Zonality of grassland and forest in Republika Srpska according to Copernicus database

Abstract

The paper presents the distribution of grassland and forest vegetation in the Republika Srpska, zoning by natural regions and altitude zones and the changes that occurred in the period 2000-2018. The territory of Republika Srpska belongs to three large natural regions of different physical and geographical characteristics, with specific environmental factors that affect the distribution of vegetation. Altitude significantly affects the occurrence and types of vegetation, so a digital elevation model with a 25 m resolution was used for the analysis of vertical zonality, in order to process data on the distribution of grasslands and forests by altitude zones. Copernicus Grassland and Forest databases were used, for the period 2012-2018. Given climate change and increasing droughts, which indirectly affect the quantity and quality of vegetation, monitoring and managing grasslands and forests will be an important challenge for Republika Srpska. The results of the research show that the grassland according to the Copernicus Grassland database occupies 19.7%, and the forest vegetation according to the Copernicus Forest covers 60.1%, which is almost 80% of the territory of Republika Srpska. Grasslands are most widespread in the area of medium-high and high karst fields of eastern Herzegovina. There are more pastures in the lower altitude zones, while natural grasslands predominate in the higher zones. Forests predominate in the central mountain-valley region. Broad-leaved forests dominate at lower altitudes and coniferous forests at higher altitudes. The European program for monitoring the Earth's surface via satellite remote sensing is a new technology, so the results obtained for the territory of Republika Srpska can be considered a novelty, which is the most significant contribution of this paper.