0923-B3
Niemtur S. 1, Malek S. 2, Pierzgalski E. 1
The mountain forests in Poland are under permanent threats of air pollution, climate changes and the occurrence of pests. The biggest harmful events in polish mountains in the last period happened in the eighties in the Western Sudeten, in 1997 when the great flood, which covered the whole Odra and upper Vistula river watersheds, in 2001 occurred mainly in upper Vistula river watershed.
The hydrological research proved that due to deforestation the increase of annual sums of runoffs from Sudeten catchments reached 15- 35%. Relatively small flood losses in upper Vistula watershed in 1997 and 2001 were caused between others by better condition of forests and new water reservoir in Czorsztyn.
For better natural water retention and in order to limit floods and erosion processes in mountain forest watersheds in Poland, the improvement of quality of forest ecosystems is necessary. Sustainable development in polish mountains depends first of all on technical infrastructure as well as on economic and social situation of particular provinces and villages.
Another important priorities of the mountain forest watersheds management in Poland is the inclusion of private forests into ecologization process and afforestation part of post agriculture areas. The current Poland's policy for forests pays particular heed to provisions of the State Environmental Policy enacted by Parliament in 1991 and to their amendments in 2000 according to Forestry Principles and Agenda 21, the European Declarations of Forestry Ministers on the Protection of Forests and the National Policy on Forests).
Territories located over 300 - 350 m above sea level are classified in Poland as mountainous areas. They are divided into foothills (300-500m) and mountains (over 500 m). Mountainous areas contribute 8.9 % of the total land of Poland (Fig.1), and to 30 % of the water resources, mainly rivers.
Fig 1. Percentage participation of area with different altitude in Poland
Mountains regions are located (Fig.2) in the Carpathians (20 000 km2), Sudeten (5 000 km2) and the Gory Swietokrzyskie mountains (2 800 km2).
Fig 2. Locality of Polish part of the Carpathians, the Sudeten, the Gory Swietokrzyskie Mnts and national parks.
Foothills extend in the Carpathians more than 60% of area, in the Sudeten 57% and in the Gory Swietokrzyskie Mts about 95%. These regions play also an important role for health and recreation of people, but in the past, this small area size, in spite of unusually significant functions for the whole country, was one of the reasons why the role of Polish mountains was underestimated. In the last years this situation changed due to enlargement of the protected area in Poland. Presently there are 23 national parks in Poland and they cover about 1% of the country area (3144 km2). Apart of national parks there are 109 landscape parks (21880 km2), 392 areas of protected landscape (68210 km2) and 1204 natural reservations -1300 km2 (Fig.3).
Fig 3. Area under low protection in Poland [thousands of ha]
At present almost all mountain forests are under protection: from the passive protection in national parks and many nature reserves through the active protection to forests protecting soil, water and landscape. Nine of national parks have been established in Polish mountains. They cover about 102 000 ha and their forestage is estimated on 87%. Forestage of mountainous areas depends from altitude and range in the Carpathians from 26% at altitude 500 m to 74 % above 1000 m, in the Sudeten from 22% to 97 % above 800 m a.s.l. and it reaches 37 % in the Gory Swietokrzyskie Mts.
Public forests in Poland take area of about 83 % and the rest belongs to private owners. For all mountain forests these values are 79 % and 21 % respectively. The majority of Polish people accepts this proportion for better protection and keeping multifunctional character of forest areas, particularly in the mountain conditions. However in some areas private forests occupy much more, even up to 75% forest area and are of great importance to local societies. About 1.03 ha of private forest belongs to one owner on the average, and this is one of the lowest indices if compared with other European countries. In mountains forests this figure is still lower. It has negative influence on the degree of the owners interest in the proper management of forest economy in their own forest. The area of mountain forests that belong to different owners is shown in table 1.
Tab. 1. Property relations of mountain forests in Poland, (GUS 2001) [thousands of ha]
Public forests |
Private forests | |||||
State treasury |
Communal forests | |||||
State Forests |
National Parks |
Agency of Agriculture | ||||
Poland |
6953 |
181 |
66 |
79 |
1523 | |
Mountain forests |
in Poland |
650 |
87 |
- |
20 |
200 |
in mountains |
66,9% |
10,5% |
- |
2,0 % |
20,6 % | |
Mountain forests in Poland are estimated to cover some 960 000 ha and this quantity depends on altitude criteria for lowlands and mountains. This area is growing gradually in connection with the execution of the National Program of Forest Cover Increase. Climate, soils, vegetation and socio-economic conditions made mountain forests a very diversified habitat. Composition of stands is largely modified from natural conditions. Nevertheless, some parts of Polish mountain forests are considered as primary. Stand volume about 250 m3/ha is about 25% higher than the average at the national level.
Three main factors decided about present condition of forests in the Polish mountains:
Effects of atmospheric pollution, among others from neighbouring countries, are heavy in consequences for the Polish forests and for mountain forests in particular. The situation in the Polish Carpathians is decisively more favourable than that in the Sudeten, especially because of the lower level of pollution and more fertile forest sites. The process of degradation of upper mountain spruce stands is stronger in the stands of artificial origin, which are not genetically adjusted to the conditions of the upper mountain zone. In recent years slight decrease in the value of mean indicator SO2 and dust in mountainous areas have been recorded.
Fig.4 Changes in air pollution in mountainous areas - thousands of tons (GUS 2001)
Air pollution was a main reason of the ecological disaster in Sudeten that started at the end of the seventies. An area of more then 160 sq. km was deforested. Afforestation of this area was a great success of the foresters. In the recent years the condition of trees, artificial and natural regenerations improved much, and it is undoubtedly due to limitation of pollution emission to the atmosphere.
Itegrated monitoring on mountain forest watersheds affected by industrial emissions has been the subject of a number of studies in Poland. These studies have been carried out in relatively small forest watersheds such in Brenna (Staszewski et al. 1999), Istebna (Malek 2002), and also in a much larger watersheds in Wisla (Wróbel 1998) and Barania Mnt. massif.in Beskid Śląski (Niemtur 2002) as well in Forest Experimental Station in Krynica (Malek 2002a). Results of these studies confirm decrease level of air pollutions in polish mountains but still showed large scale of disturbances in forest ecosystems.
The second reason of harmful events in mountain forests is severe and intense climatic conditions. Poland is located in the temperate zone with a climate characterised as quite variable in time and space. The climatic data from individual years demonstrate large deviation from the average long-term value, which contributes to occurrence of weather anomalies. Measurement results of temperature and rainfall on mountain meteorological station in Poland by last fifty years confirm that. The average temperatures increased by around one degree and precipitation decreased by some 100 mm in the last 50 years. In spite of the decrease in yearly sum of rainfall, extremely high rainfalls were noticed in summer months in a short period of few days, and that led to catastrophic floods, (Pierzgalski 2002).
The predicted climate changes will lead to further worsening of growth conditions of existing mountain spruce stands. In July 1997 due to a heavy rain a great flood occurred, that covered the whole Odra and the upper Vistula river watershed. The tide had a rainfall-overflooding character, disastrous, of all country reach. In 2001 flood waves occurred again, but in upper Vistula river watershed this time. Relatively small flood losses in upper Vistula watershed in 1997 and 2001 was due to new water reservoir in Czorsztyn (Fig. 5) with capacity of 235 mln m3. Construction of this reservoir was finished just before flooding wave in 1997.
Fig. 5. Water reservoir in Czorsztyn
Another important for these region reservoir (Swinna Poreba - capacity 161 mln3) in Skawa watershed is still (since 1986) under construction (Fig. 6).
Fig. 6. Water reservoir (Swinna Poreba - capacity 161 mln3) in Skawa watershed - since 1986 under construction.
The species composition of stands in Polish forests significantly differs from the primeval (natural) because of centuries of improper management (monoculture plantations, lack of natural tree regeneration, and the type of cutting system). In the Polish part of the Sudeten the coniferous sites occupy 46% of forest area but the current percentage of spruce stands area is about 78%. In the Polish part of the Carpathians the coniferous sites occupy only about 3% but the average percentage of coniferous stands reaches almost 64% of forest area (tab.2).
Tab. 2. . Deformation of species composition of mountain forests in Poland
Sites and species |
Sudeten |
Carpathians |
% | ||
Coniferous sites |
46 |
3 |
Rich sites |
54 |
97 |
Coniferous species |
78 |
64 |
Deciduous species |
22 |
36 |
Deformation of species composition of mountain forests is much worse in higher altitudes, where slopes are steeper and where erosion processes are stronger. The lack of conformity of stands with forest sites has got a negative influence on vitality of trees, susceptibility to insects, fungi, wind, state of plants communities and consequently on water retention. Presently the main species of insect pests in mountain forests in Poland are: Ips typographus, Ips amitinus, Polygraphus poligraphus, Pityogenes chalcographus, Lymantria monacha, Pristiphora abietina, Zeiraphera diniana and Cephalcia sp. Heterobasidion annosus and Armillaria sp. are the most dangerous pathogens causing disease of the root system. The honey fungus disease is spreading and it has affected 50 000 ha of forests in the Polish part of the Carpathians. Damages caused by game are also important in mountain areas. Natural and artificial regenerations are in some cases affected up to 80%.
Summarizing, for better natural water retention and in order to limit erosion processes in mountain forest watersheds in Poland, the improvement of forest ecosystems quality is necessary. This can be achieved by optimization for mountain forests management in connection with consistent decreasing of air pollution and naturalisation of forest ecosystems, first of all by acceleration of naturalization species composition of stands adapted to mountain forest sites and changing climatic conditions.
The country's forest cover increased from 20,8% in 1945 to 28,2% in 1995. According to mentioned document forest cover in Poland should increase to about 30% by the 2000 and 33% by 2050. An important area for an in forest cover is constituted by the Sudeten and Carpathian Natural Regions which are characterised by relief and structure unwanted to agriculture as by vitally important function of forestry in the protection of water and soils. In mountainous areas used agriculturally, the planting of trees should augment forests, above all in the prevention of surface runoff and the erosion of soils by water.
On April 1997 the Polish Government adopted the National Policy on Forests - the document, in which aims and trends of development of forestry for the XXI century had been included. According to this document the forest law respects strategy of sustainable development and importance of ecological, economic and social functions of forest. The methods of forestry management should take account of the specific natural, economic and social conditions in which they will be implemented and should be in harmony with the ecological and social functions of forests. Until 1992 a forest law referred separately to private property forests. According to it State Forests Organisation Units were obliged to perform the entire range of activities connected with supervision, control and forest works in private forests. The main idea behind the new forest policy is that the subjects of the policy are forests under all forms of ownership and their functions.
Since 1974 the new Water Act and the draft Act on Water Supply and Sewage Management shall ensure full adjustment to EU's water management and water protection requirements against pollution, including drainage system, monitoring of surface and underground waters, water and sewage analysis, water protection against agricultural nitrate, standards for drinking, household and fish keeping water, standards for acceptable discharge of sewage in waters and sewage system, including unit raw material or product ratios, procedures for issuance of water permits and regulations concerning off-the-system sewage disposal on poorly populated areas.
1. The mountain forests in Poland are under permanent threat of: air pollution, which stimulate acidification of soils and toxic action on organisms, climate changes with anomalous weather conditions resulted between others in floods, soil erosion and landslides, the occurrence of pests.
2. The biggest harmful events in polish mountains in the last period happened: in the eighties in the Western Sudeten, when 160 km2 was deforested, in 1997 when the great flood, which covered the whole Odra and upper Vistula river watersheds, in 2001 when a great flood occurred mainly in upper Vistula river watershed.
3. The hydrological research proved that due to deforestation the increase of annual sums of runoffs from Sudeten catchments reached 15- 35%. Changes in water cycle in Sudeten influenced on the size of great flood which happened in 1997 in whole Odra river watershed. Relatively small flood losses in upper Vistula watershed in 1997 and 2001 were caused between others by better condition of forests and new water reservoir in Czorsztyn with capacity of 235 mln m3.
4. For better natural water retention and in order to limit floods and erosion processes in mountain forest watersheds in Poland, the improvement of quality of forest ecosystems is necessary. This can be achieved by further decreasing of air pollution and by elaborating long time climatic forecasts which can facilitate acceleration of naturalization species composition of stands adapted to mountain forest sites and changing climatic condition.
5. Sustainable development of mountain regions depends in great measure on technical infrastructure as well as on economic and social situation of particular provinces and villages. In mountainous villages, particularly in those situated relatively high, technical infrastructure is very poor, considerably poorer than in the rest of the country. The further development of mountain region is greatly conditioned by the changes in the infrastructure. It is one of basic direction for future management of mountain forest watersheds.
6. One of the most important priorities of the mountain forest watersheds management in Poland is the inclusion of private forests into ecologization process and afforestation part of post agriculture areas, predicted in the National Program of Forest Cover Increase. In 1994 twelve Forest Promotional Complexes were established in order to pay particular attention to conservation of nature under conditions of realization of sustainable development policy. Two of such complexes are located in the Carpathians, but one more should be established in the Sudeten forests, and not only from the watershed management point of view.
7. The current Poland's policy for forests pays particular heed to provisions of the State Environmental Policy enacted by Parliament in 1991 and to their amendments in 2000. It is also in accordance with international acts that set out guidelines for sustainable forest management and ushered in the process of establishing criteria and indicators such as the Forestry Principles and Agenda 21, the European Declarations of Forestry Ministers on the Protection of Forests (Strasbourg 1990 and Helsinki 1993), and to the National Policy on Forests from 1997. The latter document is the synthesis of the above mentioned documents adopted to Polish conditions.
8. According to the National Policy on Forests the safeguarding of the permanence of forests along with their multifunctionality, will be achieved by: increasing the country's forest resources, improving the state of forest resources and providing them with comprehensive protection, reorienting forest management away from the previous domination of the raw-material model.
Malek S., 2002. The importance of litterfall and needle nutrients in circulation of elements and sustaining long-term productivity - example from different age classes of Istebna Spruce stands in the Potok Dupnianski catchment, Southern Poland, Reports in Ecology and Environmental Engineering, Lund, Sweden, 124-130.
Malek S., 2002a. Litterfall in beech stands as a source for elements - an example of a 5 years study on monitoring plots in Ojców National Park and Forest Experimental Station in Krynica - Southern Poland. Reports in Ecology and Environmental Engineering, Lund, Sweden, 114-123.
Niemtur S., 2002. [Chemical properties of soil organic horizon in forest watershed in Barania Mnt. massif.], Wydawnictwo Politechniki Krakowskiej, Z. 4-Ś:47-57.
Pierzgalski E., 2002.:[Permanet observations of hydrological and erosion processes in mountain forest regions.] Forest Research Institute, Warsaw ( 1999-2002).
Staszewski T., Godzik S., Kubiesa P., Szdzuj J., 1999. Fate of nitrogen compounds deposited to spruce (Picea abies Karst.) and Pine (Pinus silvestris L.) Forests located in different air pollution and climatic conditions. Water, Air and Soil Pollution, 116, 121-127,
Wróbel S., 1998. Chemical composition of water in the Czarna Wiselka and Biala Wiselka streams and the Wisla-Czarne dam reservoir. Studia Naturae, 44, 81-100.
1 Forest Research Institute, 3 Bitwy Warszawskiej 1920, PL 00-973 Warszawa, [email protected] ;
2 Agricultural University, 46 29Listopada, PL 31-425 Krakow, [email protected]