Department of Geobotany and Landscape Planning

ABSTRACT The properties of technogenic soils affected by the soda industry are significantly different from natural saline soils occurring in Poland. The long-term impact of post-production waste contributed to the formation of extremely saline soils rich both in sodium chloride (NaCl) and calcium chloride (CaCl2). Despite the strong degradation, these soils play a very important role in the urban ecosystem, because they can provide a habitat for very unique halophytic species. Therefore, in this study, we examined how environmental factors control the micropattern of halophytic vegetation in analyzed industrial soils in Poland. It was hypothesized that species distribution and vegetation variation can be affected by different environmental factors at the local scale. The current study was carried out on three test plots of different microelevation and vegetation cover. In general, Salicornia europaea L. was the most dominant species on each plot, but besides patches dominated only by this species, the other major and distinguished constituents were Puccinelia distans, (JACQ.) PARL. Aster tripolium L. and Triglochin maritima L. Finally, the general vegetation–environmental statistical model (direct ordination–redundancy analysis) was created. The results demonstrated that very diverse microtopography and soil conditions within very small areas were ecologically important. The driving factors for species distribution on each plot were slightly different because of the local differences in environmental conditions. The generalization of vegetation–environment relations performed for all plots together demonstrated that significant, and the most important, factors for plant species distribution in the investigated area were elevation and parameters determined in the saturation paste extracts such as reaction (pHe), chloride content (Cl-) and saturation percentage (SP). As a general rule, species preferred elevated parts of the lower salinity (ECe) and the lower concentration of chloride (Cl–) ions. S. europaea was present at relatively higher salinity compared to A. tripolium, T. maritima and P. distans. Moreover, the presence of P. distans was related to the relatively higher soil pH. The obtained results in the association context present the factors responsible for species variation within the Salicornia europaea plant community, which can be particularly important for restoration of its natural stands. You can download this article here: http://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/STVeDzy7gcjCrZP3YJZ6/full or here: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00380768.2015.1028874

... 4 – sul-phate content, pH – reaction. Significance level denoted by stars: * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01. 1 – Tri pra, Cal pal, Myo sco, Jun art, Pot rep, Gal pal, Lyc flc, Pim maj, Men aqu, Equarv, Ran ace, Pol amp, Car pra, 2 – Ran rep, Oen bie, Leu vul, Lyc eur. ...

The paper presents the studies on relations between features of forest floor vegetation and surface soil horizons (organic and humus) properties. The research was taken in 100 pine stands located in southwest Poland. The investigated relations were different when concerning two forest floor layers. The higher values of the analysed herb layer indicators (the herb layer cover and the amount of plant species in the herb layer) are related to the higher trophy of the surface soil horizons. For the analogous moss layer indicators the relations are opposite to the herb layer relations. In the investigated pine stands the forest floor species composition was more related to organic than to humus horizon properties.

Three types of saline habitats were investigated in central Poland: natural saline grasslands, anthropogenic saline meadows next to the waste ponds of two soda factories and halophytic vegetation along brine pipelines. In total 76 phytosociological relevés and soil samples (0-25 cm) in each plot were taken. After discriminant analysis (CVA) including all measured soil properties high pH values were identified as significant for pipeline habitats, high ECe values together with high Ca2+ concentrations (and the highest Ca2+/Na+ ratio) for the waste pond areas and finally relatively high K+ concentrations as characteristic for natural stands. Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) of all species and environmental data demonstrated that in species-environment relations model ECe linked to waste pond areas, K+ characteristic for natural habitats and Ntot together with organic matter were significant. Vegetation of the natural habitats differed significantly from the vegetation of waste ...

The aim of this study was to combine saline ecosystem structure and function by three aspects of the gradient concept: spatial, temporal and functional. The saline meadow was investigated in the vicinity of soda factory in Janikowo in the Kujawy region, central Poland. Three vegetation zones in the salinity gradient were distinguished on the meadow: the Sa/icornia europaea zone, the Puccinellia distans zone and the Elymus repens zone. The results demonstrated that taking into account spatial, temporal and functional gradients, new (informative and ordering) aspects in the collected empirical data sets can be found. Spatial gradient analysis revealed that existence of the two neighbouring Salicornia europaea and Puccinel/ia distans zones is dependent on lower energy than existence of the neighbouring Puccinel/ia distans and Elymus repens zones. Temporal gradient analysis shows the biggest amplitude between the lowest and the highest Cl- concentration values in the Salicornia europaea...

Black alder ( Gaertn.) belongs to dual mycorrhizal trees, forming ectomycorrhizal (EM) and arbuscular (AM) root structures, as well as represents actinorrhizal plants that associate with nitrogen-fixing actinomycete sp. We hypothesized that the unique ternary structure of symbionts can influence community structure of other plant-associated microorganisms (bacterial and fungal endophytes), particularly under seasonally changing salinity in roots. In our study we analyzed black alder root bacterial and fungal microbiome present at two forest test sites (saline and non-saline) in two different seasons (spring and fall). The dominant type of root microsymbionts of alder were ectomycorrhizal fungi, whose distribution depended on site (salinity): , , and were more abundant at the saline site. and (representatives of saprotrophs or endophytes) displayed the opposite tendency. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi belonged to Glomeromycota (orders Paraglomales and Glomales), however, they represent...