Ichthyol 10(4):335–340

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Knösche R, Schreckenbach K, Pfeifer M, Weissenbach H (2000) Balances of phosphorus and nitrogen in carp ponds. Fish Manag Ecol 7:15–22

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Drabiński A, Jawecki B, Tokarczyk-Dorociak K (2010) The role of carp fish ponds in the water management of the river basins. In: Ciesla M, Kuczynski M (eds) Multifunctionality in pond aquaculture in Poland. Perspectives and prospects. SGGW, Warszawa, Poland, pp 24–29

    Google Scholar 

  5. Hubačíková V, Oppeltová P (2017) The impact of pond on water quality in the Čermná stream. J Ecol Eng 18(1):43–48

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. FAO FishstatPlus (2013) Universal software for fishery statistical time series. http://www.fao.org/fishery/statistics/software/fishstat/en

  7. Adámek Z, Gal D, Pilarczyk M (2009) Carp farming as a traditional type of pond aquaculture in Central Europe: prospects and weaknesses in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland. Eur Aquac Soc Spec Publ 37:80–81

    Google Scholar 

  8. Vorel P (2007) Zlatá doba českého rybníkářství. Vodní hospodářství v ekonomice 16. století. (The golden era of Czech pond management. Water management and economics) Dějiny a současnost 29(8):30–33 (in Czech)

    Google Scholar 

  9. Kratochvíl AF (1995) Několik poznámek k počátkům rybníkářství v Čechách a na Moravě. (A few notes on the early days of pond management in Bohemia and Moravia) In: Janeček M et al: Z historie českých rybníků. (History of Czech ponds) Výzkumný ústav meliorací a ochrany půdy Praha – Zbraslav, Carpio Třeboň, pp 3–16 (in Czech)

    Google Scholar 

  10. Teplý F (1937) Příspěvky k dějinám českého rybníkářství. (Contributions to the history of Czech pond management) Ministry of Agriculture Prague, 244 pp. (in Czech)

    Google Scholar 

  11. Liebscher P, Rendek J (2010) Ryby, rybníky, rybníkáři. (Fish, ponds and fish farmers) Matúšek Prague, 207 pp. (in Czech)

    Google Scholar 

  12. Biggs J, Williams P, Whitfield M, Nicolet P, Weatherby A (2005) 15 Years of pond assessment in Britain: results and lessons learned from the work of Pond Conservation. Aquat Conserv: Mar Freshw Ecosyst 15(6):693–714

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Beresford JE, Wade PM (1982) Field ponds in North Leicester: their characteristics, aquatic flora end decline. Trans Leic Lit Philos Soc 76:25–34

    Google Scholar 

  14. Adámek Z, Linhart O, Kratochvil M, Flajšhans M, Randák T, Policar T, Masojídek J, Kozák P (2012) Aquaculture the Czech Republic in 2012: modern European prosperous sector based on thousand-year history of pond culture. Aquac Eur 37(2):5–14

    Google Scholar 

  15. Balon EK (1995) Origin and domestication of the wild carp, Cyprinus carpio: from Roman gourmets to the swimming flowers. Aquaculture 129:3–48

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Andreska J (1987) Rybářství a jeho tradice. (Fishing: Tradition and practice) Státní zemědělské nakladatelství Prague, 240 pp. (in Czech)

    Google Scholar 

  17. Vašků Z (1995) Doba úpadku českého rybníkářství a hlavní vlny rušení rybníků. (The decline of Czech pond management in CZ and the main waves of pond cancellation) Výzkumný ústav meliorací a ochrany půdy Prague, Carpio Třeboň, pp 3–16. (in Czech)

    Google Scholar 

  18. Šálek J (1996) Malé vodní nádrže v životním prostředí. (Small water reservoirs and the environment) VŠB – TU Ostrava, 141 pp. (in Czech)

    Google Scholar 

  19. Beranová M, Kubačák A (2010) Dějiny zemědělství v Čechách a na Moravě. (The History of Agriculture in Bohemia and Moravia) Libri Prague, 430 pp. (in Czech)

    Google Scholar 

  20. Vrána K (2004) Malé vodní nádrže – součást revitalizace krajiny. In: Koncepce řešení malých vodních nádrží a mokřadů. (Small water reservoirs – an aspect of landscape revitalisation. In: A concept for small water reservoirs and wetlands) ČZU Prague and ČVUT Prague, pp 4–14 (in Czech)

    Google Scholar 

  21. Benešová J (1996) Generel rybníků a nádrží České republiky. (General survey of ponds and reservoirs in the Czech Republic). Vodní hospodářství 46(3):59–62. (in Czech)

    Google Scholar 

  22. FAO (2005) Fishery country profile – Czech Republic. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, http://www.fao.org/fishery/docs/DOCUMENT/fcp/en/FI_CP_CZ.pdf

  23. Růžička K (1954) Z historie rybníkářství. (From the history of pond management) Vodní hospodářství 12:365–367. (in Czech)

    Google Scholar 

  24. Pokorný J, Hauser V (2002) The restoration of fish ponds in agricultural landscape. Ecol Eng 18(5):555–574

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Frajer J (2013) Rekonstrukce historické krajiny Čáslavska s důrazem na vodní hospodářství. (Reconstruction of the historical landscape of Čáslav region with emphasis on water management) Ph.D. Theses, University in Ostrava, 230 pp. (in Czech)

    Google Scholar 

  26. Veverka B, Ambrožová K, Čechurová M (2011) Mathematical approaches to evaluation of old maps contents and accuracy. Acta Montanistica Slovaca 16:291–298 (in Czech)

    Google Scholar 

  27. Mikšovský M, Zimová R (2006) Müllerovo mapování a I. Vojenské mapování českých zemí (se zřetelem k digitalizaci a centrální evidenci map). In Historická krajina a mapové bohatství Česka, “The Muller maps and the 1st Military Mapping of the Czech lands (with emphasis on digitization and central map register)” in the publication “Historical landscape and the Czech wealth of maps” Prague, pp 14–23. (in Czech)

    Google Scholar 

  28. Pešťák J, Zimová R (2005) Polohová přesnost objektů na mapách prvního a druhého vojenského mapování. (Positional accuracy of objects on maps of the 1st and 2nd Military Mapping Surveys) Kartografické listy 13:1–9. (in Czech)

    Google Scholar 

  29. Frajer J, Geletič J (2011) Research of historical landscape by using old maps with focus to its positional accuracy. Dela 36:49–67 (in Czech)

    Google Scholar 

  30. Pavelková R, Frajer J, Havlíček M, Netopil P, Rozkošný M, David V, Dzuráková M, Šarapatka B (2016) Historical ponds of the Czech Republic: an example of the interpretation of historic maps. J Maps 12(sup1):551–559

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Pavelková Chmelová R, Šarapatka B, Frajer J, Pavka P, Netopil P (2013) Databáze zaniklých rybníků v ČR a jejich současné využití. (Database of defunct ponds in the Czech Republic and their current land use) Acta Environmentalica Universitatis Comenianae Bratislava 21(2):87–98 (in Czech)

    Google Scholar 

  32. Dzuráková M, Zárubová K, Uhrová J, Rozkošný M, Smelík L, Němejcová D, Zahrádková S, Štěpánková P, Macků J (2017) Potenciál aplikace přírodě blízkých opatření pro zadržení vody v krajině a zlepšení ekologického stavu vodních útvarů. (The potential for the application of close-to-nature measures for water retention in the landscape, and improvement of the ecological state of the water systems) Vodohospodářské technicko-ekonomické informace 59(4):25–32. (in Czech)

    Google Scholar 

  33. Rozkošný M, Pavelková R, David V, Trantinová M, Frajer J, Dzuráková M, Davidová T, Hůla P, Netopil P, Fialová M (2015) Zaniklé rybníky v České republice – případové studie potenciálního využití území (Defunct ponds in the Czech Republic – case studies of potential land use). T. G. Masaryk Water Research Institute, p.r.i., 155 pp. (in Czech)

    Google Scholar 

  34. David V, Davidová T, Vrána K, Koudelka P, Pavelková R, Rozkošný M (2015): Hodnocení ploch zaniklých rybníků z hlediska optimalizace jeho využití. Certifikovaná metodika pro praxi (Evaluation of former pond areas in terms of its further use. Certified guidelines for practical use). Certified by Ministry of Agriculture Nr. 19004/2015 – MZE – 15100. Czech Technical University in Prague, 57 pp. (in Czech)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This chapter was written within projects related to ponds and water retention No. QJ1620395 and No. QK1720303 supported by the Ministry of Agriculture of the Czech Republic.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science, Palacký University, Šlechtitelů 27, 771 46, Olomouc, Czech Republic

    B. Šarapatka

  2. Department of Geography, Palacký University in Olomouc, Olomouc, Czech Republic

    R. Pavelková

Authors
  1. B. Šarapatka
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. R. Pavelková
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to B. Šarapatka .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Technical University of Kosice, Kosice, Slovakia

    Martina Zelenakova

  2. Mendel University in Brno, Brno, Czech Republic

    Jitka Fialová

  3. Faculty of Engineering, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt

    Abdelazim M. Negm

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Šarapatka, B., Pavelková, R. (2020). Small Bodies of Water Which Have Disappeared from the Czech Landscape and the Possibility of Restoring Them. In: Zelenakova, M., Fialová, J., Negm, A. (eds) Assessment and Protection of Water Resources in the Czech Republic. Springer Water. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-18363-9_6

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation