Directions of changes in the flora structure in the abandoned railway areas

Galera, Halina; Sudnik‐Wójcikowska, Barbara; Wierzbicka, Małgorzata; Wiłkomirski, Bogusław

doi:10.2478/v10090-012-0003-5

Cited by 5 publications

(12 citation statements)

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“…The examined soils were collected from railway tracks located in north-eastern Poland at the Białystok Fabryczny, Waliły, Hajnówka, and Siemianówka stations, representing the Podlasie area, and the large station at Iława Główna, representing the western part of the Masuria region. This paper is a continuation of earlier studies focused on the pollution of railway areas in north-eastern Poland (Galera et al 2011 , 2012 ; Wierzbicka et al 2014 ; Wiłkomirski et al 2011 , 2012 ).…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 52%

Multidimensional evaluation of soil pollution from railway tracks

2015

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Railway transport is a source of pollution to soils and living organisms by e.g. PAHs, PCBs, oil-derived products, pesticides and heavy metals. Soil toxicity evaluation requires chemical analyses, indicating the type and content of particular pollutants, as well as biological analyses, which allow assessing the reaction of organisms to these pollutants. This paper is focused on a multi-aspect evaluation of the degree of toxicity and pollution of soil in selected railway areas from north-eastern Poland by application of numerous biotests and chemical analyses. The soils were sampled on railway tracks from the following railway stations: Białystok Fabryczny, Siemianówka, Hajnówka, Iława Główna and Waliły. The most toxic soils occur on the railway tracks at Białystok Fabryczny and Siemianówka. They had a significant toxic effect on test organisms from various trophic levels. The contents of PAHs, PCBs, heavy metals, oil-derived hydrocarbons and pesticide residues were determined in the examined soils. In all cases the detected pollutants did not exceed the admissible levels. The highest content of oil-derived substances was noted in soils from Białystok Fabryczny and concentrations were moderate in soils from Siemianówka. Although the pollutants determined in soils from railway tracks did not exceed the admissible values, they had a toxic effect on numerous test organisms from different trophic levels. This suggests a synergistic effect of low concentrations (within the admissible levels) of several pollutants together, which resulted in a toxic effect on the organisms. Thus, there is a strong need of not only chemical, but also ecotoxicological analyses during the evaluation of environmental conditions. Based on data obtained from biological and chemical analyses, we concluded that railway transport may pose a hazard to the natural environment to a larger extent that hitherto expected.

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 52%

Multidimensional evaluation of soil pollution from railway tracks

2015

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“…Consequently, recent years have seen the appearance of publications focusing on this area (Müller et al, 2001;Schreiter, 2010;Steckler et al, 2012;Schreiter & Kappis, 2013a, b;Eglinton, 2014;Pfautsch & Howe, 2018;Sikorski et al, 2018). In the majority of studies, green tram and railway tracks were researched separately from the spontaneously growing flora and vegetation of conventional tracks, or authors did not focus primarily on the comparison of these two types of habitats (Niemi, 1969;Suominen, 1969;Eliáš, 1979Eliáš, , 1981Brandes, 1983Brandes, , 1984Brandes, , 1993aHohla et al, 2000Hohla et al, , 2002Brandes, 2002aBrandes, , b, 2003Brandes, , 2004aBrandes, , b, c, d, 2005aBrandes, , b, 2008Jehlík & Dostálek, 2008;Tret'yakova, 2010;Galera et al, 2012Galera et al, , 2014Wierzbicka et al, 2014;Májeková et al, 2014;Májeková & Limánek, 2016;Woźnica et al, 2016;Wrzesień et al, 2016;Májeková et al, 2021). Sikorski et al (2018) compared green tram tracks at different developmental stages from their establishment, but there is a lack of other similar studies, not to mention studies focused strictly on the comparison of conventional and green tracks.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparison of the differences in the composition of ruderal flora between conventional tram tracks and managed green tram tracks in the urban ecosystem of the city of Bratislava

et al. 2022

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Green infrastructure (GI) brings many benefits to urban ecosystems. Green tram tracks can be considered to be a part of GI. The presented study is focused on the comparison of the species’ frequency and composition between conventional tram tracks and green tram tracks in Bratislava, Slovakia, Central Europe. This comparison also provides an insight into the changes of the flora of tram tracks over time, as we compare the results of the older research with recent research on green tram tracks. The results revealed significant differences in the composition of flora between conventional tram tracks and green tram tracks. In particular, the total number of species has decreased over time, as green tram tracks host fewer spontaneously growing taxa than conventional ones. The frequency of occurrence of archaeophytes and neophytes has decreased on the strict rail yard while on the tracksides it has increased. Green tram tracks deliver positive features to ecosystems, but may also have negative aspects because they present a pool of alien, potentially invasive plants.

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“…In Silesia, the first railway line was the Wrocław-Mysłowice route that led to the Upper Silesian Coal Basin and was opened in 1846 [29]. The heyday of railroad dominance has ended, however, and economic changes and the development of road transport in Poland after 1989 has resulted in the closure of many railway lines [30][31][32]. These have now turned into habitats spontaneously colonized by plant species encroaching from the immediate surroundings.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors Affecting Plant Composition in Abandoned Railway Areas with Particular Emphasis on Forest Proximity

Hutniczak

Urbisz

et al. 2022

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Abandoned railway areas are places for the spontaneous spread of plants and the formation of specific plant communities. However, only limited information on this subject is available in the literature. The study aimed to determine the direction and the rate of forest formation, taking into account selected environmental factors. A floristic, phytosociological, and soil survey was carried out on a set of abandoned railway lines in the Silesia Province (southern Poland). For this purpose, 30 plots of vegetation were selected: 15 located in the vicinity of forests (F) and 15 surrounded by ruderal or segetal communities (NF). As a result, a total of 132 species (121 vascular plants and 11 mosses) were recorded, including 83 species at F plots and 78 species at NF plots. During the research, 13 syntaxa were distinguished. It was found that silt content, nitrate nitrogen (N-NO3), pH, and phosphorous have a significant impact upon which species dominated in the surveyed areas. It was found that the proximity of the forest was a crucial factor in determining the development of forest communities on abandoned railway areas. These results can be helpful for understanding how environmental conditions shape the forest structure on these types of habitats.

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Directions of changes in the flora structure in the abandoned railway areas

Cited by 5 publications

References 10 publications

Multidimensional evaluation of soil pollution from railway tracks

Multidimensional evaluation of soil pollution from railway tracks

Comparison of the differences in the composition of ruderal flora between conventional tram tracks and managed green tram tracks in the urban ecosystem of the city of Bratislava

Factors Affecting Plant Composition in Abandoned Railway Areas with Particular Emphasis on Forest Proximity

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