Relief and changes in the vegetation cover and the flora of the Zadroże Dune near the city of Toruń: Comparison of the conditions in 1948 and 2009

Abstract

Abstract. The relief of the Zadroże Dune was described, as well as the comparison was done on its vegetation cover and the flora in its two phases of the development, i.e. before the afforestation of the dune and approximately 60 years after reconstruction of the forest. The first state was described in the paper dated 1949. During that period the dune constituted the first common study area for the research team consisting of ecologists and geographers from the Nicolaus Copernicus University. Our contemporary scientific studies were carried out in 2009. In the comparative analysis, a particular attention was paid to the distribution, the number and the size of heath patches with Arctostaphylos uva-ursi. In the description of the contemporary state of vegetation, the structure and the biomass of tree stands were included. The GIS and GPS technologies were applied in the comparative analysis of the vegetation, in the comparison of the former and contemporary cartographic materials, aerial and satellite images, as well as in the development of a digital elevation model. As a result of comparisons of the vegetation cover, it was found that the surface area of heaths decreased from 59.21 ares in 1948 to 2.96 ares in 2009. As a result of comparisons of the flora, it was found that 7 and 26 species of lichens occurred in 1948 and 2009 respectively, 5 and 42 species of mosses, 0 and 7 species of liverworts, as well as 102 and 204 species of vascular plants. The number of families, within which the species of vascular plants are classified, increased from 31 to 52. The compared floras have only 66 species in common. The percentage contribution of geographical and historical groups has undergone only inconsiderable changes during the 60-year period. Contribution proportions of non-synanthropic spontaneophytes and apophytes has changed slightly. Whereas, the contribution of alien species, mainly kenophytes and ergasiophytes significantly increased. This paper discuss the significance of natural and anthropogenic factors, which brought about this considerable range of transformations in the species composition and in the contribution of alien species.

Vegetation Transformations of Kujawy-Pomerania Region in the Last Twenty Years Period

“…KĘPCZYŃSKI, ZIELSKI 1976;ZIELSKI 1978;BERNDT, CEYNOWA-GIEŁDON 1988;ZIELONY 1988;KĘPCZYŃSKI, ZAŁUSKI 1991;CYZMAN, REJEWSKI 1992;BIAŁY, ZAŁUSKI 1994;ZAŁUSKI, GAWENDA 1999;JAGODZIŃSKI, MACIEJEWSKA-RUTKOWSKA 2005, 2008PASZEK 2005;MATUSZKIEWICZ 2007b;CYZMAN, KANNENBERG 2008;CYZMAN 2009) and non-forest (i.a. WILKOŃ-MICHALSKA 1970;KĘPCZYŃSKI, ZAŁUSKI 1977, 1988NORYŚKIEWICZ 1978;SAMOSIEJ 1987;KĘPCZYŃSKI, CEYNOWA-GIEŁDON 1988;KRASICKA-KORCZYŃSKA 1996;MARCYSIAK 1999;ZAŁUSKI et al 2005ZAŁUSKI et al , 2008EJANKOWSKI, KUNZ 2006;KRASICKA-KORCZYŃSKA et al 2008;RATYŃSKA 2008;WALDON, RAPACKA-GACKOWSKA 2010;NIENARTOWICZ et al 2010) …”

Changes in the organic carbon resources in successive forest development stageson dunes in the Toruń Basin

“…The development of forest as a consequence of heathland afforestation was studied by e.g. Nienartowicz et al (2002, 2009) well Rode (1999a.…”

“…Afforestation can be carried out not only through artificial forest restoration, but also through natural processes, mainly self-seeding. Consequently most of the heath on the Zadroże Dune near the city of Toruń disappeared after the early 1960s (Nienartowicz et al, 2009) and Calluna vulgaris (L.) was replaced, in a natural way, by young wilding trees after the land-use change.…”

Epigeic lichens of different development stages of forest growing on the heathland

“…Replacement of these ecological systems by cultivation of trees was studied by, inter alia, Nienartowicz et al (2002Nienartowicz et al ( , 2009, Rode (1999a, b), Stefańska-Krzaczek and Fałtynowicz (2014, 2013) and von Oheimb et al (2008. Nevertheless, one should remember that an increase in the woodland area can be achieved not only through artificial regeneration, but also through self-sowing plants spreading on heaths in the process of natural succession.…”