Xerothermic swards occurring in Poland are extremely valuable communities because owing to the presence in them of plant species originating from warmer climatic zones they increase the biodiversity of domestic grass ecosystems. They also contribute to improvement of landscape amenities in the areas where they occur. The Malopolska Upland is a region where xerothermic swards are quite numerous. Generally they cover small areas, usually on sites where warm and dry habitats are found, mainly on strongly sun-heated slopes with southern aspect. Four plant alliances are present in the xerothermic swards on the Malopolska Upland Sisymbrio-Stipetum capillatae alliance can be encountered on gypsum rocks 129 covered with thin layer of loess soil. Another alliance forming on gypsum substratum covered with slightly thicker loess layer is Thalictro-Salvietum pratensis assemblage. The alliance frequently found on the Malopolska Upland is Inuletum ensifoliae covering the southern steep slopes of the terrain elevations developed from senonian marles. The fourth alliance of xerothermic vegetation commonly present on the Malopolska Upland is Adonido-Brachypodieto pinnati plant assemblage, encountered on deeper loamy-clay or humus brown soils similar to chernozems. Xerothermic swards, which are not climatic assemblages undergo a natural plant succession, changing into forest ecosystems. Therefore, human interference is crucial ...
Detailed hydrological and biological studies were carried out in 2002-2005 on chosen, typical reaches of Wkra River, representing middle-sized lowland one. The results show that the biodiversity of the riverbed does not depend on the fact of river regulation as itself, but on the presence of unique, repeatable microhabitats of peculiar hydromorphological parameters. The relationships between the microhabitat types and invertebrate taxa were analysed. The paper shows the results of those analyses and the divagations about possible connections of microhabitats, invertebrates and mosaic of river eco-systems. ...
The research was conducted to determine the number and species composition of microorganisms isolated from the soils collected in the vicinity of seven largest transport nodes and roundabouts in Krakow. Moreover, the investigations aimed at verifying the differences in the occurrence and biodiversity of the researched microorganism population between four calendar seasons of the year. The soil samples were collected 4 times during the period from November 2013 to August 2014 and then analysed using serial dilutions method. A great microorganism biodiversity was found in the analysed samples. Microorganisms were the most numerous in the autumn-winter period. The most numerous isolated group were vegetative bacteria and ammonifiers. Filamentous fungi were less numerous, which may have been caused by the neutral or slightly alkaline soil pH. Presence of dormant bacteria forms may result from unfavourable environmental conditions caused by a toxic effect of the substances from road transport. Less numerously isolated were actinomycetes and Azotobacter bacteria, regarded as bioindicators of soil fertility. It was found, that the differences in the numbers of the analysed microorganisms over the year are statistically significant for the vegetative and ammonifying bacteria, phytopathogenic fungi and actinomycetes. No significant differences in the microorganism number were stated ...
One of the most intriguing and still rather mysterious water ecosystems are small mid-field ponds. Relatively little attention is devoted to representatives of ichthyofauna inhabiting them. The purpose of this work was the evaluation of the species and quantitative composition of the fish inhabiting several selected mid-field ponds (five), and the analysis of habitat conditions and the possibility of utilising small countryside ponds for angling purposes. Overall, 203 fish belonging to eight species were caught. The highest number was recorded in the pond No. 5 (84 specimens), and the lowest number was recorded in the pond No. 3 (18 specimens), where all the fish belonged to one species - Carassius auratus gibelio. No fish habitation was detected in the pond No. 1.The highest dominance index (Di) was achieved by Perca fluviatilis (33.5%) and Carassius carassius (17.73%), whereas the lowest index belonged to Scardinius erythrophtalmus (2.46%) and Blicca bjoerkna (5.42%). The comparison of constancy index values (Ci) indicates that as many as six fish species out of eight demonstrated high constancy of 60%, whereas two fish species (Blicca bjoerkna and Scardinius erythrophtalmus) reached a low level of constancy amounting to 20%. The studied ponds predominantly featured good or very good conditions ...
The study was conducted within the Bydgoszcz limits and in the vicinity of city Bydgoszcz at seven different habitats of Hierochloë repens presence: city district Fordon - (1), (2), (3) and (4); city district Kapuściska - (5), and Białe Błota near Bydgoszcz - (6) and (7). Samples for acarological analyses were collected from the plots covered with Hierochloë repens in spring (27 May) and autumn (28 October) 2014.The density of oribatid mites on the sites with Hierochloë repens was highly variable. High density of these microarthropods was characteristic of plots (2) with Convolvulo-Brometum inermis, (5) with Arrhenatheretum elatioris and (7) covered with grassy herbaceous plants growing on fertile soils. Particularly low density of oribatid mites was observed for plot (3) with Koelerio-Corynephoretea and Festuco-Brometea communities and the lowest content of carbon and nitrogen in the soil. Depending on the site and sample collection time, four to 22 species of oribatid mites were identified. Statistical analysis (Mann-Whitney U test) of mean number of species per sample s identified two groups of plots for both sample collection terms characterized by either low (1.00-3.10) or high values (3.30-7.40) of this parameter. The first group included plots (1), (3) and (6), and the second ...
