Kajetan Perzanowski

POST‐SOCIALIST FOREST DISTURBANCE IN THE CARPATHIAN BORDER REGION OF POLAND, SLOVAKIA, AND UKRAINE

Forests provide important ecosystem services, and protected areas around the world are intended to reduce human disturbance on forests. The question is how forest cover is changing in different parts of the world, why some areas are more frequently disturbed, and if protected areas are effective in limiting anthropogenic forest disturbance. The Carpathians are Eastern Europes largest contiguous forest ecosystem and are a hotspot of biodiversity. Eastern Europe has undergone dramatic changes in political and socioeconomic structures since 1990, when socialistic state economies transitioned toward market economies. However, the effects of the political and economic transition on Carpathian forests remain largely unknown. Our goals were to compare post-socialist forest disturbance and to assess the effectiveness of protected areas in the border triangle of Poland, Slovakia, and Ukraine, to better understand the role of broadscale political and socioeconomic factors. Forest disturbances were assessed using the forest disturbance index derived from Landsat MSS/TM/ETM+ images from 1978 to 2000. Our results showed increased harvesting in all three countries (up to 1.8 times) in 1988-1994, right after the system change. Forest disturbance rates differed markedly among countries (disturbance rates in Ukraine were 4.5 times higher than in Poland, and those in Slovakia were 4.3 times higher than in Poland), and in Ukraine, harvests tended to occur at higher elevations. Forest fragmentation increased in all three countries but experienced a stronger increase in Slovakia and Ukraine (approximately 5% decrease in core forest) than in Poland. Protected areas were most effective in Poland and in Slovakia, where harvesting rates dropped markedly (by nearly an order of magnitude in Slovakia) after protected areas were designated. In Ukraine, harvesting rates inside and outside protected areas did not differ appreciably, and harvests were widespread immediately before the designation of protected areas. In summary, the socioeconomic changes in Eastern Europe that occurred since 1990 had strong effects on forest disturbance. Differences in disturbance rates among countries appear to be most closely related to broadscale socioeconomic conditions, forest management practices, forest policies, and the strength of institutions. We suggest that such factors may be equally important in other regions of the world.

Molecular biogeography of red deer Cervus elaphus from eastern Europe: insights from mitochondrial DNA sequences.

European red deer are known to show a conspicuous phylogeographic pattern with three distinct mtDNA lineages (western, eastern and North-African/Sardinian). The western lineage, believed to be indicative of a southwestern glacial refuge in Iberia and southern France, nowadays covers large areas of the continent including the British Isles, Scandinavia and parts of central Europe, while the eastern lineage is primarily found in southeast-central Europe, the Carpathians and the Balkans. However, large parts of central Europe and the whole northeast of the continent were not covered by previous analyses. To close this gap, we produced mtDNA control region sequences from more than 500 red deer from Denmark, Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine and western Russia and combined our data with sequences available from earlier studies to an overall sample size of almost 1,100. Our results show that the western lineage extends far into the European east and is prominent in all eastern countries except for the Polish Carpathians, Ukraine and Russia where only eastern haplotypes occurred. While the latter may actually reflect the natural northward expansion of the eastern lineage after the last ice age, the present distribution of the western lineage in eastern Europe may in large parts be artificial and a result of translocations and reintroduction of red deer into areas where the species became extinct in historical times.

A genetic background for reintroduction program of the European bison (Bison bonasus) in the Carpathians

Abstract The European bison, extirpated from the Carpathian Mountains over 200 years ago, was reintroduced to the Bieszczady Mountains in the 1960/1970s in two small, isolated herds, and is now threatened by high inbreeding and low genetic variability. A new program of re-establishing viable populations in the Carpathians is based on the genetic analysis of formerly released animals, using the European Bison Pedigree Book. Calculating founder contributions, founder genome survival, founder genome equivalent, inbreeding coefficient and mean kinship allows the identification of under-represented or missing founders. Since genetic variability is much higher among bison in captivity and, in Poland, the Lowland–Caucasian line is represented only in those free-ranging herds, the reintroduction will be based on animals from foreign breeding centres. Bison will be released into existing herds, and planned new introduction sites, to facilitate natural gene exchange in the future. The same approach will be recommended for planned introductions in the Slovakian and Romanian Carpathians.

Maintaining Cultural and Natural Biodiversity in the Carpathian Mountain Ecoregion: Need for an Integrated Landscape Approach

Landscapes located in the periphery of economic development, such as in parts of the Carpathian ecoregion, host remnants of both near-natural ecosystems and traditional agricultural land use systems. Such landscapes are important both for in situ conservation of natural and cultural biodiversity, and as references for biodiversity restoration elsewhere in Europe. This paper first reviews the contemporary understanding of benchmarks for biodiversity conservation in terms of ecosystems with natural disturbance regimes and pre-industrial cultural landscapes. Second, after providing a historical background, we review the challenges to natural and cultural biodiversity conservation and discuss current development trajectories. Third, we provide concrete examples from six Carpathian areas with different proportions of natural and cultural biodiversity. Fourth, we discuss the need for a diversity of management systems toward protection, management and restoration, spatial planning, and multi-sector governance for conservation of natural and cultural landscapes’ biodiversity. Finally, we stress the need to encourage integration of management, planning and governance of social and ecological systems to maintain natural and cultural biodiversity. The natural vegetation of the Carpathian Mountains is mostly forests and woodlands. Natural disturbances as wind, snow, frost, fire and flooding as well as insects and fungi resulted in forests characterized by old and large trees, diverse horizontal and vertical structures, and large amounts of dead wood in various stages of decay. While some near-natural forests remain, in most of the Carpathian ecoregion pre-industrial cultural landscapes evolved. Human use created traditional village system with infield houses, gardens, fields, meadows and outfield meadows and pastures, and woodlands which not only provide ecosystem services but also represent cultural heritage. The maintenance of natural and cultural biodiversity may require active management of species, habitats and processes. However, designing management systems that emulate natural and cultural landscape’s disturbance regimes is a major challenge requiring collaboration of private, public and civic sector stakeholders, and integration of social and ecological systems. Maintaining and restoring the traditional village system’s social capital as well as functional networks of protected areas and implementing sustainable forest management in managed forests are thus crucial. The Carpathian ecoregion forms a quasi-experiment with new country borders that have created stark contrasts among regions regarding natural and cultural biodiversity. This ecoregion can therefore be seen as a landscape-scale laboratory for systematic studies of interactions between ecological and social systems to support the development of an integrated landscape approach to biodiversity conservation and cultural heritage.

A Future for European Bison Bison Bonasus in the Carpathian Ecoregion

Abstract All European bison Bison bonasus saved from extinction about 80 years ago originated from just 12 founders. Now, the population totals about 3,000 very closely related individuals. Almost 40% live in small groups in captivity, and the rest live in a few, isolated, free-ranging and semi-free herds. Although some negative influences of inbreeding have been reported, further loss of genetic variability can be prevented by allowing exchange of genes among sufficiently large numbers of animals. The Carpathian Range, the largest and least altered mountain range in Central Europe, offers the best ecological conditions to establish a viable metapopulation of European bison. In this paper, we describe recent advances in reestablishing free-ranging bison in the Carpathians, the programmes benefits for the future of the species, and its implications for the restoration of a missing ecological role in the ecoregion.

Indicative factors for European bison refuges in the Bieszczady Mountains

European bison Bison bonasus refuges in the Bieszczady Mountains were characterised using four habitat variables: elevation above sea level, slope exposure, tree crown closure, and stand composition. We compared habitat composition of ranges representing a 95% probability of bison use with ranges representing a 25% probability of bison use, on a seasonal basis (summer, winter). During the growing season (“summer”), the 25% probability ranges contained more high elevation (550–749 m), other than northern-exposure areas with more open-canopied, fir-dominated forest than did the 95% probability ranges. During winter, the 95% probability ranges contained less high elevation (550–749 m), northerly exposure areas with more close-canopied, beech-fir, alder, and Scotch pine forests.

Seasonal movements of wisents (Bison bonasus L., 1758) in the Bieszczady Mountains (SE Poland)

Abstract We studied seasonal movements of wisents (also known as European bison) from the western subpopulation in the Bieszczady Mountains, in forest districts of Baligród, Komańcza, Lesko, and Cisna. The estimation of distance of seasonal movements was based on telemetric bearings of 4 adult animals (1 cow and 3 bulls) in 2002‑2005. We assumed that a maximum distance of movement was a linear extent between 2 most distant locations of an animal recorded in winter and in the following growing season. The maximum distances were 12.8‑18.5 km for the cow, and 5.1‑22.9 km for bulls. Wisent movements were triggered by significant changes in ambient temperature (decrease in late autumn and increase in early spring) and the appearance of first snowfall in autumn.

Creation of Ecological Corridors in the Ukrainian Carpathians

In order to develop a methodology for the creation of functional and consolidated ecological corridors for the Carpathians, a pilot study has been conducted at two locations in Ukraine creating corridors connecting Ukrainian protected areas with protected areas in Romania and Poland. The methodology was based on landscape ecological modelling, using the habitat requirements of brown bear, European bison, lynx and wildcat to locate the most suitable corridor areas. Manageable corridors were created by identifying interconnected land management units with a minimum of obstacles for wildlife and conflicts with land use, and forming the shortest possible connection. The location of the corridors and their management plans were developed in consultation with the users and owners of the land. Approval and inclusion of the corridors in the spatial planning system was achieved following a model elaborated after analysis of the Ukrainian institutional and regulatory framework related to ecological network development.

One size does not fit all: European bison habitat selection across herds and spatial scales

ContextUnderstanding habitat selection can be challenging for species surviving in small populations, but is needed for landscape-scale conservation planning.ObjectivesWe assessed how European bison (Bison bonasus) habitat selection, and particularly forest use, varies across subpopulations and spatial scales.MethodsWe gathered the most comprehensive European bison occurrence dataset to date, from five free-ranging herds in Poland. We compared these data to a high-resolution forest map and modelled the influence of environmental and human-pressure variables on habitat selection.ResultsAround 65% of European bison occurrences were in forests, with cows showing a slightly higher forest association than bulls. Forest association did not change markedly across spatial scales, yet differed strongly among herds. Modelling European bison habitat suitability confirmed forest preference, but also showed strong differences in habitat selection among herds. Some herds used open areas heavily and actively selected for them. Similarly, human-pressure variables were important in all herds, but some herds avoided human-dominated areas more than others.ConclusionsAssessing European bison habitat across multiple herds revealed a more generalist habitat use pattern than when studying individual herds only. Our results highlight that conflicts with land use and people could be substantial if bison are released in human-dominated landscapes. Future restoration efforts should target areas with low road and human population density, regardless of the degree of forest cover. More broadly, our study highlights the importance of considering multiple subpopulations and spatial scales in conservation planning.

PERSPECTIVES FOR THE APPLICATION OF COMPUTER MODELS TO FOREST DYNAMICS FORECASTING IN BIESZCZADZKI NATIONAL PARK (POLAND)

Abstract This paper presents the perspectives for application of computer models in forecasting the dynamics of forest development on example of Moczarne area, in Bieszczadzki National Park, based on authors’ computer models. First, the possibilities for forecasting the dynamics of forest development in a local scale, i.e. within single rectangular or circular study plot, are presented. For this purpose, a computer prognostic model FORKOM E has been applied, using both general mathematical relationships functioning within a forest ecosystem and empirical ones, characteristic for tree stands at analysed plots. Additionally, a layer of 3D visualisation of a tree stand, which is an integral part of the mentioned model, is also presented. Presented also are the possibilities for forecasting the dynamics of forest development at landscape scale, applying the theory of cellular automata. For this purpose, a prognostic computer model CELLAUT was used in which the whole analysed tree stand is understood as a set of single cells, where stages of landscape development dominating within those cells are considered as also the influence of particular cells upon their neighbours. The paper also describes the perspectives for application of self-learning neural networks in the process of supplementation and verification of some parameters of a tree stand, calculated by the above-mentioned models.