Questionnaire surveys were conducted from July 1st • to August 15th, 2012 in forests near Gołdap, Białowieża, Pisz, Kraśnik, Warsaw and Zakopane with 335 respondents - 146 residents (43.6%) and 189 tourists (56.4%). The respondents declared that they visit forests throughout the year for various purposes, most often with family or friends and most frequently for the recreational activity of walking. They typically spend about three hours in the forest during a single visit. Respondents perceived the most important functions of the forest as a place where plants and animals live, as well as a place for recreation. In their view, the state budget should be a source of co-financing the recreational management of the forest. On1y a small number of respondents (27.5%) would be willing to allocate a portion of their income for recreational forest management. According to the respondents, the most important elements needed in the forest to improve its quality for tourism are information signs and litter bins. Respondents perceive the greatest threats to the forest from tourism to be vandalism, automobiles driving into the forest and wildlife disturbance, whereas the greatest threats to tourists were reported to be biting and stinging animals (snakes, ticks and mosquitoes) and the possibility of getting lost. Respondents indicated clean air, peace and quiet, as well as the ability to harvest wild fruits, plants and mushrooms as the greatest advantages of using the forest for recreation. A large proportion of respondents admitted that they would like to use the services of professional foresters, especially for nature walks and health related purposes, as well as to educate children and youth about nature and the forest.
Meteorological measurements, that aim to monitor weather and climate conditions to aid research in changing forest ecosystems, have been conducted in the Warsaw University of Life Sciences’ experimental forests in Rogów since 1924. Based on the long-term air temperature measurements, it can be demonstrated that in the years 1924–2015, anomalously cold months have occurred less often (ca. 3.2%) than anomalously warm months (ca. 4.5%). During the last 20 years, only two anomalously cold months were recorded (November 1998, December 2010), whereas anomalously warm months occurred frequently (May 2002, July 1999, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2012, 2014, August 2002, 2015, September 1999, 2006, October 2000, 2001). We hypothesised that the more frequent anomalously warm months would constitute a trend in increasing the air temperature for particular months between 1924–2015, but surprisingly, a statistically significant trend was observed for all winter (XII–II) and spring months (III–IV) as well as the end of summer (VIII).
Air pollution and climate change are two key factors comprising the global change threat to forest health and sustainability. Intensive development of industry in the second half of the 20th century brought significant changes in the level of pollutants emitted into the atmosphere in Poland. Dry and wet deposition of toxic pollutants (mainly SO2, NOx, & NH3), continuing over more than 40 years, has caused serious damage to forest stands. One of the ways describing the effect of industrial emissions on forests is the tree-rings (dendrochronological) analysis, it has been used in our research. We present a brief description of the studies on impact of air pollution on growth of forest growing in the most polluted areas of Poland. The main aim is to evaluate of Scots pine stand degradation caused by the pollutants emitted from the one of biggest polluters of the environment in Poland for over 25 years (1966-1990). We found that pollutant emission caused disturbances of incremental dynamics and long-term strong reduction of growth. Scott pine growing in the vicinity of the nitrogen fertilizer factory showed a dramatic growth reduction after the beginning of the pollution period. Significant decrease in growth was observed for the majority of investigated trees (75%) to the end of the 1990s. The zone of destruction extends primarily in easterly and southern directions, from the pollution source, associated with the prevailing winds of the region. At the end of 1990s decreasing trend stopped and the wider tree-rings could be observed. This situation was related with a radical reduction of ammonia emissions and an improvement of environmental conditions. However, growth of damaged trees due to the weakened health condition is lower than the growth of Scots pine on the reference plot and trees are more sensitive to stressful climatic conditions, especially to drought.
The aim of this study was to evaluate Scots pine stand degradation caused by the pollutants emitted from Zakłądy Azotowe Puławy, one of the biggest polluters of the environment in Poland for over 25 years (1966–1990). To assess the pollution stress in trees, we chose the dendrochronological analysis We outlined three directions for our research: (i) the spatio-temporal distribution of the growth response of trees to the stress associated with air pollution; (ii) the direct and indirect effects of air pollution which may have influenced the growth response of trees; and (iii) the role of local factors, both environmental and technological, in shaping the growth response of trees. Eight Scots pine stands were selected for study, seven plots located in different damage zones and a reference plot in an undamaged stand. We found that pollutant emission caused disturbances of incremental dynamics and long-term strong reduction of growth. A significant decrease in growth was observed for the majority of investigated trees (75%) from 1966 (start of factory) to the end of the 1990s. The zone of destruction extended primarily in easterly and southern directions, from the pollution source, associated with the prevailing winds of the region. At the end of the 1990s, the decreasing trend stopped and the wider tree-rings could be observed. This situation was related to a radical reduction in ammonia emissions and an improvement in environmental conditions. However, the growth of damaged trees due to the weakened health condition is lower than the growth of Scots pine on the reference plot and trees are more sensitive to stressful climatic conditions, especially to drought.
Over the past decades, relatively few experimental studies have been carried out in which the micrometeorological conditions have been studied over different small clearings plots of the forest. As these conditions can significantly affect many processes in the ecosystem, two questions arise: 1) whether and how the microclimatic conditions differ in the clear-cut and the gap, and 2) how heterogeneous is the distribution of these conditions on these plots. The aim of the study was to determine the spatial variation of air temperature on the clear-cut and gap as well as to compare the distribution of thermal and humidity conditions on both areas. The research was carried out in Central Poland on a clear-cut with a width of 60 m and on a gap of an ellipsoid shape (40 × 70 m). The measurements were carried out in two series: spring-summer, in the period when the height of the sun during the day conditioned inflow of direct solar radiation to any surface (May-August 2006), and autumn, when direct radiation was limited by neighbouring stands (October-November 2006). Average values of air temperature on the gap in the spring-summer period differed in individual parts of 2.2 o C, while on the clear-cut by 1.0 o C. In the autumn, thermal diversity on both research plots was similar (average 0.8 o C). The thermal diversity within the research areas was particularly marked in the case of extreme air temperature values. We found the modest spatial diversification of humidity parameters: vapour pressure, relative humidity, and humidity deficit. Particularly large diversification of relativity humidity and vapour pressure deficit were claimed in spring-summer period in the situation of heat waves. The least beneficial thermal and humidity conditions for plants growing occurred in the northeast parts of clear-cut and gap, that is why it necessary to take particular note of these locations during undertaking the silviculture.
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