Multiproxy study of anthropogenic and climatic changes in the last two millennia from a small mire in central Poland

The Żabieniec kettle hole is the first peatland in central Poland analyzed quantitatively with four biotic proxies (plant macrofossils, pollen, testate amoebae and chironomids) to reconstruct the past environmental change. Palaeoecological data were supported by historical and archaeological records. We focused on autogenic vegetation change and human impact in relation to climatic effects. The aims of our study were (a) to describe the development history of the mire during the last 2,000years, (b) to date and reconstruct the anthropogenic land-use changes and (c) to discuss a possible climatic signal in the peat archive. The combination of proxies revealed dramatic shifts that took place in the peatland since the Roman Period. Żabieniec was a very wet telmatic habitat until ca. AD 600. Then, the water table declined, and the site transformed into a Sphagnum-dominated mire. This dry shift took place mainly during the Early Medieval Period. Human impact was gradually increasing, and it was particularly emphasized by deforestation since AD 1250 (beginning of the Late Medieval Period). Consequently, surface run-off and aeolian transport from the exposed soils caused the eutrophication of the mire. Furthermore, chironomids and testate amoebae reveal the beginning of a wet shift ca. AD 1350. Openness considerably increased in the Late Medieval and the Modern Periods. The highest water table during the last 1,000years was recorded between AD 1500 and 1800. This wet event is connected with deforestation, but it could be also associated with the Little Ice Age. Our study shows plant succession in the Żabieniec peatland, which can be explained with the recent landscape transformation. However, such changes are also possibly linked with the major climatic episodes during the last two millennia, such as the Medieval Warm Period and the Little Ice Ag

Flora i fauna rezerwatu przyrody Jezioro Kiełpińskie i sąsiednich starorzeczy w strefie podmiejskiej Warszawy

Field surveys for aquatic plants, invertebrates, and vertebrates along the banks of Kiełpińskie Lake and surrounding oxbows were conducted in June – August 2010. The study area is located in the Vistula River valley near Warsaw in central Poland. The results document the richness of flora and fauna species in the J. Kielpińskie reserve and adjacent aquatic habitats. A large number of protected species of plants and vertebrates were recorded in the area, including amphibians, birds, and mammals that are of particular importance to the European community, such as the fire-bellied toad, little bittern, western marsh harrier, beaver, and otter. Among aquatic plant communities, the community of "water lilies" Nupharo-Nymphaeetum was distinguished as the most valuable. The chain of oxbow lakes connected by a small stream forms an important ecological corridor. The presence of protected species and rare plant communities associated with the aquatic environment requires a responsible approach to the conservation of these habitats, located in close proximity to a large urban area. It also requires a holistic approach to nature protection in the reserve. In this case, not only should Kiełpińskie Lake be protected, but also its surroundings, which form elements of an ecological corridor

The tentative reconstruction of evolution of the biogenic accumulation reservoir in Bydlin (Silesian-Cracovian Upland)

Osady torfowiska we wsi Bydlin na Wyżynie Śląsko-Krakowskiej poddano analizie geochemicznej, paleobotanicznej oraz malakologicznej. Torfowisko znajduje się, w obrębie rozległej depresji morfologicznej na obszarze krasu węglanowego. Sekwencja osadów została udokumentowana na podstawie wierceń o maksymalnej głębokości 4,20 m. W złożu torfowiska osady są bardzo zróżnicowane, występują zarówno torfy mszyste, turzycowo-mszyste i turzycowiskowe, jak i osady powstające w jeziorach, głównie w postaci gytii wapiennej, gytii ilasto-wapiennej oraz kredy jeziornej. Typ osadu świadczy o limnicznej przeszłości zagłębień w zachodniej i południowej części torfowiska. Na podstawie zawartości głównych składników litogeochemicznych budujących osady jeziorne i torfowe, składu i struktury malakofauny, przebiegu krzywych pyłkowych oraz składu botanicznego osadów torfowych dokonano charakterystyki cech paleośrodowiska, zrekonstruowano etapy rozwoju torfowiska oraz określono pozycję stratygraficzną osadów

Peat macrofossils in the analysis of palaeoenvironmental conditions of settlement; the case of Łany Małe site in the Kłodnica valley

Results of archaeological studies from the territory of Poland show that prehistorical settlements were often founded on the banks of lakes and mires. Botanical composition of organic deposits allows reconstructing historical plant communities and palaeohydrological conditions of the settlement, the subject of research was a peatland situated in the neighborhood of the archaeological site at Łany Małe. The latter is located on hillslopes of the Kłodnica valley (Upper Silesia, southern Poland). Peat formation at the Łany Małe site took place in the Pre-Boreal Period as an effect of the valley floor paludification. In the Mesolithic and Neolithic Periods as well as the Early Bronze Age, swampy alder forests occupied the entire area of the peatland. At that time, the fen surface was relatively easily accessible for humans, especially for people of the Funnel Beaker Culture in the Middle Neolithic Period. It was then when, probably, the ground water level dropped down and peat decay processes took over those of peat production. In the Hallstatt Period, during the presence of the Lusatian Culture settlement, there was subsequent increase in biotope moisture. Forest communities became more open and trees were gradually displaced by grasslike plants, especially of sedge (Carex) genus. In the Fate Roman Period (the Przeworsk Culture settlement) and in the early Middle Ages, the peatland was subject to inundation due to frequent flooding, the peat accumulation was then halted by the delivery of fine-grained products of soil erosion

Impact of climate change on ivy ( Hedera helix

The article refers to a broader context of scientific debates on the effect of climate warming on shifts in species ranges and describes the recent changes in the distribution and life strategy of Hedera helix close to its eastern limit, in light of climate changes. European ivy is an ecotone species, occurring in fringe communities, in deciduous and mixed deciduous forests in fresh and moist habitats that are occupied by oak-hornbeam and riparian alder-ash forests in Central Poland. Since the mid-20th century, the ivy, a species rarely reproducing generatively, has become an expansive plant with a growing number of sites where flowering and fruiting individuals are encountered. We studied the distribution, habitat requirements and flowering of H. helix in Central Poland in the years 2015–2017 and compared to the situation in the mid-1970s. Climate changes in terms of average air temperatures and precipitation amounts for the past four decades were also assessed. Within the study area, 474 stands of naturally growing Hedera have recently been identified. Ivy was found to reproduce generatively on 121 of those locations. There has been an almost 10-fold increase in the number of fruiting ivy specimens since the mid-1970s of the 20th century. Changes in the species life strategy can be ascribed to the increase in both average air temperatures and solar radiation intensity observed for the past decades. Both enhanced fragmentation of woodland tracts and development of forest ecotones and forest canopy openings promote the expansion of H. helix, while its habitat preferences remain unchanged

Impact of climate change on ivy (Hedera helix L.) expansion in forests of Central Poland

The article refers to a broader context of scientific debates on the effect of climate warming on shifts in species ranges and describes the recent changes in the distribution and life strategy of Hedera helix close to its eastern limit, in light of climate changes. European ivy is an ecotone species, occurring in fringe communities, in deciduous and mixed deciduous forests in fresh and moist habitats that are occupied by oak-hornbeam and riparian alder-ash forests in Central Poland. Since the mid-20th century, the ivy, a species rarely reproducing generatively, has become an expansive plant with a growing number of sites where flowering and fruiting individuals are encountered. We studied the distribution, habitat requirements and flowering of H. helix in Central Poland in the years 2015–2017 and compared to the situation in the mid-1970s. Climate changes in terms of average air temperatures and precipitation amounts for the past four decades were also assessed. Within the study area, 474 stands of naturally growing Hedera have recently been identified. Ivy was found to reproduce generatively on 121 of those locations. There has been an almost 10-fold increase in the number of fruiting ivy specimens since the mid-1970s of the 20th century. Changes in the species life strategy can be ascribed to the increase in both average air temperatures and solar radiation intensity observed for the past decades. Both enhanced fragmentation of woodland tracts and development of forest ecotones and forest canopy openings promote the expansion of H. helix, while its habitat preferences remain unchanged

Flora and fauna of the nature “Jezioro Kiełpińskie” reserve in Warsaw’s suburban zone, Poland

Field surveys for aquatic plants, invertebrates and vertebrates along the banks of Kiełpińskie Lake and sourrounding oxbows were conducted in June – August 2010. The study area is located in the Vistula River valley near Warsaw in central Poland. The results document the richness of flora and fauna species in the J. Kielpińskie reserve and adjacent aquatic habitats. A large number of protected species of plants and vertebrates was recorded in the area, including amphibians, birds and mammals that are of particular importance to the European community, such as the fire-bellied toad, little bittern, western marsh harrier, beaver and otter. Among aquatic plant communities, the community of "water lilies" Nupharo-Nymphaeetum was distinguished as the most valuable. The chain of oxbow lakes connected by a small stream forms an important ecological corridor. The presence of protected species and rare plant communities associated with the aquatic environment requires a responsible approach to the conservation of these habitats, located in close proximity to a large urban area. It also requires a holistic approach to nature protection in the reserve. In this case, not only should Kiełpińskie Lake be protected, but also its surroundings, which form elements of an ecological corridor

Impact of climate change on ivy (Hedera helix L.) expansion in forests of Central Poland

The article refers to a broader context of scientific debates on the effect of climate warming on shifts in species ranges and describes the recent changes in the distribution and life strategy of Hedera helix close to its eastern limit, in light of climate changes. European ivy is an ecotone species, occurring in fringe communities, in deciduous and mixed deciduous forests in fresh and moist habitats that are occupied by oak-hornbeam and riparian alder-ash forests in Central Poland. Since the mid-20th century, the ivy, a species rarely reproducing generatively, has become an expansive plant with a growing number of sites where flowering and fruiting individuals are encountered. We studied the distribution, habitat requirements and flowering of H. helix in Central Poland in the years 2015–2017 and compared to the situation in the mid-1970s. Climate changes in terms of average air temperatures and precipitation amounts for the past four decades were also assessed. Within the study area, 474 stands of naturally growing Hedera have recently been identified. Ivy was found to reproduce generatively on 121 of those locations. There has been an almost 10-fold increase in the number of fruiting ivy specimens since the mid-1970s of the 20th century. Changes in the species life strategy can be ascribed to the increase in both average air temperatures and solar radiation intensity observed for the past decades. Both enhanced fragmentation of woodland tracts and development of forest ecotones and forest canopy openings promote the expansion of H. helix, while its habitat preferences remain unchanged

The relationship between the chemical composition and lithology of Late Glacial and Holocene biogenic deposits of the Żabieniec mire (Central Poland)

Geochemical and plant macrofossil analyses of the Żabieniec mire deposits and the palaeoenvironmental changes they record of the past several thousand years constitute an important source for palaeogeographical reconstruction of the Polish Lowland. We describe the phases of the basin’s development from the final part of the Plenivistulian (MIS2), through the Late Glacial and the entire Holocene, encompassing changes determined by both regional and global factors in the surrounding environment, and habitat transformations in the limnogenic mire. The kettle-hole infill of the Żabieniec mire is the only documented example in Central Poland of a succession of biogenic deposits exceeding 10 m in thickness in such a setting. Deposition initially took place in a lake environment, which led to a shallowing of the lake that persisted until the end of the Mesoholocene

(Preliminary geological and palaeobotanical description of the Kopytkowo swamp in relation to the analysis of contemporary water conditions and vegetation (Biebrza River valley, NE Poland)

W artykule przedstawiono wyniki badań geologicznych i paleobotanicznych mokradła Kopytkowo, położonego w Basenie Środkowej Biebrzy. Prace wykonane zostały w otoczeniu stanowiska pomiarów strumieni gazów cieplarnianych w Kopytkowie. Misa opisywanego mokradła powstała w wyniku odcięcia koryta rzecznego, a następnie podtopienia odcinka doliny Biebrzy. Złoże budują przede wszystkim mułki organiczne, a warstwę przypowierzchniową stanowi torf turzycowy. Wody stwierdzone w badanym złożu wykazują silne powiązania z wodami podziemnymi i ograniczone z wodami opadowymi. Obecnie w najbliższym otoczeniu stanowiska pomiarowego dominują dwa zbiorowiska roślinne: trzcinowisko wzdłuż koryta Kopytkówki i zbiorowisko wysokich turzyc.The article presents the results of geological and palaeobotanical studies of the Kopytkowo swamp, located in the Middle Biebrza Basin. The work was carried out in the vicinity of a measure point for streams of greenhouse gases in Kopyt - kowo. The basin of the described swamp developed as a result of a cut-off of a river channel and a subsequent flooding of a part of the lower Biebrza. The deposit is composed mainly of organic silt. The subsurface layer is composed of sedge peat. The waters contained in the studied deposit display a strong genetic connection to underground waters and a limited connection to rainwater. Currently there are two dominant plant communities in the immediate vicinity of the measure point: an assemblage of high sedges and an extended patch of reed along the Kopytówka