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Baltic integration studies, though dispersed and involving researchers of various disciplines, generally fit well in the field of economic geography research. This article attempts to review the study results of research conducted in Poland in the last four decades. It identifies eleven leading issues, including: the Baltic wide cooperation (conditions and factors, progress and collaboration perspectives), the development of the maritime economy, international legislation, environmental protection, spatial planning and cross-border cooperation. The research focus evolved reflecting the major milestones in geopolitical transformations. In Baltic Europe we can identify three evolutionary phases: identification of cooperation paths and conditions in the competitive environment of two political and military blocks, a recast of options in the period of political transformation and European integration, studies of EU enlargement consequences.

In order to reach far in the work for sustainable development, communication in foreign languages prior to strategic decisions is required from international partners. In this communication English has become the lingua franca. Even though the use of EFL (English as a foreign language) is widely spread, it is clear that in some geographical regions English has quite recently taken the role as the language of international communication. It is therefore relevant carry out studies in order to identify possible causes for misunderstandings when communicating in EFL. With the aim of providing material for research on EFL by 12-year-olds, the creation of a language corpus on the use of English in the Baltic region is in process. The first part of the data collection was completed in August 2016 and the data comprises some 2,200 texts written in 2015–2016 by Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Russian and Swedish learners. The aim of the present study is to investigate young learners’ written communication on issues related to sustainable development.

'Jar rzeki Raduni' is a landscape nature reserve created in 1972, which covers an area of 74,26 ha. The reserve protects the Radunia river gorge in the moraine upland of the Kashubian Lake District. In past, the reserve was an object of numerous botanical studies, and it was distinguished by a large share of mountain species. The main aim of this research was to define the current state of mountain species of the studied area compared to historical data. The study was carried out in 2017. Eight mountain species were noted: Aconitum variegatum, Alnus incana, Bupleurum longifolium, Chaerophyllum hirsutum, Dryopteris expansa, Huperzia selago, Pleurospermum austriacum and Ribes alpinum. The occurrence of five species was not confirmed: Coeloglossum viride, Epipogium aphyllum, Melampyrum sylvaticum, Polygonatum verticillatum and Valeriana sambucifolia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The space-borne Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data based net primary production (NPP) product from Numerical Terradynamic Simulation Group (NTSG) was tested in the Kurzeme region, Latvia using a stand-wise forest inventory database. The NPP product has been validated globally and found to have no overall bias. In this study the NPP product was compared with stem biomass increment and soil fertility in respect to distance from the Baltic Sea coast. For each MODIS NPP product pixel we calculated forest cover, share of coniferous trees, average stem biomass increment and average site fertility (growth potential estimate). Then, 2432 pixels with a forest cover over 75% were selected for analysis. The results indicated that MODIS NPP decreased with distance from Baltic Sea coast but stem biomass increment and site fertility indicated a trend of increase. There was no functional relationship between MODIS NPP and stem biomass increment. Analysis of the landcover map used by NTSG for MODIS NPP product showed that the classes “Evergreen needleleaf” and “Mixed forests” differentiated only 10% by mode value of coniferous proportions in species composition. A non-natural jump was detected in the MODIS NPP values at a longitude of 22.5 degrees east corresponding to the border of the coarse scale meteorological dataset (NCEP Reanalysis (R2)) data representation unit. According to the results the MODIS NPP product is not applicable for regional level planning but can probably provide only rough average estimates of NPP for the Baltic region

Spring barley breeding has been carried out for almost a century in all three Baltic countries. The efforts of breeders have resulted in many new improved varieties released. The goal of our project was to survey the effect of these efforts throughout the century on this crop. The material included in this study consisted of 64 accessions originating from Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania, representing landraces, varieties released from 1927 to 2001, and breeding lines. Six agronomic traits (days to heading, days to maturing, plant height, harvest index, volumetric weight and thousand kernel weight) were recorded during two years (2002 and 2003) at three locations - Priekuïi (Latvia), Landskrona (Sweden) and Bjørke (Norway). The differences between spring barley materials of different origin and from different breeding periods were assessed, and variation of their performance in different environments was discussed [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The space-borne Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data based net primary production (NPP) product from Numerical Terradynamic Simulation Group (NTSG) was tested in the Kurzeme region, Latvia using a stand-wise forest inventory database. The NPP product has been validated globally and found to have no overall bias. In this study the NPP product was compared with stem biomass increment and soil fertility in respect to distance from the Baltic Sea coast. For each MODIS NPP product pixel we calculated forest cover, share of coniferous trees, average stem biomass increment and average site fertility (growth potential estimate). Then, 2432 pixels with a forest cover over 75% were selected for analysis. The results indicated that MODIS NPP decreased with distance from Baltic Sea coast but stem biomass increment and site fertility indicated a trend of increase. There was no functional relationship between MODIS NPP and stem biomass increment. Analysis of the landcover map used by NTSG for MODIS NPP product showed that the classes 'Evergreen needleleaf' and 'Mixed forests' differentiated only 10% by mode value of coniferous proportions in species composition. A non-natural jump was detected in the MODIS NPP values at a longitude of 22.5 degrees east corresponding to the border of the coarse scale meteorological dataset (NCEP Reanalysis (R2)) data representation unit. According to the results the MODIS NPP product is not applicable for regional level planning but can probably provide only rough average estimates of NPP for the Baltic region [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]