Impacts of Climate Change on Landscapes in Central Europe, Hungary

The study area is located in Central Europe and focusing on Mecsek Hills, a low mountain range in the south western part of Hungary. The region of central Europe includes complex mis of elements from mediterranean and continental climate, since the area is located in transitional zone of sub-atlantic and sub-mediterranean climate types. Mecsek Hills is a unique region of the Hungarian environment. Its central European location specifies distribution of diverse landscape types, formed under conditions of transitional climatic settings, mixed from sub-atlantic to sub-mediterranean. Current work demonstrated analysis of climate factors affecting ecological settings of Mecsek Hulls, and local landscapes visualized by means of ILWIS GIS and remote sensing data (Landsat TM). The results consist in recognized distribution of land use patterns. ILWIS GIS is a convenient open source GIS, useful for spatial analysis and land use monitoring. Clustering method is useful for ecological mapping, since it enables objective identification of the land types in regions characterized by high land heterogeneity and complex structure, such as agricultural fields mixed with natural land cover types. The experience of Landsat TM imagery processing by means of ILWIS GIS, described in the current work, is a contribution towards agricultural mapping.