Floodplain hay meadows along the river Tisza in Hungary

and has caused the loss of a number of habitats. The value of the
landscape is vanishing even more seriously before our very eyes. The
heterogeneity and dynamism of the landscape, mentioned in the
previous section, implies that land use will significantly determine
the destiny of this region in the future, just as it did in the past. If the
grasslands are not mown in the future and the shrubs invading them
are not cleared from these areas, the grasslands will be replaced by
the spontaneously extending thickets of Amorpha fruticosa. The vast
majority of grasslands will disappear, and most of their species will
vanish as a result of allelopathy and shading by Amorpha fruticosa. It
is likely that other introduced woody species will also appear, such
as Fraxinus pennsylvanica and Acer negundo and lianas. In about 20-30
years, the invasion of trees and lianas will transform the former hayfields
and wooded hayfields into dense riverine thickets dominated
by non-native species. The effects of the eradication of Amorpha
Table 1. Characteristics of typical species of floodplain meadows.
Typical species
Abundance in the
Tisza-valley
IUCN
Categories 2001
Near Threatened
Flora element
fruticosa thickets and the mowing of grasslands can be determined
unambiguously in advance (Szigetvári and Tóth 2005). The traditional
forms of landscape management have had a long history of
practice in Hungary with accurately developed methods. Thus their
precise application might be a suitable approach for the future. However,
they cannot be applied even in the most valuable regions due
to a lack of money.
Financial support
Financial support and regulation measures of the European Union,
such as the subsidisation of agrarian nature conservation, the support
for the development of ecotourism and the Environmentally Sensitive
Areas program, are of great importance for preserving small-scale
peasant farming and traditional forms of land use. Nevertheless, the
inhabitants of this region reluctantly continue to reduce the number
Habitat preference
Armoracia macrocarpa rare NT Pannonian Endemic Phragmition australis
Artemisia pontica common - Eurasian - Mediterranean Festucetalia valesiaceae & Artemisio -
Festucetalia pseudovinae
Aster sedifolius frequent - Eurasian - Continental Artemisio - Festucetalia pseudovinae
Cardamine pratensis loc. frequent - Circumpolar Molinio - Arrhenatherea
Centaurea pannonica common - South-East European Molinio - Arrhenatherea
Clematis integrifolia rare - Eurasian - Continental Molinio - Arrhenatherea
Eryngium planum rare - Pontic Continental Agrostion albae
Euphorbia palustris common - European Magnocaricion
Galium rubioides common - Central European Alopecurion pratensis
Gentiana pneumonathe rare NT Eurasian Molinio-Juncetea
Iris spuria rare NT West-Mediterranean Molinietalia
Lathyrus palustris rare NT Circumpolar Phragmitetea & Molinio-Juncetea
Leucanthemella serotina loc. frequent NT Continental – Pontic Pannonian Phragmition australis
Leucojum aestivum loc. frequent NT Sub-Atlantic - Submediterranean Salicion albae
Peucedanum officinale frequent NT Central European Cynodonto-Festucion & Aceri tatarico-Quercion
Poa palustris rare - Circumpolar Phragmitetea & Molinio-Juncetea
Rumex confertus loc. frequent NT Eurosiberian Alopecurion pratensis
Scutellaria galericulata common - Circumpolar Phragmitetea & Molinio-Juncetea
Senecio paludosus rare NT Eurasian - Mediterranean Caricion rostratae & Magnocaricion
Serratula tinctoria rare - European - Mediterranean Molinio - Arrhenatherea
Thalictrum flavum common - Eurasian Molinietalia & Magnocaricion
Thalictrum lucidum common - Continental Molinietalia
Veronica longifolia common - Eurasian Agrostion albae
Viola elatior loc. frequent - Eurasian Alno-Padion
Viola pumila loc. frequent NT Pontic Continental Deschampsion caespitosae
of livestock, and unfortunately, they are often not informed about
what land management options may be available, or they are unable
to obtain the aid of the government or the European Union.
In some parts of the region, so extremely severe is the level of
poverty that people choose to travel to the distant but far cheaper
hypermarkets, while the use of shops and services in the smaller
settlements is alarmingly reduced. The local (mainly bio-)products
of higher quality are very expensive so that within the region, only
eco-tourists can afford to buy them, and these products can only be
sold in distant parts of the country. Seeing the lack of job possibilities,
markets and even schools, more and more people tend to move
into the towns. Thus, it is very important to provide financial support
for local food production and the trade of local products in order to
retain people in the villages of the district.
EU directives, such as the Water Framework Directive, help to preserve
the waters of the drainage basin and wetlands of the Tisza, at
least in their current state. This regulation system plays an essential
role in controlling of the water quality, annually flooding the meadows
and also in sustaining the ponds. However, it may also concern
conceptual questions, such as the planned dredging of the riverbed
aimed at making the Tisza navigable. This might have disastrous
effects on both the wildlife of the river and the water regime of the
meadows within the floodway.
With its special cuisine and still fishing waters, the marvellous and
diverse, but at the same time, very calm landscape of the Tisza, has,
for a long time, been a magnet for tourists. Restoring the system of
the medieval fishing ponds would provide new opportunities for ecotourism.
This would also mean a chance to reconstruct the temporarily
flooded riverine hay meadows and marshes, on the grounds of
the EU support. The aforementioned traditional fishing ponds, filling
with water each year at inundation, would give rise to a prosperous
pisciculture. Moreover, they would also reduce the damage caused
by the floods, which are becoming more and more frequent.
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