The purpose of this study is to present the distribution and characteristics of xerothermic flora located within Lublin (51o08’-51o18’N and 22o27’-22o41E). The data on this flora have been derived from the literature and herbarium collections as well as they were collected during field research conducted in 2002-2009. Family affiliation, life forms, geographical-historical groups, the degree of synanthropization of species and habitat, categories of threat are discussed in this paper. 107 xerothermic species belonging to 26 families and 70 genera were reported from the area of Lublin. The number constitutes 10% of the city’s flora. The most numerous are plants from the classes Festuco-Brometea (70 species), Trifolio-Geranietea sanguinei (21) and Rhamno-Prunetea (16). All extinct species (8) belong to the class Festuco-Brometea. The analysis of the spectrum of life forms indicates that the biggest share in the flora of Lublin was observed in the group of hemicryptophytes (57 species) and phanerophytes (14). The native species (103) dominate over the group of alien ones (4 species). The group of xerothermic plants comprises 21 legally protected and endangered species. Xerothermic plants exhibit a mosaic distribution in the area of Lublin. The frequency (measured as the presence of a species in a study unit, one ATPOL square) ranged from 1 to 44 species. Two main features of the analyzed area seemed to be responsible for species distribution: the value of the Real Hemeroby Index (RIH) and the history of the flora.
Various forms of human activity in large cities contribute to the creation of a specific climate and new environmental conditions for plants. One of the most important results is the so-called atmospheric urban heat island (UHI). The aim of this study was to compare the thermal conditions in the Lublin City center with those of suburban areas, and so confirm the existence of the UHI and then analyze the influence of thermal conditions on features of the flora. The analysis of the air temperatures was based on data from 2000 to 2014 provided by meteorological stations in the Lublin City center and its nearest surroundings. Floristic data were collected during field studies between 2012–2014 and included species richness and frequency, life forms, and synecological groups of the flora and its elements. The thermal requirements of species were defined on the basis of ecological indicator values (EIVs). Our research confirmed the presence of the UHI in the Lublin City center. Over the study period, the mean temperature in the city center was by 0.87°C higher than that in the suburban areas. The largest differences in mean annual air temperature between the city center and the suburbs were recorded in 2007 and 2011–2013. In total, 552 species were recorded, including six life-form and synecological groups, 246 thermophilous and 436 heliophilous species. The species richness, proportion of therophytes, alien, thermo- and heliophilous species decreased with distance from the city center. The thermal conditions expressed by the EIV L and T ranged from L = 4.5, T = 3.8 in the city center, to L = 3.1, T = 3.4 in the suburbs. An ordination analysis facilitated determination of the relationships between characteristics of the flora, the EIV values, and land use classes. An increasing level of anthropopressure was found to be positively correlated with thermal conditions and the flora traits.
The goal of the present research was to find correlations between the topographic attributes of a river valley and local ground-floor vegetation and its habitat requirements expressed by ecological indicator values (EIV), using the geographical information systems (GIS), digital elevation model (DEM), and multivariate statistical analysis. We paid special attention to the river course, which determines the differentiation in slope aspects and the amount of solar radiation reaching the ground surface. The model object was an almost latitudinal, ca. 4-km-long break section of the Sopot river, crossing the escarpment zone of the Central Roztocze Highlands, southeastern Poland. The main material comprised species lists (with estimated abundance) for each ca. 200-m-long section, according to the river valley course, separately for the left and right riverbanks, 40 sections altogether, ca. 15 000 vegetation records, and physical and chemical soil measurements. A 3-meter resolution DEM was derived from a 1:10 000 topographic map. We calculated the correlations between the topographic attributes of the valley, species richness, and the EIVs for all the species recognized in each section of the valley. We found 241 herb plant species in the ground-floor vegetation of the study area. We did not find significant differences between the two riversides (61 ±13 species per one section for the left and 63 ±17 for the right side). Thus, the parallel course of the river valley does not change the species richness on a more “sunny” and more “shiny” riverbank. However, this factor “cooperating” with other topographic attributes of the valley significantly differentiates the shape of species showing various requirements for basic habitat resources: light, moisture, soil trophy, reaction, dispersion, and organic-matter content.
Celem badań było określenie wpływu wypasu rodzimych ras bydła na różnorodność biologiczną flory i fauny pastwiskowej. Badania przeprowadzono na dwóch powierzchniach próbnych: WY – powierzchnia o wielkości 3 ha z wypasem bydła rasy białogrzbietej i polskiej czarno-białej, NW – powierzchnia niewypasana o wielkości 3,5 ha. Wybrane do badań działki zlokalizowane były obok siebie w otulinie (tuż przy granicy) Poleskiego Parku Narodowego. Wypas prowadzono zgodnie z wymogami pakietu 5.1 programu rolnośrodowiskowego, przy obsadzie nieprzekraczającej 1 DJP/1 ha TUZ, od 1 maja do 15 października 2012 r. Ocenę florystyczną przeprowadzono dwukrotnie w ciągu okresu wegetacyjnego na dwóch reprezentatywnych, jednorodnych płatach roślinności o powierzchni 25 m2, na podstawie spisów florystycznych. W ocenie płatów uwzględniono: bogactwo gatunkowe, frekwencję, udział form życiowych oraz przynależność syntaksonomiczną. Liczenie ptaków polegało na przemieszczaniu się po powierzchni próbnej i liczeniu wszystkich widzianych lub słyszanych ptaków. Podstawą do zakwalifikowania do gatunków lęgowych było 3-4-krotne stwierdzenie śpiewającego lub odzywającego się głosem godowym ptaka, obserwacja osobników zaniepokojonych, ptaków z pokarmem lub budujących gniazdo. Notowano także gatunki ptaków nielęgowych, które wykorzystywały wypasany lub niewypasany fragment środowiska, a także obecność bydła do zdobywania pożywienia. Przeprowadzone wstępne badania wskazują, że wypas rodzimych ras bydła tylko w nieznacznym stopniu zmniejsza bioróżnorodność flory pastwiskowej, umożliwia jednak zachowanie gatunków cennych, np. Dianthus superbus. Wykazano, że odpowiednio prowadzony wypas stwarza dogodne warunki dla ptaków łąkowo- -pastwiskowych oraz zwiększa bioróżnorodność ich siedlisk.