A park that had used reclaimed water as the sole water supply for fourteen years, was selected to analyze the distribution, sources and risks of 16 priority polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in ...waters and sediments. The effects of phytoremediation were investigated in waterbodies classified as phytoremediation, transitional and non-phytoremediation areas. Diagnostic ratio (DR) and principal component analysis (PCA) were used to analyze the sources of PAHs, while risk quotient (RQ) was used as risk assessment tool. Results showed that ∑PAH concentrations in sediments ranged from 29.4 to 1245.6 ng‧g−1, with average of 354.3 ng‧g−1, corresponding to a moderate pollution level. The concentration of PAHs in water ranged from 10.6 to 326.3 ng‧L−1, with average of 147.2 ng‧L−1, corresponding to a low pollution level. The ∑PAHs in sediments showed a downward trend from northwest to southeast along with the water flow direction, with average values of 459.5, 362.9 and 246.1 ng‧L−1 in the upstream, midstream and downstream, respectively. In contrast, PAH concentrations in water were consistent with recreational activities in the urban park area. There were 95% of water samples and 72% of sediment samples obtaining the Ant/(Ant + Phe) > 0.1 and Flu/(Flu + Pyr) > 0.5, indicating that coal combustion was the major source of PAHs in both the water and sediment. The RQ∑PAH(NCs) values in water and sediment were all between 1 and 800, while RQ∑PAH(MPCs) reached equal to 0, suggesting that ∑PAHs presented a low ecological risk. Acenaphthene accounted for 28.4% of RQ(NCs), and became the most risk PAH in water column. Aquatic plants effectively removed high-ring PAHs from water and middle-ring PAHs from sediments, reducing the overall risks posed by PAHs.
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•A park using reclaimed water (RW) as sole supply was selected to study PAH pollution.•Spatial distribution of PAHs in sediment was highly correlated with the RW flow.•PAHs level in water column was strongly associated with tourism activities.•Phytoremediation can remove high-ring PAHs in water and middle-ring PAHs in sediment.•PAHs are at low-risk level and mainly derived from coal combustion in study area.
The study presents the results of nine-year-long monitoring of the population size of amphibians (
) as one of the indicator communities used to assess the biological diversity level. The study was ...conducted in the Masurian Landscape Park located in Warmińsko-MazurskieVoivodeship. The obtained results demonstrated that 13 out of the 18 domestic amphibian species occurred in the area selected for research activities, including the species entered in the IUCN Red List. No clear correlation was found between the dynamics of population changes and the environmental, primarily climatic, determinants.
The archaeological site of Aguntum is located near Lienz in East Tyrol. Around ten years ago, Aguntum was not attractive to visitors, had an inconsistent appearance, and no clear policy for future ...development. In 2014, this led to the initiation of a broad-based process to define a mission statement for Aguntum. The goal was to create a common, homogeneous strategy that would serve as a future 'big picture' for all decision-makers to orientate themselves by. Based on this, a master plan was developed. Over the years, it has been possible to implement many measures, defined in the master plan, while still sticking to the actual basic tasks of scientific excavation work and preservation or conservation of the monument. Aguntum is a good example that cultural heritage and biodiversity are very closely related.
Landscape parks are one of the large-scale forms of nature protection in Poland. They are created mainly due to the need to protect valuable, and often unique elements of the natural environment, but ...also equally valuable landscape, historical, cultural, and anthropogenic features of a given area. Drawsko Landscape Park is one of 122 landscape parks in Poland. This paper presents the main natural values of the park and the way to use them for tourism purposes.
The article attempts to assess the state and directions of development of tourist services in the area of the Szczecin Landscape Park Puszcza Bukowa (SLP PB) and the directions of their development. ...The article presents the preliminary results of surveys conducted in 2019 using the PAPI method in the SLP PB area as part of the international REGE project. The survey involved 311 respondents visiting the SLP PB area. The main motivation for the visit (86%) of the respondents in SLP PB is leisure and recreation, and visitors spend time primarily on walking (49%) and cycling (25%). The vast majority of respondents (79%) are aware that the area they are in is protected. At the same time, only 56% of all respondents correctly defined the form of protection of the studied area as a landscape park, which indicates the need for further educational activities. Although the spontaneous associations of the respondents focused on the natural values of this area, the questions about the advantages and disadvantages of the response area concerned primarily tourist infrastructure, services provided or lack thereof. The respondents pointed primarily to service deficits in the area under study in the scope of: guided tours (23%), events (20%) and lack of tourist information points (15%).
The peat bog areas in southeastern Poland are a habitat for many interesting, often endangered, and rare or even new diatom species for Poland. Research conducted in the years 2022–2023 in three ...landscape parks (Pogórze Przemyskie Landscape Park, Południoworoztoczański Landscape Park, and Janowskie Forests Landscape Park) has allowed the identification of numerous rare and endangered species from the Pinnularia genus, including some that are new to Poland. The paper provides a detailed morphological and ecological characterization of six rare or endangered Pinnularia species, among which two were found to be new for Poland (Pinnularia lokana and P. esoxiformangusta).
Despite covering only 2–6% of land, wetland ecosystems play an important role at the local and global scale. They provide various ecosystem services (carbon dioxide sequestration, pollution removal, ...water retention, climate regulation, etc.) as long as they are in good condition. By definition, wetlands are rich in water ecosystems. However, ongoing climate change with an ambiguous balance of rain in a temperate climate zone leads to drought conditions. Such periods interfere with the natural processes occurring on wetlands and restrain the normal functioning of wetland ecosystems. Persisting unfavorable water conditions lead to irreversible changes in wetland habitats. Hence, the monitoring of habitat changes caused by an insufficient amount of water (plant water stress) is necessary. Unfortunately, due to the specific conditions of wetlands, monitoring them by both traditional and remote sensing techniques is challenging, and research on wetland water stress has been insufficient. This paper describes the adaptation of the thermal water stress index, also known as the crop water stress index (CWSI), for wetlands. This index is calculated based on land surface temperature and meteorological parameters (temperature and vapor pressure deficit—VPD). In this study, an unmanned aerial system (UAS) was used to measure land surface temperature. Performance of the CWSI was confirmed by the high correlation with field measurements of a fraction of absorbed photosynthetically active radiation (R = −0.70) and soil moisture (R = −0.62). Comparison of the crop water stress index with meteorological drought indices showed that the first phase of drought (meteorological drought) cannot be detected with this index. This study confirms the potential of using the CWSI as a water stress indicator in wetland ecosystems.
Herpetofauna of the Kozubów Landscape Park Wojdan, Dariusz; Żeber-Dzikowska, Ilona; Gworek, Barbara ...
Ochrona Srodowiska i Zasobów Naturalnych,
09/2019, Volume:
30, Issue:
3
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
The research was conducted in 2016–2017 in the 6,613-ha Kozubów Landscape Park (KLP). It focused on the occurrence and distribution of amphibians and reptiles, the biology and phenology of selected ...species and the existing threats.
The KLP, established in 1986, is located in the Nida Basin, covering the eastern part of the Wodzisławski Ridge. This area is characterised by diverse landscape features formed on a chalk substrate. A significant part of the KLP (48.8%) is covered by forests growing on the tops and slopes of loess hills intersected by valleys and gorges. Hornbeam forests and fragments of riparian forests have retained a semi-natural character. The steep, non-forested slopes with a southern and south-western exposure are overgrown by thermophilic xerothermic grasslands. Xerothermic plant communities show a relatively low species diversity, because the main type of substrate in this area is loess. Two nature reserves, Polana Polichno and Wroni Dół, are located within the KLP borders.
The following amphibian species were found in the KLP: smooth newt (
L.), great crested newt (
Laur.), European fire-bellied toad (
L.), common spadefoot toad (
Laur.), common toad (
L.), European green toad (
Laur.), European tree frog (
L.), edible frog (
L.), pool frog (
Cam.), moor frog (
Nilss.) and common frog (
L.). Reptiles are represented by the sand lizard (
L.), viviparous lizard (
Jacquin), slow worm (
L.), grass snake (
L.), smooth snake (
Laur.) and common European adder (
L.). The study also included the phenology and reproductive biology of common toad and common frog.
Major threats to the herpetofauna are posed by grass burning. Unfavourable changes include decreasing water levels and drying out of water bodies.
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