Indicators useful to assess the soil conservation-related functions of plants and their utilization potential were presented in the study. Vegetation cover indicators relating both to the winter season and to the whole year are useful to the assessment of soil conservation - related function on the rotation, farm, region and courttry levels. The choice of indicator largely depends on the availability of source data. The whole year vegetation cover indicator is more complex than that related to the winter season only; the first one contains the elements of surface area as well as those bearing on the extent of year-round vegetation cover. At the same time, it is more comprehensive when vieved in aspect of the agro-ecological assessment of agricultural space. However, at higher number of constituent elements involved in the agro-ecosystems or in the whole area, the environment stability indicator is useful to assess the farming on regional or national levels.
The paper presents a method of evaluation of ecological corridors stability in Poland, based on the CORINE Land Cover Change data. The method was applied to evaluate the stability of the ecological corridors linking the Natura 2000 network in two Polish provinces (voivodeships) - the Lubuskie and the Podlaskie. Land cover changes were assigned to categories. We showed that not only the category but also the specific type of land cover change is important for animal migration. Our results revealed that the stability of ecological corridors differs between the analysed periods (1990-2000 and 2000-2006) and provinces(voivodeships).