Gabriela Woźniak

Biased vegetation patterns and detection of vegetation changes using phytosociological databases. A case study in the forests of the Babia Góra National Park (the West Carpathians, Poland)

Abstract. A huge number of phytosociological releve ´s, which have been collected inEurope during the last century, seems to be a useful point of reference for analyses oftemporal changes in vegetation. The high degree of subjectivity during data collection,however, makes difficult the comparison between data sets collected at different time bydifferent authors. Being aware of this we attempted to reveal 30-year changes in strictlyprotected old-growth mountain forests. We compared two sets of releve ´s: a subjectivephytosociological sample collected in the 60s and a systematic random one from the 90sof the XX century.Standard phytosociological data gave distinct vegetation units with transitional patchespoorly represented. This was observed both in the gradient between beech and coniferousforests in the montane belt and in the altitudinal gradient including two forests belts. Onthe contrary, the random sample did not indicate discontinuity in any of these gradients.We suggest that in spite of better representation of rare plant communities, in the sub-jective sample a considerable part of vegetation variability was omitted to emphasizedifferences between associations.Most species positively distinguishing syntaxa were more frequent in the subjective sam-ple because of preferential sampling in patches with a high number of such species. Therewere few diagnostic species with higher frequency in the random sample or with similarfrequencies in both samples. Such results were interpreted as an evidence of spreading ofthese species. Comparisons between samples revealed the expansion of heliophilous spe-cies typical for communities of Betulo-Adenostyletea and dramatic regeneration de-cline of Abies alba, Acer pseudoplatanus and Picea abies .Keywords: phytosociology, sampling method, vegetation change, West Carpathians.

An application of the plant functional group concept to restoration practice on coal mine spoil heaps

The history of coal mining in South Poland has left a legacy of many spoil heaps across the landscape. These have presented the opportunity to study their colonisation and spontaneous successional sequences over a long time period. We use the plant functional group (PFG) approach to characterize and compare species diversity on spoil heaps of different ages by utilising the ecological characteristics (PFG categories) of the species recorded during the course of spontaneous vegetation development. By changing species frequency into functional group frequency it was possible to find the significant differences in the functional composition of the studied vegetation and to analyze the dataset using non-parametric statistics. There was a small increase in the number of species over time, while the frequency of geophytes, nanophanerophytes and megaphanerophytes increased significantly. A significant increase was also recorded for the frequency of competitors, stress-tolerators and stress-tolerant competitors and for native species. We found that the significant differences in species composition measured as PFG diversity occurred between the youngest and the oldest age classes. The PFG approach provided valuable insights into the nature of the species composition of the developing vegetation on hard-coal mine spoil heaps. We suggest that it could be usefully applied in restoration practice in the future by facilitating the natural colonization of native species adapted to local conditions and thus retaining the local gene pool in these areas.

The relationship between successional vascular plant assemblages and associated microbial communities on coal mine spoil heaps

The aim of the study was to investigate the relationships between the vascular plant species and the associated soil microbial properties at various stages of vegetation development on unclaimed hard coal mine spoil heaps in Upper Silesia (south Poland). The spontaneous vegetation, soil chemistry as well as the activity and structure of microbial communities were recorded on this specific habitat. The colliery heaps were divided into four age classes and the plant species composition and cover abundance were recorded on established plots (2 m × 2 m). The soil microbial activity under the vegetation patches was assessed using fluorescein diacetate hydrolytic activity (FDHA) and the soil microbial biomass and community composition were determined by phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) biomarkers. Total microbial biomass in soils from the older vegetation plots was significantly higher than those in soils from the younger plots. In all studied samples, microbial communities consisted primarily of bacteria with the dominance of Gram negative bacteria over Gram positive and aerobic microorganisms were more dominant than anaerobic ones. Statistical analysis revealed a correlation between the type of vegetation and microbial community structure.

Biominerals and waxes of Calamagrostis epigejos and Phragmites australis leaves from post-industrial habitats

Vascular plants are able to conduct biomineralization processes and collect synthesized compounds in their internal tissues or to deposit them on their epidermal surfaces. This mechanism protects the plant from fluctuations of nutrient levels caused by different levels of supply and demand for them. The biominerals reflect both the metabolic characteristics of a vascular plant species and the environmental conditions of the plant habitat. The SEM/EDX method was used to examine the surface and cross-sections of the Calamagrostis epigejos and Phragmites australis leaves from post-industrial habitats (coal and zinc spoil heaps). The results from this study have showed the presence of mineral objects on the surfaces of leaves of both grass species. The calcium oxalate crystals, amorphous calcium carbonate spheres, and different silica forms were also found in the inner tissues. The high variety of mineral forms in the individual plants of both species was shown. The waxes observed on the leaves of the studied plants might be the initializing factor for the crystalline forms and structures that are present. For the first time, wide range of crystal forms is presented for C. epigejos. The leaf samples of P. australis from the post-industrial areas showed an increased amount of mineral forms with the presence of sulfur.