Ogólna charakterystyka wybranych profili gleb pod zbiorowiskiem olszyny górskiej (Caltho-Alnetum) w Babiogórskim Parku Narodowym

Caltho-Alnetum associations belong to priority biotopes listed in the annex to 1st Habitats Directive of the European Union. Most of these habitats in the area of present Babiogórski National Park were reclaimed in the seventies. The present research compared the properties of soils and waters in the Caltho-Alnetum habitats, which were drained in the seventies with the analogous properties of habitats which were transformed by the anthropogenic factors only to a smali degree. The studies revealed a significant effect of rcclamation works conducted in the seventies on such parameters as organie carbon and mineral contents, degree of organic matter decomposition, degree of moorshing and groundwater level.Siedliska bagiennej olszyny górskiej należą do siedlisk priorytetowych wymienionych w załączniku I Dyrektywy Siedliskowej Unii Europejskiej. Większość tych siedlisk z obecnego terenu Babiogórskiego Parku Narodowego została zmeliorowana w latach siedemdziesiątych. W ramach badań porównano podstawowe właściwości gleb i wód siedlisk bagiennej olszyny górskiej, które w latach siedemdziesiątych zostały odwodnione, z analogicznymi właściwościami siedlisk w małym stopniu przekształconych przez czynniki antropogenne. Badania wykazały duży wpływ melioracji przeprowadzonych w latach siedemdziesiątych na takie parametry gleb, jak zawartość węgla organicznego i popielność, stopień rozkładu materii organicznej, stopień murszenia oraz poziom wód gruntowych

The properties of soils and waters in Krowiarki fen under Caltho-Alnetum community in the Babiogórski National Park

Bagienna olszyna górska (Caltho-Alnetum Zarz.) znajduje się wśród siedlisk priorytetowych, wymienionych w załączniku I dyrektywy siedliskowej Unii Europejskiej. Za ochronę tych siedlisk państwa członkowskie ponoszą szczególną odpowiedzialność. Większość płatów bagiennej olszyny górskiej z terenu Babiogórskiego Parku Narodowego, przed objęciem ich ochroną w latach siedemdziesiątych, została odwodniona. W pracy przedstawiono wyniki badań gleb i wód jednego ze zdegradowanych płatów olszyny bagiennej, położonego poniżej drogi Zawoja-Zubrzyca. Na podstawie przeprowadzonych badań stwierdzono, że podczas prac związanych z budową drogi nastąpiła degradacja gleb młaki. Młaka po odwodnieniu weszła w fazę decesji, zmienił się skład jonowy zasilających ją wód. Wskutek spływów powierzchniowych z drogi zlokalizowanej powyżej młaki jej gleby i wody zostały wzbogacone w metale ciężkie, sód i chlorki.Caltho-Alnetum is among priority habitats listed in the 1st annex to the EU Habitat Directive. The member states are particularly responsible for the protection of these habitats. Most of Caltho-Alnetum patches from the Babiogórski National Park had been drained before they were put under protection in the 1970'. The paper presents the results of a study on soils and waters in one of the degraded Caltho-Alnetum patches situated near the Zawoja-Zubrzyca road. It was found that during the road construction works fen soils became degraded. After its draining the fen entered the decession stage and the ionic composition of its feeding waters changed. Due to surface runoffs from the road localized above the fen, its soil and water was enriched with heavy metals, sodium and chlorides

Vertical pit-mounds distribution of uprooted Norway spruce (Picea abies L.): field evidence in the upper mountain belt

Tree uprooting causes significant changes in forest habitat functioning and soil formation. In this paper soil uplifted by tree throws was compared among 15 study plots from heterogeneous Norway spruce stands of the upper mountain belt in southern Poland. Pit-mound microtopography parameters such as length, width, depth of tree-throw pits, height of the root plate, and height of mineral and organic mounds, were measured at each uprooting site. Sites were grouped in 3 age groups based on the time elapsed since uprooting. Results showed significant differences between the studied parameters among age groups. Differences were most pronounced in mean pit depth (0.52, 0.65 and 0.95 m for 5-year, 3-year, and 1-year-old pits, respectively). No significant interaction between age group and root plate height was detected by ANOVA. Regression analysis showed that pit depth decreases as root plate height increases. Redundancy analysis using pit-mound parameters as dependent variables revealed that root plate height along with slope steepness are good predictors of the volume of dislocated soil at tree-throw sites. Overall, our results suggest that the erosion expected at uprooting sites in mountain Norway spruce stands could be conveniently estimated by measuring their root plates. This may help estimate the impact of windthrow on soil microtopography and quantify its effects on soil disturbance in Norway spruce stands of the upper mountain belt

Fate and transport in environmental quality

Changes in pollutant concentrations in environmental media occur both from pollutant transport in water or air and from local processes, such as adsorption, degradation, precipitation, straining, and so on. The terms "fate and transport" and "transport and fate" reflect the coupling of moving with the carrier media and biogeochemical processes describing local transformations or interactions. The Journal of Environmental Quality (JEQ) was one of the first to publish papers on fate and transport (F&T). This paper is a minireview written to commemorate the 50th anniversary of JEQ and show how the research interests, methodology, and public attention have been reflected in fate and transport publications in JEQ during the last 40 years. We report the statistics showing how the representation of different pollutant groups in papers changed with time. Major focus areas have included the effect of solution composition on F&T and concurrent F&T, the role of organic matter, and the relative role of different F&T pathways. The role of temporal and spatial heterogeneity has been studied at different scales. The value of long-term F&T studies and developments in modeling as the F&T research approach was amply demonstrated. Fate and transport studies have been an essential part of conservation measure evaluation and comparison and ecological risk assessment. For 50 years, JEQ has delivered new insights, methods, and applications related to F&T science. The importance of its service to society is recognized, and we look forward to new generations of F&T researchers presenting their contributions in JEQ

Modeling Soil Processes: Review, Key Challenges, and New Perspectives

© Soil Science Society of America 5585 Guilford Rd., Madison, WI 53711 USA. All rights reserved. The remarkable complexity of soil and its importance to a wide range of ecosystem services presents major challenges to the modeling of soil processes. Although major progress in soil models has occurred in the last decades, models of soil processes remain disjointed between disciplines or ecosystem services, with considerable uncertainty remaining in the quality of predictions and several challenges that remain yet to be addressed. First, there is a need to improve exchange of knowledge and experience among the different disciplines in soil science and to reach out to other Earth science communities. Second, the community needs to develop a new generation of soil models based on a systemic approach comprising relevant physical, chemical, and biological processes to address critical knowledge gaps in our understanding of soil processes and their interactions. Overcoming these challenges will facilitate exchanges between soil modeling and climate, plant, and social science modeling communities. It will allow us to contribute to preserve and improve our assessment of ecosystem services and advance our understanding of climate-change feedback mechanisms, among others, thereby facilitating and strengthening communication among scientific disciplines and society. We review the role of modeling soil processes in quantifying key soil processes that shape ecosystem services, with a focus on provisioning and regulating services. We then identify key challenges in modeling soil processes, including the systematic incorporation of heterogeneity and uncertainty, the integration of data and models, and strategies for effective integration of knowledge on physical, chemical, and biological soil processes. We discuss how the soil modeling community could best interface with modern modeling activities in other disciplines, such as climate, ecology, and plant research, and how to weave novel observation and measurement techniques into soil models. We propose the establishment of an international soil modeling consortium to coherently advance soil modeling activities and foster communication with other Earth science disciplines. Such a consortium should promote soil modeling platforms and data repository for model development, calibration and intercomparison essential for addressing contemporary challenges.status: publishe

Modeling soil processes: Review, key challenges, and new perspectives

The remarkable complexity of soil and its importance to a wide range of ecosystem services presents major challenges to the modeling of soil processes. Although major progress in soil models has occurred in the last decades, models of soil processes remain disjointed between disciplines or ecosystem services, with considerable uncertainty remaining in the quality of predictions and several challenges that remain yet to be addressed. First, there is a need to improve exchange of knowledge and experience among the different disciplines in soil science and to reach out to other Earth science communities. Second, the community needs to develop a new generation of soil models based on a systemic approach comprising relevant physical, chemical, and biological processes to address critical knowledge gaps in our understanding of soil processes and their interactions. Overcoming these challenges will facilitate exchanges between soil modeling and climate, plant, and social science modeling communities. It will allow us to contribute to preserve and improve our assessment of ecosystem services and advance our understanding of climate-change feedback mechanisms, among others, thereby facilitating and strengthening communication among scientific disciplines and society. We review the role of modeling soil processes in quantifying key soil processes that shape ecosystem services, with a focus on provisioning and regulating services. We then identify key challenges in modeling soil processes, including the systematic incorporation of heterogeneity and uncertainty, the integration of data and models, and strategies for effective integration of knowledge on physical, chemical, and biological soil processes. We discuss how the soil modeling community could best interface with modern modeling activities in other disciplines, such as climate, ecology, and plant research, and how to weave novel observation and measurement techniques into soil models. We propose the establishment of an international soil modeling consortium to coherently advance soil modeling activities and foster communication with other Earth science disciplines. Such a consortium should promote soil modeling platforms and data repository for model development, calibration and intercomparison essential for addressing contemporary challenges