The aim of the study was to compare the growth of silver birch (Betula pendula Roth) and Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) as well as the state of soil mites (Acari) in two-year cultivations on the reclaimed post-military area at Forest Dis-trict Żołędowo. Afforestation was carried out with the use of two-year old birch and pine seedlings obtained from bare root nurseries (production with mulching and without mulching - traditional method). The experiments were conducted in 2010-2011 on Brunic Arenosols characterized by texture of loamy sand in the surface layer as well as by the strongly acid reaction. The experiments included the following variants: BrzC - birch cultivation which was afforested by the use of traditional seedlings (production of seedlings without mulching), BrzS - birch cultivation which was afforested by the use of seedlings produced with mulching, SoC - pine cultivation which was afforested by the use of traditional seedlings (production of seedlings without mulching), SoS - pine cultivation which was affor-ested by the use of seedlings produced with mulching. The cultivation of Scots pine was characterized by the better efficiency of planting (over 96 %). The mulching treatment - conducted at the nursery - had the positive ...
The analysis of gatherings for soil mites (Acari) - with special emphasis of oribatid mites (Oribatida) - on post-arable land and forest land in 5-year cul-tivations and 8-year young forest stands of Scots pine and silver birch in Bory Tucholskie forests has been presented in the paper. Soil samples for acarological research were taken in the years 2006 and 2009 - in three seasons for every year: springtime (in mid-May), in summer (the beginning of August) and in autumn (in mid-October). Cultivations on the ferested post-arable land were characterized by lower density of mites than on the restored forest land. The all stands in the young forest stage were characterized by increased abundance of these arthropods. Oribatid mites were the most numerous group: their share in gatherings on post-arable land ranged from 63 to 81%, and on forest land their share was slightly higher - 79-87%. Overall, 39 species of oribatid mites were found on the study area - 25 occurred on post-arable land and 29 on forest land. Species diversity of these mites in cultivation and in the forest soil of young forest stand was considerably higher than that on post-arable land. Aforestation of post-arable land ...
