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Recently, marginal lands have been attracting attention as areas of high cultural and natural value that are undergoing profound, uncontrolled transformations. These changes are seen as a threat to the cohesion and identity of existing landscapes. However, ongoing processes are often difficult to interpret and evaluate without a long-term historical perspective. Here, we focused on understanding the long-term landscape dynamics in the depopulated and economically marginalized Wiar River basin, where 87% of inhabitants were displaced after World War II. A detailed, spatially explicit land-cover analysis based on eight series of topographic data (dating from 1780 to 2017), in line with the review of archival sources and literature, allowed us for identification of patterns and drivers of change. We linked the driving forces and the resulting landscape properties to four distinct historical periods (i.e. pre-industrial, industrial, socialist, and free-market). We demonstrated how the landscape of 25 villages, dominated for centuries by open farmland, shifted after WWII into extensively forested, and that not all regions in Europe follow the pattern of increasing rate of land-cover change.

W artykule dokonano przeglądu literatury zagranicznej i polskiej dotyczącej wpływu pozyskiwania drewna na wybrane procesy naturalne i elementy środowiska na terenach górskich. Skoncentrowano się przede wszystkim na oddziaływaniu gospodarki leśnej na strukturę gleby i tempo erozji oraz na reakcji hydrologicznej w skali stoku i zlewni, w tym na natężenie i częstotliwość przepływów szczytowych oraz transport fluwialny. Z przeglądu literatury wynika, że zrywka jest tym elementem procesu pozyskiwania drewna, który w największym stopniu oddziałuje na glebę i reakcję hydrologiczną zlewni górskich, a sieć dróg leśnych może przyczyniać się do zwiększenia nawet o kilkanaście procent natężenia przepływów maksymalnych i wynikających z nich powodzi błyskawicznych.

Riparian hardwood forests of Quercus robur, Ulmus spp and Fraxinus spp that are present along major rivers are valuable communities protected by the EU Habitat Directive and recommended for monitoring. Part of the reason for that is relative rarity on the scale of Europe as a whole, and also in Poland. This in turn reflects the way in which fertile habitats were, in their majority, deforested long ago, drained and changed into grasslands or arable land. Additionally, the greater part of these habitats have lost their specific features, as a result of river engineering and – primarily – the construction of the river embankments that have acted to limit flooding and alluvial processes, in that way also initiating change in the composition of both soils and plant communities. Specifically, this article presents selected results of the research project: Riparian hardwood forest services in the middle Vistula river valley. One of the main objectives thereof was to assess the condition of forest ecosystems from which flooding has now been absent for at least 50 years, as well as to prepare guidelines for actions necessary to maintain or restore their diversity, and proper ecological and biological functions. Our research questions therefore revolved around components of riparian hardwood forest ecosystems have been most changed … and why? The research was conducted in six riparian hardwood forests (to date unmonitored) located in the valley of the middle Vistula (in Mazowieckie voivodship). Relevant work was carried out using the standard monitoring guidelines – as primarily based on an assessment of vegetation composition and structure together with water conditions. However, in the work in question, these were augmented by additional analyses allowing for detailed characterisations of soil, the topoclimate, and the species diversity achieved by selected groups of invertebrate (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Bombus and Haplotaxida: Lumbricidae). The communities selected represent multi-functional, species-rich forests. Extensive use of the studied riparian mixed forests ensures that deadwood resources are quite considerable. Moreover, the studied forests exert a strong impact when it comes to mitigation of climate locally. The observed soil types indicate fertile and biologically-active habitats, as well as to soil development largely determined by the height of the groundwater table causing the gleyic process in the lower parts of profiles. However, in some forest patches it is possible to note transformations related to habitat drying, with significant canopy gaps and disturbances of topsoil and the undergrowth. There was a great abundance of invasive alien plant species (mainly Impatiens parviflora) in the undergrowth. Moisture conditions have an impact on the occasional occurrence of Lumbricidae associated with wet and flooded areas. In turn, the domination by Bombus of open-habitat species indicates a transformation of forest structure, and the patchy nature of riparian forests located in a rural landscape. The obtained results demonstrate that protective actions should focus on ensuring adequate soil-moisture conditions, and on restoring the natural structure of vegetation with a view to invasions of alien species being hampered. Another important issue is the proper use of land adjacent to forest patches, as fallows prove to be invaded quickly by the kenophytes preferring abandoned and disturbed places.

W artykule dokonano oszacowania wpływu pozyskiwania drewna na wybrane procesy naturalne i elementy środowiska w 15 nadleśnictwach w Karpatach Wschodnich, w tym na strukturę gleby i tempo erozji oraz na reakcję hydrologiczną w skali stoku i zlewni. Główny nacisk położony został na oszacowanie gęstości i przestrzennego układu dróg leśnych i szlaków zrywkowych oraz intensywności ich wykorzystania, ponieważ z przeglądu literatury wynika (por. Affek, 2019), że zrywka jest tym elementem procesu pozyskiwania drewna, który w największym stopniu oddziałuje na glebę i reakcję hydrologiczną zlewni górskich. Do badań wykorzystano wysokorozdzielcze dane LiDAR i dane leśne. Uzyskane wyniki wskazują, że ok. 5% analizowanego obszaru ma naruszoną strukturę gleby na skutek stosowanej naziemnej zrywki, przeważająca część powierzchni analizowanych oddziałów leśnych może być zagrożona skutkami efektu brzegowego powodowanego przez drogi, a gęstość dróg leśnych, z uwzględnieniem szlaków zrywkowych, należy do najwyższych notowanych w literaturze.

The estimation of the value of nature in terms of benefits derived by humans is becoming increasingly popular in environmental assessments and spatial planning worldwide. In line with this approach, the value of any ecosystem can be determined on the basis of its potential (capacity), or the actual amount of goods and services delivered (flow). The aim of this work was to develop indicators of the potential of ecosystems to deliver services related specifically to bees, i.e. to pollination and honey production. A new operational definition of ecosystem potential dedicated to the evaluation of bee-related services was introduced and applied. Two ratio scales were constructed, showing the potential abundance of nesting wild bees (indicating pollination) and the availability of honey substrates (indicating honey production). The expert assessment carried out was closely linked to real regional data. Specific values were assigned to 29 types of ecosystem relevant to bees and identified in the lowland rural landscape of Central Europe. The original scales for the indicators were then classified into the 0–10 ecosystem capacity scale. A specific study area in north-eastern Poland (815 km 2 ) was chosen to show a possible spatial pattern for ecosystem potential in relation to the two bee-related services. Dry grassland and early successional pine forests were assigned highest values in terms of pollination potential, as well as cropland, young swamp pine forests and dry grassland in the case of honey production. In turn, mature alder and riparian forests, together with wetlands, ranked lowest for both bee services. This study confirmed that ecosystem capacities to deliver bee services tend to contrast greatly with potentials as regards many other ecosystem services (e.g. carbon sequestration or erosion control). This obviously complicates management policies and requires that the concept of trade-offs be embraced. The proposed indicators, as combined with detailed mapping of ecosystem capacities differ from pan-European modelling in being of value to particular stakeholders, and in support of decision-making processes regarding beekeeping, farming and nature conservation.

Specifying the upper bound of C storage in forest ecosystems allows an estimate of the amount of C that can be stored in the future. The Bialowieza Forest in NE Poland is the last relic forest in the European lowlands. Still, it has been subject to various natural and human-induced disturbances and its C stock has been reduced. The main goal of our study was therefore to assess the current and potential C stock in the forest communities of the Bialowieza Biosphere Reserve (597 km2), taking into account the diversity of habitats as well as different protection and management practices. For this we identified 13 forest communities and quantified their current C stock stored in all major pools (living trees, deadwood and soil). We used vegetation and soil data collected in 2018 at 1391 systematically distributed 0.04 ha forest plots (sampling grid 650 × 650 m). We used the concept of potential natural vegetation (PNV) and randomized upscaling of plot level current biomass C stock values to estimate the upper bounds of biomass C stocks possible to obtain at the stand level. We showed that the Bialowieza Forest stores currently 300 Mg C ha−1 (17.2 Tg C), of which 41% is accumulated in biomass, with significant variation among different forest communities and management regimes. We obtained the upper bounds of biomass C stocks ranging from 94 Mg ha−1 for swamp pine forest to 223 Mg ha−1 for lime-oak-hornbeam forest. We estimated the gap between the current and potential C stock in biomass at 66 Mg ha−1 (3.8 Tg); 62% of the potential level is achieved in managed forests, and 76% in the National Park. Our findings may be used in planning forest management aimed toward long-term C storage, and the obtained upper bounds can serve as benchmarks in assessing C storage potential of similar forest types elsewhere. We also suggest that the potential of ecosystems to store C should be considered in the landscape context, i.e. by taking into account the spatial extent of PNV habitats and their unequal capacity to provide C storage service.

Riparian forests with oaks, ashes and elms, now highly fragmented and rare in Europe, are considered hotspots for ecosystem services. However, their capacity to provide pollination seems to be quite low, although reports from in-situ research supporting this view are scarce. Our goal was therefore to thoroughly assess their pollination potential based on multifaceted field measurements. For this, we selected six test sites with well-developed riparian hardwood forests, located in the agricultural landscape along the middle Vistula River in Poland. We used seven indicators relating to habitat suitability (nesting sites and floral resources) and pollinator abundance (bumblebees and other Apoidea) and propose a threshold value (AdjMax) based on value distribution and Hampel’s test to indicate the level of pollination potential for this type of riparian forest. The obtained AdjMax for bumblebee density was 500 ind. ha−1, for Apoidea abundance—0.42 ind. day−1, while for nectar resources—200 kg ha−1. We demonstrate that the investigated small patches of the riparian hardwood forest have a higher pollination potential than reported earlier for riparian and other broadleaved temperate forests, but the indicators were inconsistent. As forest islands in the agricultural landscape, riparian hardwood forests play an important role in maintaining the diversity and abundance of wild pollinators, especially in early spring when there is still no food base available elsewhere.

Post-WWII displacements in the Polish Carpathians resulted in widespread land abandonment. Most of the pre-war agricultural areas are now covered with secondary forests, which will soon reach the felling age. Mapping their exact cover is crucial to investigate succession–regeneration processes and to determine their role in the landscape, before making management decisions. Our goal was to map post-agricultural forests in the Polish Eastern Carpathians using archival remote sensing data, and to assess their connectivity with pre-displacement forests. We used German Flown Aerial Photography from 1944 to map agricultural lands and forests from before displacements, and Corona satellite images to map agricultural lands which converted into the forest as a result of this event. We classified archival images using Object-Based Image Analysis (OBIA) and compared the output with the current forest cover derived from Sentinel-2. Our results showed that mature (60–70 years old) post-agricultural forests comprise 27.6% of the total forest area, while younger post-agricultural forests comprise 9%. We also demonstrated that the secondary forests fill forest gaps more often than form isolated patches: 77.5% of patches are connected with the old-woods (forests that most likely have never been cleared for agriculture). Orthorectification and OBIA classification of German Flown Aerial Photographs and Corona satellite images made it possible to accurately determine the spatial extent of post-agricultural forest. This, in turn, paves the way for the implementation of site-specific forest management practices to support the regeneration of secondary forests and their biodiversity.

Spatially explicit analysis of land ownership changes can provide a unique opportunity to trace land ownership and determine spatial patterns of inheritance. In this paper, the structure of land ownership in the age of feudalism (1852), communism (1965) and capitalism (2008) was reconstructed for a landscape-scale study area – the Upper Wiar River Basin in the Polish Eastern Carpathians. Austrian cadastre and post-war land registers were used as source data. Trajectories of land ownership changes were mapped and discussed. The similarity of landowner types was determined by means of correspondence analysis. The results generally showed how highly unstable land ownership is when socio-political systems are in flux.

The objective of this study was to map traces of the past Carpathian landscape recorded in the microtopography in the chosen study area (25 km2) within the Wiar river basin. The area comprised two deserted villages (Boryslawka and Posada Rybotycka) that were abandoned and afforested after forced displacement of Ruthenian highlanders in 1940s. Three groups of complementary research methods were used: remote sensing (airborne laser scanning – ALS as the main data source), analysis of archival sources and field survey. Sky-view factor (SVF) was applied as the main visualisation technique of the LiDAR-derived DTM for mapping purposes. The results demonstrated that there are numerous, well preserved earthworks created before World War II lying under the tree canopy, such as hollow ways, agricultural terraces, remnants of settlements, border mounds etc. They form a unique cultural heritage of former inhabitants that deserves to be protected.