Out-migration and the resulting depopulation are currently one of the distinct problems worldwide. The aim of this research was to evaluate the influence of environmental factors on depopulation. We considered natural agents with long-term, constant, or gradually changing impacts and discussed the possibility of decoupling the role of the environment from overlapping non-environmental factors. The research was conducted for the Kłodzko region in the Sudetes, a representative example of a depopulating peripheral mountain and border area in Central Europe. The methods included: comparative analysis from census data from the mid-19th century until the present, and regression-based spatial modeling. The key role of natural features was confirmed to strengthen the out-migration and land abandonment. However, separating the impact of environmental and socio-economic factors turned out to be hard to quantify. The environment can be perceived as a passive element of depopulation unless there is a change which activates the reaction chain and the equilibrium threshold is exceeded. The change might be within the environmental system itself, or it might be related to external drivers such as socio-economic, political, institutional, etc. transformations. In the latter case, the environment would react as a local modifier of external non-environmental processes.

外迁和由此导致的人口减少是目前世界范围内的明显问题之一。本研究的目的是评估环境因素对人口减少的影响。我们考虑了具有长期、恒定或逐渐变化影响的自然因素，并讨论了将环境的作用与重叠的非环境因素脱钩的可能性。该研究是在苏台德的克沃兹科地区进行的，这是中欧外围山区和边境地区人口减少的典型例子。这些方法包括：对 19 世纪中叶至今的人口普查数据进行比较分析，以及基于回归的空间建模。确认了自然特征在加强外迁和土地废弃方面的关键作用。然而，将环境和社会经济因素的影响区分开来，结果很难量化。环境可以被认为是人口减少的被动因素，除非有变化激活反应链并超过平衡阈值。这种变化可能发生在环境系统内部，也可能与外部驱动因素有关，例如社会经济、政治、制度等转型。在后一种情况下，环境将作为外部非环境过程的局部调节剂作出反应。或者它可能与社会经济、政治、制度等转型等外部驱动因素有关。在后一种情况下，环境将作为外部非环境过程的局部调节剂作出反应。或者它可能与社会经济、政治、制度等转型等外部驱动因素有关。在后一种情况下，环境将作为外部非环境过程的局部调节剂作出反应。