Floods types in a mountain catchment: The Ochotnica River, Poland

This paper presents the results of a study on floods in the Ochotnica River catchment during forty years of hydrological observations (1972–2011). The Ochotnica River is located in the Gorce Mountains, in the Polish Western Carpathians. The characteristics of floods in the Ochotnica River channel were analyzed using limnigraphic records of water levels at the Tylmanowa gauging station and of precipitation based on data from the Polish Institute of Meteorology and the Water Management Station at Ochotnica Górna. Flood types were determined. The predominant type of floods in the Ochotnica River are normal floods with a discharge of 3.80 to 11.94 m³/s in winter and 4.74 to 16.40 m³/s in summer. The dominant recent process is incision, at an average speed of 3.2 cm/year. Similar results have been observed in other mountain rivers in Europe

Area changes of the plant communities in chosen post-agricultural regions within Jaszcze and Jamne valleys in Gorce Mts (Western Carpathians) during the last 50 years

The paper contains results of the vegetation mapping of two areas within the Jaszcze and Jamne stream valleys in the Gorce Mts (Polish Western Carpathians), which were compared with a phytosociological map constructed in the 1960’s. Significant area changes of different plant communities were illustrated on vegetation maps and in tables. The causes of vegetation changes were also discussed

The impact of land use and land cover changes on soil properties and plant communities in the Gorce Mountains (Western Polish Carpathians), during the past 50 years

The research was carried out in the Jaszcze and Jamne catchments (area of 11.39 km2 and 8.95 km2, respectively) in the Gorce Mountains (the Western Polish Carpathians). Analysis of aerial photographs from the period 1954–2009 shows that land use and land cover changes in both catchments have intensified since the economic transformation of 1989. Changes in inhabitants' sources of income led to an increase in the area of forest (in the Jaszcze and Jamne catchments, by 14.6% and 24.0%, respectively) at the expense of agricultural land. Land use changes resulted in decreases in soil erosion. Reduced slope wash has limited the amount of suspended load, which in turn has resulted in the interruption of aggradation on their floodplains. The average bed incision has increased, from 0.24 cm per year and 0.32 cm per year, in the Jaszcze and Jamne streams, respectively, during the period 1964–1968, to 1 cm per year for the period 1969–2008. Such land use changes are not much in evidence in soils under arable and fallow land, in terms of organic carbon content, phosphorus content, or in the saturation level of the sorption complex. This may be an effect of the short time since the discontinuation of plowing (ten to thirty years). The differences between pH and nitrogen content of these soils are small and are not the result of present-day land use. Only the higher organic matter content in the soils under arable land is the result of continuous fertilization. In contrast, micromorphological analysis of thin sections shows distinct differences between arable land and fallow land. In soils under arable land, well-developed angular microstructure occurs. Here, plowing traces are easily visible. In soils under fallow land, massive or channel microstructure dominate. On the basis of a phytosociological map from the 1960's, resurveyed in 2012–2013, a clear decrease in segetal communities as well as poor grasslands was observed. ese communities were mainly replaced by floristically impoverished dense thickets, plots dominated by Vaccinium myrtillus, and communities developed on fallow lands

A spatial and temporal analysis of land use changes in two mountain valleys: with and without dam reservoir (Polish Carpathians)

This study analyzed the temporal and spatial changes in land use taking place in two adjacent river valleys, located within the Polish Carpathians. The land use in 1977 and 2009 was presented for selected areas. In one of the valleys, a dam has been operating since 1994 along with a retention reservoir, which is an additional factor influencing the direction and scale of the land use changes. An analysis using GIS techniques showed that the general directions of transformation in both valleys in the land use structure are similar but with different intensity. In studied valleys a decrease of area with agricultural land and gradual increase in the forested area have been observed. In the valley with the reservoir few more changes were noticed. The decrease of the forested area by 5.5% and farmland by 8.2% on the areas submerged by reservoir was observed. The strip fields pattern has been changed into more dispersed. The road network development was also observed, as well as the change of nature of residential/agricultural buildings into residential/recreational

Research of geotechnical properties of slope covers from Jamne and Jaszcze stream valleys in Gorce Mts.

The test results pertaining to geotechnical parameters of slope covers from valleys of two mountainous streams from Gorce Mts. are presented in the paper. The tests were carried out in the context of slope stability estimation of the analyzed watersheds. The field studies included determination of basic physical properties of soil at several sites within the studied area, laboratory tests involved determination of particle size distribution, consistency limits, permeability coefficients and shear strengths, which were carried out at direct shear box and CIU tests in triaxial apparatus. The test results revealed that the tested slope covers can be described as coarse-grained soils with low content of clay fraction, characterized by low plasticity. The values of the internal friction angle of the average bad land were high and ranged from 28 to 38 degrees, whereas cohesion varied from 0 to 7 kPa. Generally, the higher values of angle of internal friction and lower cohesion were obtained from triaxial tests. The values of permeability coefficients determined using the infiltration method allow to characterize tested soils as a semi-permeable medium. The stability calculations using the SINMAP model have shown that a significant part of the analyzed area is prone to mass movements, giving a more conservative assessment of landslide vulnerability than the results of the SOPO report. The probabilistic slope stability calculation results indicate that the likelihood of slope failure increases significantly on the slopes with the inclination exceeding 20 degrees, and the results of the calculations providing a more detailed information of the mass movements susceptibility of the area than were obtained using the SINMAP model

A Spatial and Temporal Analysis of Land Use Changes in Two Mountain Valleys: with and without Dam Reservoir (Polish Carpathians)

This study analyzed the temporal and spatial changes in land use taking place in two adjacent river valleys, located within the Polish Carpathians. The land use in 1977 and 2009 was presented for selected areas. In one of the valleys, a dam has been operating since 1994 along with a retention reservoir, which is an additional factor influencing the direction and scale of the land use changes. An analysis using GIS techniques showed that the general directions of transformation in both valleys in the land use structure are similar but with different intensity. In studied valleys a decrease of area with agricultural land and gradual increase in the forested area have been observed. In the valley with the reservoir few more changes were noticed. The decrease of the forested area by 5.5% and farmland by 8.2% on the areas submerged by reservoir was observed. The strip fields pattern has been changed into more dispersed. The road network development was also observed, as well as the change of nature of residential/agricultural buildings into residential/recreational

A spatial and temporal analysis of land use changes in two mountain valleys: with and without dam reservoir (Polish Carpathians)

This study analyzed the temporal and spatial changes in land use taking place in two adjacent river valleys, located within the Polish Carpathians. The land use in 1977 and 2009 was presented for selected areas. In one of the valleys, a dam has been operating since 1994 along with a retention reservoir, which is an additional factor influencing the direction and scale of the land use changes. An analysis using GIS techniques showed that the general directions of transformation in both valleys in the land use structure are similar but with different intensity. In studied valleys a decrease of area with agricultural land and gradual increase in the forested area have been observed. In the valley with the reservoir few more changes were noticed. The decrease of the forested area by 5.5% and farmland by 8.2% on the areas submerged by reservoir was observed. The strip fields pattern has been changed into more dispersed. The road network development was also observed, as well as the change of nature of residential/agricultural buildings into residential/recreational