DESCRIPTIO SILVAE – PRIKAZI ŠUMA U HRVATSKOM PRIMORSKOM PROSTORU TIJEKOM 16. STOLJEĆA
DESCRIPTIO SILVAE – DEPICTION OF FORESTS IN THE CROATIAN LITTORAL IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY

Summary/Abstract: The paper describes and interprets selected 16th-century cartographic depictions of forests in the Croatian coastland area. Through researching the cartographic sources of the spatial data, certain regularities and specific features were confirmed in the depiction of forests as components of the landscape, important parts of the ecosystem, and a valuable economic resource. In the 16th century, forests were usually shown only on chorographic maps of small spatial units, and were not shown at all on maritime charts. Chorographic maps varied widely in terms of their geographic contents, quality of depiction and cartography, right up to the early 19th century, when topographic and cadastral surveys of the entire Croatian coastal area were carried out systematically using a unified methodology. Based on these first modern maps, it was possible to produce smaller-scale chorographic maps and various thematic maps using standardised cartographic procedures. Since forest communities in the 16th century were not depicted in a standardised way, and were not previously subjected to systematic surveys or even field observations in many cases, it is impossible to reconstruct the spatial development of the forest cover and quantify human influence on it, particularly forest degradation caused by felling for various economic purposes (increasing arable land, fuel, house-building, ship-building, fishing, lime production, etc.). Nonetheless, the depictions of forests on 16th-century maps allow a partial insight into the significance of the forests in the spatial organisation of individual Croatian coastal regions, and should not be ignored in historical-geographical and ecohistorical research into the area.

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