The urban heat island and the features of the flora in the Lublin City area, SE Poland

Abstract

Various forms of human activity in large cities contribute to the creation of a specific climate and new environmental conditions for plants. One of the most important results is the so-called atmospheric urban heat island (UHI). The aim of this study was to compare the thermal conditions in the Lublin City center with those of suburban areas, and so confirm the existence of the UHI and then analyze the influence of thermal conditions on features of the flora. The analysis of the air temperatures was based on data from 2000 to 2014 provided by meteorological stations in the Lublin City center and its nearest surroundings. Floristic data were collected during field studies between 2012–2014 and included species richness and frequency, life forms, and synecological groups of the flora and its elements. The thermal requirements of species were defined on the basis of ecological indicator values (EIVs). Our research confirmed the presence of the UHI in the Lublin City center. Over the study period, the mean temperature in the city center was by 0.87°C higher than that in the suburban areas. The largest differences in mean annual air temperature between the city center and the suburbs were recorded in 2007 and 2011–2013. In total, 552 species were recorded, including six life-form and synecological groups, 246 thermophilous and 436 heliophilous species. The species richness, proportion of therophytes, alien, thermo- and heliophilous species decreased with distance from the city center. The thermal conditions expressed by the EIV L and T ranged from L = 4.5, T = 3.8 in the city center, to L = 3.1, T = 3.4 in the suburbs. An ordination analysis facilitated determination of the relationships between characteristics of the flora, the EIV values, and land use classes. An increasing level of anthropopressure was found to be positively correlated with thermal conditions and the flora traits.

Early Floral Resources for Urban Bees From Ornamental Shrubs Ribes Aureum, Ribes Sanguineum and Staphylea Pinnata

“…The results of this study expand the list of early-spring flowering shrubs that are useful for urban pollinators, including honeybees and bumblebees. In all the plants observed in this study, the onset and length of blooming depended on weather conditions prevailing during the growing seasons and were probably affected by urban warming -a phenomenon recently confirmed for Lublin by Rysiak & Czarnecka (2018). At high temperatures, the investigated shrubs, in particular R. sanguineum, advanced Fig.…”

“…The local climate is characterized by an average annual air temperature of 7.9°C and average annual precipitation of 556 mm. The average length of the growing season is 209 days (Rysiak & Czarnecka, 2018). Ribes aureum, R. sanguineum (Grossulariaceae), and Staphylea pinnata (Staphyleaceae) are deciduous shrubs and have multi-flowered inflorescences -racemes (Ribes species) or thyrses (S. pinnata).…”

“…Moreover, this species is light and soil tolerant (Dolatowski & Seneta, 2020). Since studies on the apiarian value of ornamental Ribes species in SE Poland in the 1990s (Masierowska, 1993;1995), the attractiveness of these shrubs to urban pollinators has not been studied despite common changes in the urban environment, including the UHI effect, altered precipitation or land-use change, noted also in the city studied here (Rysiak & Czarnecka, 2018). The attractiveness of S. pinnata has never been evaluated, although it is listed as a melliferous plant in Poland (Lipiński, 2010).…”

Nectar and pollen production in ornamental cultivars of Prunus serrulata (Rosaceae)

“…The study was carried out in 2014-2015 in the city of Lublin located in the Lublin Upland, SE (south-west) Poland (51°08'-51°18' N and 21°27'-21°41' E; elevation: 170-220 m). Lublin is the largest city of south-eastern Poland, with specific flora characteristic of cities with the so-called atmospheric urban heat island (UHI) (Rysiak and Czarnecka, 2018).…”

Laundry washing increases dispersal efficiency of cloth-dispersed propagules

“…Suitability of novel habitats depends on a range of factors. For instance, climatic changes and the heat island effect in urban habitats (Shochat et al 2006) make cities in the temperate region especially suitable for the establishment of thermophilous species (Rysiak and Czarnecka 2018). This process is further aggravated by the increasing global mobility of people, especially for those living in cities (Glaesser et al 2017).…”