Transhumant pastoralism in Poland: Contemporary challenges

Since the mid-2000s, transhumant pastoralism and the production of artisanal sheep’s cheeses have experienced a revival in the Polish Carpathians. This revival has largely coincided with Poland’s accession to the European Union in 2004, leading to a re-valuation of extensive livestock production from an economic and environmental liability to a form of ‘High Nature Value’ farming. Supported by Common Agricultural Policy CAP European Union subsidies, Polish pastoralists have been re-classified from being producers of livestock and agricultural products to suppliers of environmental and ecosystem services. Despite these changes, however, they continue to face significant systemic challenges which are rooted in the marked decline of the communist-era pastoral economy in the late 1980s and a subsequent increasing competition for land and labour under market conditions. Based on anthropological fieldwork conducted in Poland’s Carpathian Highland region during the 2015, 2016, and 2017 pastoral seasons, this article provides insight into four sets of challenges deemed most important by working shepherds today: recruiting qualified labour, gaining access to pasture, gaining access to markets, and working within a Polish policy environment which fails to recognise the particular conditions and requirements of pastoral agriculture

The influence of some environmental factors on the succession dynamics of the Norway spruce on the upper montane belt glades excluded from pasturage in Polish Tatra Mountains

The paper presents succession dynamics of the Norway spruce on the upper montane belt glades the Polish Tatra Mountains in relation to some environmental factors. Average covering of the spruce and number of trees in categories of height was investigated in relation to: altitude, inclination and location of slope, distance and direction of localization of the nearest forest, its age and tree stocking, and plant communities

Spatial structure of natural spruce restocking on the upper montane belt glades excluded from pasturage in the Polish Tatra Mountains

The paper presents localization of the natural spruce restocking on the upper montane belt glades the Polish Tatra Mountains after about 20−30 years from pasturage abandonment and describes emerging dynamics of the Norway spruce in dependence to size and shape of glades, and period of secondary vegetation succession

Secondary succession of forest on mountain glades excluded from pasture economy

The paper reviews the process of secondary vegetation succession and forest emerging on mountain glades after pasturage abandonment, investigations of this problem and its importance for nature protection

Dynamika zarastania przez las górnoreglowych polan popasterskich w Tatrach Polskich

The paper presents relation between spruce covering and their average heigt, and part of spruce trees in various categories of height in restocking on the upper montane belt glades excluded from pasturage in Polish Tatra Mountains. There was described spruce emerging dynamics in last time and possibilities of future forest succession on the glades

Pasture economy and forests of Polish Tatra Mountains

Article gives short story of pasturage in Tatra Mountains, the most important effects of its influence on forests and changes in pasturage development and its importance for nature protection

Changes of herb layer vegetation during the period 1959-2016 on the permanent study plot in the compartment 319 of Bialowieza National Park

Changes in the herbaceous layer (vascular plants), taking place between 1959 and 2016 on the permanent study plot in the compartment 319 of the Strict Reserve in the Białowieża National Park are presented. Zaręba [1972] presented phytosociological research carried out in 1959 on the 1.2 ha plot. The author established 10 relevés (size between 100 and 400 m2), in which in total 91 different species of vascular plants were noted. In 2016, the similar study was conducted, using slightly modified methods (the inventory of plants involved the total area of the study plot). The comparison of data recorded during both investigations revealed that the total number of plant species declined from the initial 91 to current 83. During the ca. 60−year long period, 43 plant species disappeared completely and were replaced by 35 new species. In the declining group, almost the half (20) were species important from the point of view of nature conservation, including four Red List species (Arnica montana, Goodyera repens, Lathyrus laevigatus, Trolius europaeus), 10 plant species protected by law, and several other precious species related to rare and declining woodland community types. The obtained results confirm the findings of other authors describing unfavourable changes in the flora of the Białowieża Forest during the past several tens of years. The floristic richness is an important part of the overall biodiversity of Białowieża Forest. It appears that strict protection does not secure the maintenance of this key component. Thus, an attempt to preserve diverse values of Białowieża Forest on a sustainable basis should, first of all, look for a proper balance between strict and active protection. The later can (and should) be integrated within the multifunctional forest management, conducted on the prevailing area of the Białowieża Forest

The materials to determine the eastern range border of acidophilous oak forest Calamagrostio arundinaceae-Quercetum petraeae in Poland – two new stands of the association in the southern part of Mazovian Voivodeship

Acidophilous oak forests Calamagrostio arundinaceae-Quercetum petraeae (Hartm. 1934 Scam. et Pass. 1959) are mostly known from the western part of Poland, while its eastern border has not been determined accurately. In order to address this issue, we performed a phytosociological analysis of two newly identified stands of acidophilous oak forest located in the southern part of the Mazovian Voivodeship near Kiedrzyn (vicinity of Nowe Miasto nad Pilicą) and Mikówka (vicinity of Białobrzegi). For comparison, we also examined the distribution of known patches in the region (Łódź and Mazovian Voivodeships) against this association’s background of the eastern range border. Within the identified sites, a total of 10 phytosociological relevés were taken and soil samples were collected from a depth of 10 cm. The content of organic matter, soil pH and sieving analysis were performed in the laboratory. The phytosociological material was ordered and numerically classified to obtain a division into two groups of relevés: typical for this association (seven relevés) and a degenerated form (three relevés), which has an increased share of pine in the stand. All our relevés were similar to acidophilous oak forests from the Wielkopolska region and thus different from oak-pine forests of eastern Poland. Habitat conditions of the patches and the bonitation of oak were analogous to patches of this association from other parts of Poland. Furthermore, the sites we studied are located between known locations from the Bolimowska and Kozienicka Forests and are therefore connecting these two previously known areas of occurrence. This indicates that the range of the Calamagrostio-Quer- cetum association is at least a few dozen kilometres wider in this part of the country than the assumed range