Roads can affect animals in several ways, by affecting movement, space use, foraging behaviour and mortality. As roads often have a negative effect on populations of birds and mammals, their effects are important for wildlife management. However, the effect of roads differ between different types of roads, and most studies of road ecology have focused on major roads with high traffic intensity, whilst effects of smaller unpaved forest roads in northern ecosystems are less known. We investigated the effects of forest roads in a mixed conifer forest in central Europe on cervid habitat use and browsing impact on forest regeneration during the winter season. We found that hunted cervid species avoided forest roads, and that browsing pressure was higher within the core of forest areas rather than close to roads. This led to an increased density of undamaged trees (by browsing) close to forest roads, whilst browsing damages were relatively high in the interior. Hunters often use these forest roads in the hunting season. We suggest that human disturbance creates corridors of fear along forest roads, and that cervids alter their habitat and browse use to avoid humans. This in turn has implications for forest and cervid management. This is the first study to document that gravel roads can affect oak trees through modifying cervid behaviour. Future studies should use experiments to explore this question further and separate different effects of forest roads to understand the mechanisms; edge effects on vegetation, traffic, effects on natural predators and human disturbance.

BACKGROUND Deer pressure on forest regeneration constitutes a serious problem in commercial forests in the northern hemisphere due to the increase in deer populations. However, other drivers, such as climate, landscape structure and the level of human activity, have a strong influence on deer pressure. The direct, density‐related impacts of ungulates on forest regeneration have been well studied, but there is limited empirical evidence related to the indirect factors mentioned above. We conducted a field experiment in three forest divisions in Poland to evaluate the role of a common element of human infrastructure, i.e. small, unpaved forestry roads. Additionally, we assessed the modifying effect of visibility driven by vegetation cover and forage availability. RESULTS The proximity of unpaved roads affected deer habitat use and foraging behaviour, and limited browsing pressure on regenerating forests. Low visibility and higher winter forage availability increased the probability of tree browsing. We observed different responses to roads in two deer species: red deer avoided roads, while roe deer browsed in the vicinity of roads. CONCLUSIONS A typical forest network of unpaved roads creates a landscape of fear for red and roe deer, and limits browsing pressure on regenerating forests due to the changes in deer habitat use, activity patterns and foraging behaviour. Knowledge of the factors influencing browsing pressure can help to spatially optimise the application of protective measures for tree seedlings.

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Directive 2009/31

It has been in creas ingly real ised that geo log i cal stor age of CO 2 is a pro spec tive op tion for re duc tion of CO 2 emis sions. The CO 2 geo log i cal stor age po ten tial of sed i men tary bas ins with the ter ri tory of Slovakia, the Czech Re pub lic, Po land and the Bal tic States is here as sessed, and dif fer ent stor age op tions have been con sid ered. The most pro spec tive tech nol ogy is hydro dy namic trap ping in the deep sa line aqui fers. The uti li sa tion of hy dro car bon (HC) fields is con sid ered as a ma ture tech nology; how ever, stor age ca pac i ties are lim ited in the re gion and are mainly re lated to en hanced oil (gas) re cov ery. Pro spec tive res er voirs and traps have been iden ti fied in the Dan ube, Vi enna and East Slovakian Neo gene bas ins, the Neo gene Carpathian Foredeep, the Bo he mian and Fore-Sudetic Up per Pa leo zoic bas ins, the Me so zoic Mid-Pol ish Ba sin and the pericratonic Pa leo zoic Bal tic Ba sin. The to tal stor age ca pac ity of the sed i men tary bas ins is es ti mated to be as much as 10,170 Mt of CO 2 in deep sa line aqui fer struc tures, and 938 Mt CO 2 in the de pleted HC fields. The uti li sa tion of coal seams for CO 2 stor age is re lated to the Up per Silesian Ba sin where CO 2 stor age could be com bined with en hanced re cov ery of coal-bed meth ane.

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Reserves totaling ~142 BCM (5 TCF) of natural gas trapped in 306 fields and ~22 MTOE (~157 MMBOE) of crude oil in 87 fields have been discovered. The prospection, exploration, and production of hydrocarbons are licensed: an entity interested in these kinds of activities needs to have concession, which is granted by the Polish Ministry of Climate and Environment for 10 to 30 years according to one of two independent ways — international tender or open door procedure. In this review, the most prospective areas for oil and gas exploration in Poland, selected by the Polish Geological Survey, and announced as dedicated for the next 6th tender round, planned in the second half of 2022, are described. These are: Block 413–414, Block 208, Cybinka–Torzym, Zielona Góra West, and Koło areas. The main exploration target of these tender areas is related to conventional and unconventional accumulations of gas and oil in the Carpathian basement, Carpathian Foredeep, and Outer Carpathians (Block 413–414), as well as in the Carboniferous, Permian Rotliegend, Zechstein Main Dolomite (Block 208, Cybinka–Torzym, Zielona Góra West), and in the Mesozoic of the Polish Lowlands (Koło). The second way of granting concession in Poland is the so-called open door procedure, in which an entity may apply for a concession for any other area selected on its own.