The study of groundwaters was carried out in two different forest ecosystems of Słowiński National
Park: Vaccinio uliginosi-Betuletum pubescentis and Empetro nigri-Pinetum in the period of 2002-2005. Differences were found in the position of the groundwater table and in the concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus
compounds in the investigated forest associations. In the Vaccinio uliginosi-Betuletum pubescentis association
the groundwater table was found on average at a depth of -73.3 cm, while in Empetro nigri-Pinetum at -90.2
cm. No statistically significant effect of precipitation on the position of the groundwater table was found in
this study. Statistical calculations (U Mann-Whitney test) for groundwaters in the analyzed forest associations
showed statistically significant differences in the dynamics of concentrations of total nitrogen (T-N), organic
nitrogen (Norg.), nitrate nitrogen (N-NO3
), total phosphorus (T-P), organic phosphorus (Porg.) and the level of
groundwaters.
Prof. Patrick Meire of the University of Antwerp discusses subtle interdependencies in marine ecosystems and the transformations that they undergo under the influence of climate change.
A central element in the theory of clustering is the idea that physical clustering of businesses within specialized sectors is a source for regional economic growth. The spatial proximity of companies and institutions within related industries create a specific setting in which learning, knowledge sharing and mutual competition are encouraged. Additionally, active participation within the innovation eco-system of a Science & Technology Park provides actors access to knowledge, facilities and complementary contacts and network structures. Collective ideation helps an organization to improve the positioning within the technological field and economic market, especially within an innovation ecosystem because actors are dependent on each other’s behaviour to be successful in innovation. This research focuses on the question how to design the collective ideation process in particular to foster interactions within the context of a science & technology parks? This research is based on semi-structured interviews, conducted at all development stages (idea, startup, grow and mature) of Dutch science & technology parks with stakeholders from different perspectives, based on the triple-helix structure (government, industry, research). The study describes how multiple stakeholders benefit from collective ideation, what mechanisms and tools are used in practice and also describes prerequisites and limitations of collective ideation.
The reports of Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change indicate that the growing emission of greenhouse gases, produced from the combustion of fossil fuels, mainly carbon dioxide, leads to negative climate changes. Therefore, the methods of mitigating the greenhouse gases emission to the atmosphere, especially of carbon dioxide, are being sought. Numerous studies are focused on so-called geological sequestration, i.e. injecting carbon dioxide to appropriate geological strata or ocean waters. One of the methods, which are not fully utilized, is the application of appropriate techniques in agriculture. The plant production in agriculture is based on the absorption of carbon dioxide in the photosynthesis process. Increasing the plant production directly leads to the absorption of carbon dioxide. Therefore, investigation of carbon dioxide absorption by particular crops is a key issue. In Poland, ca. 7.6 mln ha of cereals is cultivated, including: rye, wheat, triticale, oat and barley. These plants absorb approximately 23.8 mln t C annually, including 9.8 mln t C/yr in grains, 9.4 mln t C/yr in straw and 4.7 mln t C/yr in roots. The China, these cereals are cultivated on the area over 24 mln ha and absorb 98.9 mln t C/yr, including 55 mln tC/yr in grains, 36 in straw, and 7.9 mln t C/yr in roots. The second direction for mitigating the carbon dioxide emission into the atmosphere involves substituting fossil fuels with renewable energy sources to deliver primary energy. Cultivation of winter cereals as cover crops may lead to the enhancement of carbon dioxide removal from the atmosphere in the course of their growth. Moreover, the produced biomass can be used for energy generation.
Studies of the chemical composition of surface freshwaters of the Fugleberget drainage basin, Spitsbergen, were performed in the summer of 1979. It was found that activity of birds (little auk) is the main factor differentiating the chemical properties of waters of the drainage basin. The birds faeces cause the enrichment of waters with nutrients, fertilizing the environment. There is a dependence of the concentration of determined water chemistry parameters on the distance from the bird colony.
The food and foraging strategy of fifteen species of seabirds and sea mammals from two high Arctic fjords were analysed. One of the fjords, Kongsfjord, is strongly influenced by warm waters from the Atlantic , while Hornsund is of a more Arctic character. Prey species in the Atlantic waters were more diverse (82 species and 16 functional groups) compared to those of Arctic waters (67 prey species and 14 functional groups). The consumption of top predators from Hornsund in the peak season of July was estimated at 2.86*106 MJ, while that in Kongsfjord was 1.35*106 MJ. For the analysed function of the ecosystem (the transfer of energy to the top trophic levels) the specific character of prey species is of key importance and not the diversity, abundance or biomass per se. Lower species diversity and biomass in Arctic waters is compensated for by the occurrence of larger individuals of these species, which permits top predators to prey directly on lower trophic levels.
The concept of ecosystem services becomes more and more popular in regulation of the environmental protection. One of the premises of that concept is treatment of a human and human activity as an integral part of an ecosystem. Interrelations between human activity and ecosystem can be described through the concept of ecosystem services. A certain degree of commodification of natural environment which is immanently connected with the concept of ecosystem services can become useful as a tool of assessing the impact of human activities on ecosystem as well as regulating that impact. Marine protection law is a good example of attempts to introduce the interrelated concepts of ecosystem approach and ecosystem services into functioning of the regulatory schemes.
Marine governance is an essential way of achieving the objectives of sustainable development. It ought to be understood as the process of planning, as well as decision-making and management at the national and regional levels taking into account the global ocean as an ecological unity. The process of decision-making is closely interrelated with the regional and transnational cross-border cooperation. The adoption of the EU Directive establishing a framework for maritime spatial planning (hereinafter: MSP Directive) plays an important role in developing of marine spatial planning in Europe by promoting MSP instruments. MSP Directive requires all coastal EU Member States to prepare cross-sectoral maritime spatial plans by 2021. The development of spatial plans for Polish marine areas was started in 2013. The MSP legal bases are included in the Marine Areas of the Republic of Poland and Maritime Administration Act of 1991 amended in 2015 and its implementing regulations.
The aim of this study was the application of the geo-accumulation index and geostatistical methods to the assessment of forest soil contamination with heavy metals in the Babia Góra National Park (BGNP). For the study, 59 sample plots were selected to reflect all soil units (soil subtypes) in the studied area and take into account various forms of terrain. The content of organic carbon and total nitrogen, pH, hydrolytic acidity, the base cations and heavy metals content were determined in the soil samples. The geo-accumulation index (Igeo) was calculated, enabling estimation of the degree of soil pollution. The tested soils are characterized by strong contamination with heavy metals, especially with lead. The concentration of heavy metals in the surface horizons of the tested soils exceeds allowable concentration. The content of heavy metals was related to the content of soil organic matter, soil acidity and altitude. Higher altitudes are dominated by coniferous tree stands, which are accompanied by acidic, poorly decomposed organic horizons. Our study has confirmed the impact of pollutants transported from industrial areas on the amount of heavy metals in soils of the BGNP.
The book focuses on the issue of nature protection in urban areas. The subject matter of the research was the formal and legal conditions of protected areas in cities. The analysis regarded Polish and global solutions in the scope of the nature protection categories in urban areas, objectives of creating urban protected areas and instruments for fulfi lling the aims of protection in the spatial aspect. The research on globally applied solutions in the scope of nature protection was based on the analysis of source literature and legal acts on nature conservation in cities situated in various countries. As a result, four major types of urban protected areas were distinguished in 80 different cities. The research enabled formulating major characteristics of urban protected areas. Those were, in particular: the integrated approach to the protection of natural and cultural resources and equal treatment of the natural and social objectives of protection. This was the basis for a critical analysis of domestic solutions in the subject matter. The research on formal and legal conditions for the functioning of protected areas in Polish cities was conducted in the administrative borders of voivodeship capitals. The research included 18 cities in total. The analysis concerned basic documents related to the widely understood management of protected areas, including, in particular: legal acts establishing individual protected areas and protected areas management plans, as well as the studies of conditions and directions for the spatial development of communes and local spatial development plans. The research work regarded spatial forms of nature protection, including: national parks, natural reserves, regional parks, protected landscape areas, Natura 2000 areas, ecological sites, documentation sites and nature-landscape complexes. The research included 229 protected areas in total. For the abovementioned protected areas, the following aspects were analyzed: subject matter and objectives of their protection, premises for creating their functional and spatial infrastructure and methods for their development, as well as the scope of provisions in urban spatial planning documents in the abovementioned respect. The research enabled identifying the key problems in the functioning of protected areas in Polish cities, including:
• small stability of regulations on nature protection and consequential lack of continuity in the protection of naturally valuable areas,
• noticeable tendency to loosen the regulations in the subjected scope, which leads to marginalizing the issues of nature protection while planning urban development.
• no coordination of actions performed by various stakeholders in regard to the protected areas,
• failure to adjust nature protection objectives to conditions resulting from the location in urban areas,
• lack of efficient tools to fulfi ll the nature protection objectives in the spatial aspect.
Based on the identifi ed models of environmental protection in urban areas, premises were formulated with regard to the new model for environmental protection in Polish cities. Three scenarios were proposed with regard to potential changes: modification-oriented, reorganization-oriented and radical. The modification-oriented scenario includes:
• adding the social aspect to the objectives of nature protection in cities,
• extending the scope of the nature conservation act of new nature protection categories appropriate for urban areas,
• increasing the importance of the study of conditions and directions for the spatial development and protection plans with regard to the planning permission.
Reorganization-oriented scenario provides for:
• verifying the objectives of nature protection,
• introducing the obligation to prepare management plans for all protected areas in cities,
• introducing the obligation to update and prepare development plans for areas were nature conservation areas were established.
The radical scenario includes:
• introducing new categories of nature protection in urban areas, including categories that ensure preserving and shaping the connectivity of protected area,
• exposing ecosystem services as the major motif of nature protection in cities,
• introducing new instruments for managing protected areas in cities.
Applying one of the abovementioned scenarios may signifi cantly improve the efficiency of natural protection in cities. It may also contribute to introducing a more innovative model for urban nature protection. Each scenarios will entail the implementation of quite significant legislative changes, either in the scope of nature protection and spatial planning.