This document discusses research from the Research Garden at the Faculty of Horticulture, Mendel University in Brno. It provides statistics on Slovakia, including its size and population. It then discusses how the Slavs historically resided in fertile lands rich in water and vegetation. It notes the percentage of Slovak territory that is wooded or used for agriculture. It also discusses how deforestation and agricultural modernization can increase soil erosion. Finally, it argues that a new water paradigm is needed to better protect the water cycle and its impact on climate change.

1. Reasearch Garden
Faculty of Horticulture, Mendel University in Brno

2. eg2013
Research Garden
Slovakia = has 49 036 km² and approximately 5,43 million inhabitans

3. eg2013
Research Garden
The Slavonic countries stretch from the Mediterranean Sea
through to the Northern Seas... The Slavs build most of their
own castles...on meadows rich in water and bushes...they reside
in the most fertile lands, rich in different means of subsistence.
They till the soil very intensively to provide themselves with
enough food... Famines caused by long-term drought don't exist
in [their] lands. On the contrary, famine can break out when it
rains too much... If it rains only a little, they do not have poor
results, because these lands are damp...
Ibrahim Ibn Jacqub at-Turtushi, About the Western Slavs,
middle of the 10th century

4. eg2013
Research Garden
Up to 44,3 % Slovak territory (2,17 million hectare) is woody nowadays
and 39,5 % of the landscape (19 350 km²) is covered by arable land.

5. eg2013
Research Garden
Deforestation of land and modernization of agricultural systems
are accompanied by an increase in the speed of the runoff of
rainwater and water from melting snow in the given areas, as
well as the rapid erosion of soil. The real loss of soil through
water erosion runs on average
 in the forested vegetation of the middle to upper mountain
regions at about 0.01-0.03 mm/year,
 in permanent grasslands at around 0.06 mm/year,
 in cereal fields at 1.8 mm/year,
 on bare ground above the tree line at 3.4 mm/year and
 in root crop fields up to 3.6 mm/year.

6. eg2013
Ripl (1994) in his ETR model
describedwater as the energy dissipative
cooling, transport and reaction medium
cooling transport reaction
Research Garden

7. eg2013
water as the cooling medium
http://www.vodnaparadigma.sk/
Research Garden

8. eg2013
Research Garden

9. eg2013
Research Garden

10. eg2013
It is astounding, then, that while scientific publications and
conferences emphasize the impacts of global warming on
the circulation of water in nature, almost all of them are
totally silent on the influence the water cycle has on climatic
changes. The fascination with CO2 is so great, though, that it
even dominates the relatively small number of scientific
articles which are concerned with the relationship between
vegetation and the climate… scientists and politicians are
orienting their efforts more towards methods of adapting to
the "inevitable" negative changes than towards averting
them… The old (water) paradigm, which considered water as
an eternally renewable resource, has failed, the truth being
that water is only a renewable resource as long as the water
cycle is functional. A new paradigm is therefore needed
which will carefully protect the fragile equilibrium of this
water cycle.
(Kravcík et al., 2007), available in:
Research Garden

11. eg2013
Objectives of the restitution
throught the nature friendly horticultural systems
 to improve the level of evapotranspiration;
 to improve soil structure/quality;
 to reduce soil erosion;
 to Improve soil ability to retain water in a country
 and finally restore short water cycles...
Research Garden

12. eg2013
Research Garden

13. Thank you for your attention
xgurinov@node.mendelu.cz