Web of Scholar ISSN 2518-167X 6 1(10) February 2017 http://www.webofscholar.com/ ANALYSIS OF THE GREEN SYSTEM IN LANDSCAPES OF THE SITOVO MUNICIPALITY Rangelov, V., PhD Karatoteva, D., PhD Bulgaria, Sofia,University of Forestry ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Received 1 February 2017 Accepted 5 February 2017 Published 20 February 2017 KEYWORDS No detailed studies of the green system on the territory of the Sitovo Municipality, which is a part of the landscape structure in the region, have been carried out. Landscape types and subtypes were determined on the basis of the differences in the type of land cover. The role of the green system as a structure-forming landscape component, causing a significant fragmentation of the different landscape units, was evaluated. It was assumed that for such territories, representing a mixture of agricultural, urban and other structures, it is appropriate to define a Bulgarian equivalent of the “desakota” landscape. landscape, green system, sustainable development © 2017 The Authors. Sitovo Municipality is located in the northeastern part of the Danubian Plain in Bulgaria. Its northern boundary is the Danube River. The total area of its territory is 271 km 2 . According to the developed two landscape classifications of Bulgaria (Petrov, 1997), the municipality territory is a part of the Silistra region of the North Danubian-Bulgarian subarea, Foothill zone area of the Danubian Plain of the Regional landscape zoning (Petrov, 1997). According to the typological landscape classification (Petrov, 1997) the territory of the Sitovo Municipality comprises 5 landscape groups, 4 landscape subtypes and 2 landscape types which are part of the Planar landscape class. The green system within the structure of these landscape units, divided or not into urban and rural (Rangelov, 2016), provides the biologically active part of the human living environment which is directly dependent on the specific natural and anthropogenic conditions in the respective territory (Kovachev, 2005). The green system, being a part of the landscape structure of the territory, can be studied comprehensively namely by applying the methods and approaches for sustainable landscape planning. (Tzolova et al., 2011). The aim of this study is to complement the existing landscape classification systems with new taxonomic units which characterize more completely the landscape structure of the Sitovo Municipality and to assess the role of the green system as a structure-forming component and precondition for its development. Method of study. The classification at the levels type and subtype of landscape was adopted – a methodological approach, used to characterize the landscape structure of some nature parks (Karatoteva, 2016А), maintained reserves (Karatoteva, 2016 В), etc. The boundaries of the landscape types are determined by the type of land cover which is relatively constant and easily recognisable for a long period of time (Dictionary: Landscape Protection, 1982). According to EUROSTAT (2001) the type of land cover allows to distinguish different biophysical categories – areas with vegetation, agricultural areas, rocks, water areas and anthropogenic elements, and can be used for classification, data collection and information systems in general. Subtypes were determined within the landscape types according to certain specific type characteristics, if any. Information by components of the Master Plan (MP, 2015) and literature resources was used to determine the landscape units. Results A great variety of landscapes was determined on the basis of the performed analysis of the territory of the Sitovo Municipality. The largest area - 74.8% of the territory is occupied by the agricultural landscape type, followed by the forest landscape - 14.4%, aquatic landscape - 3.3% and anthropogenic landscape - 7.5%. The green system of the municipality is a structure- forming components in the agricultural, forest and aquatic landscapes. Agricultural landscape. The appearance of this landscape is formed by the arable land, pastures and perennial crops. The agricultural landscapes are natural and territorial complexes,