Paweł Jezierski

Disturbances occurring in the riverside forest ecosystems also translate into the ability of litter decomposition. Determination of the litter decomposition rate and the changes in its chemical composition in the course of riparian habitat changes was the aim of the study. The study was conducted in 2011 in Jezierzyca River Valley Landscape Park located partly on a floodplain of Oder river (SW Poland). Two riparian forest habitats (<em>Ficario Ulmetum−minoris</em>) were selected for the study: site L (riparian forest), immediately adjacent to the old river bed and site LZ (drying riparian forest), bordering site L on the edge of the floodplain and adjacent to oak−hornbeam forest (<em>Galio sylvatici−Carpinetum betuli</em>) that constituted site G. The study used the method of litter bags. The research material was collected every quarter except for winter, during 2 years. The decomposition rate of organic matter defined by the loss of organic matter, understo...

Distribution of As concentrations in soils in the vicinity of Zloty Stok, a historical centre of gold and arsenic mining and processing, was examined on the basis of two regular nets of sampling sites: in a forested mountain valley affected by mining activities, and in a flat river valley polluted by spills from tailing impoundments. The maps of As concentrations in the 0-15 cm soil layer show extremely high levels of soil pollution, with maximum values of 28,300 and 7,860 mg·kg -1 , in those areas, respectively. Lower amounts of As in forest litter indicate limited arsenic phytoavailability. Extraction and incubation tests confirm that under certain conditions, considerable amounts of As (up to 93 mg·kg -1 ) may be released from soils.

KGHM Polska Miedź, one of the major world copper mining and processing companies, produces c.30 million m3 of tailings yearly, stored currently in the facility Żelazny Most, the largest European tailings impoundment. Formerly, tailings were disposed in six smaller impoundments that operated in two parts of the Polish Copper Basin: the Old District and LGOM. This chapter presents the main impacts exerted by these facilities on the environment, including a changed landscape, hydrotechnical hazard associated with possible dam failure, adverse effects on natural waters and soils caused by seepage of technological water from the impoundments and pipelines, dust dispersion and associated air, soil and crop contamination, and water erosion on dam slopes. Contrasting effects obtained hitherto in reclamation and revegetation of impoundments are described in the light of legislative, technological and biological factors. The most successful technologies and crucial impediments of revegetation...

The aim of the study was to analyze the fractional composition of humic compounds in ectohumus O and humus A soil horizons in two forest associations: Galio Sylvatici-Carpinetum and Alno-Ulmion in relation to chosen physical-chemical properties of soils. The following analyses were performed on collected soils samples: texture, pH in 1mol KCl dm -3 , exchangeable acidity, organic C, N total, the contents of exchangeable cations of alkaline character (Ca +2 , Mg +2 , K + , Na + ) and fractional composition of humic compounds using the Tiurin method. River alluvial brown soils were investigated. The soils were characterised by an acidic reaction and a typical distribution of organic matter with maximum content in the accumulative horizon. Fraction Ia (fulvic fraction, consisting of low compound fulvic acids, extracted with 0.05 mol dm -1 H2SO4) accounts for a rather insignificant part (1.14-7.11% C total) of humic compounds. Humus is dominated by fraction I (humic compounds bound with calcium and mobile forms of R2O3, extracted with 0.1 mol dm -1 NaOH). This fraction is significantly different and in the range from 9.14 to 49.68% C total; in turn the CHA/CFA ratio has a value between 0.69-2.59. Fraction II (humic compounds bound with the stable silicate forms of R2O3) is placed in the range 1.30-6.09% C total. Non hydrolyzing C constitutes 46.55-88.18% of C total.

The aim of the paper was to assess the role of forest litter and mineral soil layers (0-10 and 10-20 cm) as stocks of plant-available macronutrients in the forested zone of the Karkonosze Mountains National Park, an area of forest decline at the end of 20th century. Soil samples were collected in 529 monitoring sites arranged in a 200x300 m grid. Concentrations of plant-available nutrients were much higher in the organic layer (forest litter) than in mineral soil layers, but calculated pools of available nutrients in the organic layer contributed to a lesser extent to their total pools. Those pools of nutrients stored up in the upper forest zone (1 000-1 250 m a.s.l.) proved to be significantly larger than those in the lower forest zone (500-750 m a.s.l.).

The research grant "Geo-ecological conditions of the environment in the Stołowe Mountains National Park" enabled a new diagnosis of the soil cover structure in the mountains, in line with the present state of geological and ecological knowledge. On this basis, a detailed digital soil map was performed, taking into account the latest versions of the soil texture classification (2006), Polish Soil Taxonomy (2011) and international soil classification FAO-WRB (2006/2007). In order to integrate data, contours of soil units were drawn within the forest spatial sub-units (allotments) distinguished in the territorial structure of the national park. New soil units -Luvisols, Albeluvisols, and moist Stagnic Podzols, not distinguished before, were drawn on the soil map on larger areas in the central part of the SMNP. The research allowed to determine the role of stratified slope covers on the morphology and properties of Podzols developed from sandstone. The effect of cover stratifi...

The aim of this study was to determine the content of arsenic in soils used for agriculture in the Ząbkowicki district. The content of arsenic in collected soil samples ranged 1.1-569.5 mg·kg-1. The standard for arable lands of Group B has been exceeded in 24 out of 231 test points. The highest concentrations occurred in the Złoty Stok commune. This is due to the output of arsenic and gold in this area. Exceeding the standard also occurred in neighboring communes: Kamieniec Ząbkowicki and Ziębice. This is due to the blowing and washing pollutions form the source of contamination, the arsenic mines in the Złoty Stok commune.

Soil texture, bulk and specific density, total porosity, and the water capacity at pF 0.2.7 were measured in Albeluvisols with more or less pronounced lithological discontinuity. The soil pits were located in the north-eastern part of the Silesian Lowland, on the glacial plain built of till blanketed with cover materials of various origin, mainly sands. Distinct albeluvic tongues with sandy texture and strong stagnic color mosaic at the contact of eluvial and illuvial horizons were identified in all profiles under study. The lowest bulk density was measured in the plough layers, while the highest in subsoil EBw horizons or glossic E/Bt horizons. Total porosity was the largest in plough layers, rapidly decreased in subsoil E horizons and then back increased with depth. Water capacity (at each measured pF value) was strongly correlated mainly with clay content and rapidly raised in E/B horizons. The highest field water capacity was measured in E/Bt horizons at low albeluvic tonguing i...

Abstract: This paper determines the sorption capacity of sewage sludge of various organic substances in relation to halogen organic compounds, which are among the main environmental contaminants. The assessment is based on iodine adsorption values and the p-chlorophenol adsorption isotherms. Additionally, the leaching efficiency of p-chlorophenol from sludge into the water solution under the influence of selected physical and chemical factors such as UV radiation, electric discharges and freeze-thaw conditioning has been ...

Environmental changes in national parks are generally subject to constant observation. A particular case is parks located in mountains, which are more vulnerable to climate change and the binding of pollutants in mountain ranges as orographic barriers. The effectiveness of forest soil monitoring networks based on a systematic grid with a predetermined density has not been analysed so far. This study’s analysis was conducted in the Stolowe Mountains National Park (SMNP), SW Poland, using total Pb concentration data obtained from an initial network of 403 circle plots with centroids arranged in a regular 400 × 400 m square grid. The number and distribution of monitoring plots were analysed using geostatistical tools in terms of the accuracy and correctness of soil parameters obtained from spatial distribution imaging. The analysis also aimed at reducing the number of monitoring plots taking into account the economic and logistic aspects of the monitoring investigations in order to imp...

Differentiation of soil organic carbon (SOC) concentrations and pools in topsoil horizons of forest soils in the Karkonosze Mountains was examined in relation to environmental and human-induced factors, with special focus on altitudinal gradient, related climatic conditions, and a zonality of vegetation. The samples were collected from the forest litter and soil layers 0–10 cm and 10–20 cm, in 621 plots arranged in a regular network of monitoring established in the Karkonosze National Park. The concentrations of SOC were determined in laboratory and used for calculation of SOC pools. Four elevation zones were distinguished for analysis: 500–750 m, 750–1000 m, 1000–1250 m, and >1250 m. The concentrations of SOC in forest litter (38.3–44.1%) showed an insignificant increasing trend with altitude. The concentrations of SOC in the layers 0–10 cm and 10–20 cm, were in a very broad range 0.27–47.6%, thus indicating a high differentiation, and also tended to insignificantly increase alo...

This paper describes the fractions of humus compounds present in the organic and mineral horizons of the forest soils in the area of the Karkonosze Mountains. Soil profiles that represented the mountain Podzols and Dystric Cambisol were located on the northern slope along an altitude gradient from 890 to 1255 m a.s.l. Two soils were located under the spruce forest, and one in the subalpine meadow. Soil samples were taken both from the surface organic layers (the ectohumus layer) and from the mineral horizons. Fractionation of humus compounds was made using the modified Turin method. The soils had the texture of loamy sand and sandy loam, an acidic or strongly acidic reaction, low base saturation, and the predomination of aluminum among exchangeable cations. A significant increase in the fulvic fraction (Ia) with depth in the soil profiles was observed that confirmed the high mobility of this fraction in the acid mountain soils, higher in the forest soils, and lower in the meadow soi...

cation exchange capacity of soils developed on various bedrock in the Stołowe mountains Abstract: The effective cation exchange capacity in the surface layers of soils in the Stołowe Mountains reached mean values of 8–10 cmol(+) kg-1, of which up to 60% is exchangeable aluminum. The sum of base cations depends on the organic carbon content and particle-size distribution, related to the parent rock type. The largest sum is in soils derived from Creta-ceous mudstones, followed by Permian sandstones and granite, whereas the smallest – from the Cretaceous sandstones. Among the soils derived from mudstones, Dystric Cambisols have the smallest base cation sum (2–2.5 cmol(+) kg-1), Luvisols have a two-fold higher and Eutric Cambisols – a three-fold higher one. The mean base saturation achieved 60% in Eutric Cambisols and 45% in Luvisols, while in Dystric Cambisols developed both from mudstones, Permian sandstones and granites it was on average 25% only. The sum of exchangeable base cations...

The aim of this study was to demonstrate that alluvial sediments of Wrocław ice-marginal Valley are characterized by higher con-centrations of metallic elements in relation to the adjacent areas of different soil cover genesis.Studies of zinc and arsenic content in soils were carried out in six municipalities of Średzki district. A total of 117 soil samples from arable land was collected: 80 from Średzka Upland and 37 from Wrocław ice-marginal ValleyThe process of accumulation of heavy metals in alluvial sediments in the Wocław ice-marginal Valley is so effective that, despite the heavier grain size composition of the soil cover immediately adjacent to Średzka Upland, zinc and arsenic concentrations are higher in the alluvial soils.

ABSTRACT Podzols developed within so-called cover beds were examined on a slope built of Cretaceous sandstones in SW-Poland. Their typical feature is an easily recognizable stratification of regolith, evidenced in the dichotomy of soil texture and dense subsoil. Heterogeneity of soil profiles is manifested in vertically differentiated sequence: (1) dense, skeletal and massive layer, comprising usually Bs and BC horizons, sometimes Bhs/Bh horizons with strong platy structure is overlain by (2) the uppermost, relatively young layer, consisting of loose sandy material, bearing single coarse fragments of a less weathered sandstone, hosting AE, E and partially Bh horizons. This remarkable layering of slope sediments caused a distinctive lithological discontinuity at the boundary of E and B horizons, evidenced by the differences in: (i) rock fragments' content, (ii) degree of rock clast weathering, (iii) distribution of highly resistant minerals, and (iv) fluctuation of silt and sand fractions within profiles. Lithological discontinuity influences both the lateral podzolization, and the thickness and depth of albic and spodic horizons along the slope catena. Regarding the temporal order, the lowermost layer was influenced by periglacial conditions at before the Boreal; presumably as the surface layer (high score of pollen grains). The age of surficial sandy layer (based on pollen record) could be established at Subatlantic and correlated with forest cutting and intensive surface erosion (charcoal dating: 960 +/− 30 cal BP). Neither layers that originated from the eolian processes were distinguished nor any admixture of allochthonous material was found, therefore “typical” middle and upper periglacial cover-beds are not present in this sequence. In any case, Podzols that were formed from the slope sediments in the Stolowe Mountains are polygenetic and of the Holocene age.