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Southern Poland (southern + poland)
Selected AbstractsContribution to understanding the historical evolution of meandering rivers using dendrochronological methods: example of the Ma,a Panew River in southern PolandEARTH SURFACE PROCESSES AND LANDFORMS, Issue 10 2006Ireneusz Malik Abstract The Ma,a Panew is a meandering river that flows 20 km through a closed forest. During times of high discharge the riverbed and floodplain are transformed under the influence of riparian trees. The changes provide the opportunity to measure the intensity of erosion and sediment accumulation based on tree ages, the dating of coarse woody debris (CWD) in the riverbed, and the dating of eccentric growth of tilting trees and exposed roots. The bed and floodplain in reaches of the Ma,a Panew River with low banks were greatly altered as a result of long periods of flooding between 1960 and 1975. Banks were undercut during these floods and black alders tilted. Those parts of alder crowns or stems which tilt and sink generate small sand shadows. When erosion is intensive alder clumps are undercut from concave banks and become mid-channel islands, while on the other side of the channel meandering bar levels are created. The reaches with higher banks were altered by large floods, especially in 1985 and 1997. The concave banks are undercut and sediment with CWD is deposited within the riverbed, forming sand shadows behind the CWD. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Wood storage in a wide mountain river: case study of the Czarny Dunajec, Polish CarpathiansEARTH SURFACE PROCESSES AND LANDFORMS, Issue 12 2005omiej Wy Abstract Storage of large woody debris in the wide, mountain, Czarny Dunajec River, southern Poland, was investigated following two floods of June and July 2001 with a seven-year frequency. Within a reach, to which wood was delivered only by bank erosion and transport from upstream, wood quantities were estimated for eighty-nine, 100 m long, channel segments grouped into nine sections of similar morphology. Results from regression analysis indicated the quantity of stored wood to be directly related to the length of eroded, wooded banks and river width, and inversely related to unit stream power at the flood peak. The largest quantities of wood (up to 33 t ha,1) were stored in wide, multi-thread river sections. Here, the relatively low transporting ability of the river facilitated deposition of transported wood while a considerable length of eroded channel and island banks resulted in a large number of trees delivered from the local riparian forest. In these sections, a few morphological and ecological situations led to the accumulation of especially large quantities of wood within a small river area. Very low amounts of wood were stored in narrow, single-thread sections of regulated or bedrock channel. High stream power facilitated transport of wood through these sections while the high strength of the banks and low channel sinuosity prevented bank retreat and delivery of trees to the channel. Considerable differences in the character of deposited wood existed between wide, multi-thread channel sections located at different distances below a narrow, 7 km long, channellized reach of the river. Wood deposited close to the downstream end of the channellized reach was highly disintegrated and structured into jams, whereas further downstream well preserved shrubs and trees prevailed. This apparently reflects differences in the distance of wood transport and shows that in a mountain river wider than the height of trees growing on its banks, wood can be transported long distances along relatively narrow, single-thread reaches but is preferentially deposited in wide, multi-thread reaches. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] The influence of plant cover and land use on slope,channel decoupling in a foothill catchment: a case study from the Carpathian Foothills, southern PolandEARTH SURFACE PROCESSES AND LANDFORMS, Issue 5 2002Jolanta, chowicz Abstract This paper examines the influence of plant cover and land use on slope,channel decoupling in the Stara Rzeka Stream catchment (22·4 km2) and its subcatchment Dworski Potok Stream (0·3 km2). The Stara Rzeka catchment is situated in the marginal part of the Carpathian Foothills and is characterized by a relief of low and medium hills. The catchment is used for agriculture but unlike other foothill catchments, it has a relatively extensive unfragmented area of forests (41·3 per cent). Grasslands and pastures (13·8 per cent) are mainly along the broad and flat valley floor. In the cultivated area (38·5 per cent) of the northern low hill part of the catchment, the fields are long, narrow and separated by boundary strips. They stretch from the hilltops to the valley bottom and are traditionally ploughed along the slopes. The research into slope wash was carried out at six sites downslope (August 1989 to October 1990) and on experimental plots (1989,1991). Transport of suspended matter was determined in the channels of the Stara Rzeka and Dworski Potok Streams (1987,1991). The results show that transport and export of the material on the slopes depend on the morphology of the slope and on the agricultural use of the area. The mosaic of fields which are used differently makes the soil wash process very intensive only if the slopes are ploughed and unprotected by a dense cover of vegetation. The material displaced is mostly accumulated at the foot of the slopes or at the bottom of the valley. Footslope areas and flat valley bottoms covered with grass function as a barrier separating the slope and the river bed. These features generally negate the transfer of slope-originated material to the bed of the stream. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Local host ant specificity of Phengaris (Maculinea) teleius butterfly, an obligatory social parasite of Myrmica antsECOLOGICAL ENTOMOLOGY, Issue 5 2010MAGDALENA WITEK 1. Phengaris butterflies are obligatory social parasites of Myrmica ants. Early research suggested that there is a different Myrmica host species for each of the five European Phengaris social parasites, but more recent studies have shown that this was an oversimplification. 2. The pattern of host ant specificity within a Phengaris teleius metapopulation from southern Poland is reported. A combination of studying the frequency distribution of Phengaris occurrence and morphometrics on adult butterflies were used to test whether use of different host species is reflected in larval development. 3. Phengaris teleius larvae were found to survive in colonies of four Myrmica species: M. scabrinodis, M. rubra, M. ruginodis, and M. rugulosa. Myrmica scabrinodis was the most abundant species under the host plant but the percentage of infested nests was similar to other host ant species at two sites and lower in comparison to nests of M. rubra and M. ruginodis at the other two sites. Morphometric measurements of adult butterflies reared by wild colonies of M. scabrinodis and M. ruginodis showed that wing size and number of wing spots were slightly greater for adults eclosing from nests of M. ruginodis. 4. Our results suggest that P. teleius in the populations studied is less specialised than previously suggested. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that P. teleius is expected to be the least specific of the European Phengaris species, as it has the largest and best defended fourth-instar caterpillars and, as a predatory species, it spends less time in the central larval chambers of the host colonies. The fact that individuals reared by M. ruginodis had wider hind wings may suggest that P. teleius had better access to resources in M. ruginodis than in M. scabrinodis colonies. [source] The bright spot in the West Carpathian upper mantle: a trace of the Tertiary plate collision,and a caveat for a seismologistGEOPHYSICAL JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL, Issue 1 2010Piotr SUMMARY The 2-D full waveform modelling of the mantle arrivals from the CELEBRATION 2000 profiles crossing the Carpathian orogen suggests two possible tectonic models for the collision of ALCAPA (Alpine-Carpathian-Pannonian) and the European Plate in the West Carpathians in southern Poland and Slovakia. Due to an oblique (NE-SW) convergence of plates, the character of the collision may change along the zone of contact of the plates: in the western part of the area an earlier collision might have caused substantial crustal shortening and formation of a crocodile-type structure, with the delaminated lower crust of ,100 km length acting as a north-dipping reflecting discontinuity in the uppermost mantle. In the eastern part, a less advanced collision only involved the verticalization of the subducted slab remnant after a slab break-off. The lower crustal remnant of ,10 km size in the uppermost mantle acts as a pseudo-diffractor generating observable mantle arrivals. Due to the similarity of synthetic data generated by both models, the question of the non-uniqueness of seismic data interpretation, that may lead to disparate tectonic inferences, is also discussed. [source] Fungal flora associated with Tomicus piniperda L. in an area close to a timber yard in southern PolandJOURNAL OF APPLIED ENTOMOLOGY, Issue 8 2007R. Jankowiak Abstract:, The association between Tomicus piniperda L. (Col., Scolytinae) and fungi was studied in a Pinus sylvestris L. forest in Mielec-Mo,ciska. Fungi were isolated from overwintered adult beetles taken from two stands situated in different distance from timber yard. Two media were used for isolation. The results showed great diversity of fungi associated with T. piniperda: 1895 cultures, representing 64 species, were isolated. Penicillia and Hormonema dematioides were the dominant species, found in 20.2% and 17.8% of all beetles, respectively. A frequently isolated ophiostomatoid fungi was Ophiostoma minus. Qualitative and quantitative differences in the mycobiota composition of this insect between two stands were detected. The highest richness and diversity of fungal species appeared in the samples taken from the location where the trees were heavily damaged by shoot-feeding of T. piniperda. Differences were most clear for the pathogenic O. minus, which was a common fungal associate of the insects in this stand. [source] Changes of nase Chondrostoma nasus L. occurrence in the Wislok River, southern Poland, after stocking with pond reared juvenilesJOURNAL OF FISH BIOLOGY, Issue 2004M. Ciesla Nase Chondrostoma nasus L., once one of the most common fish species in the upper reaches of central European rivers, is now considered endangered throughout its natural range. Since 2000 the Department of Ichthyobiology and Fisheries, Warsaw Agricultural University, has co-operated with the Polish Anglers Association in Krosno to study the effects of river restocking with pond-farmed nase juveniles. The experiment is carried out on Wislok River, where nase was very twenty years ago but has now completely disappeared. Selected parts of the river are stocked with tagged, one-summer and 1 year-old juveniles. Changes in nase occurrence, and their growth and foraging behaviour have been analysed. [source] Differentiation and Genetic Structure of Sclerophoma pythiophila Strains on Pinus sylvestris in PolandJOURNAL OF PHYTOPATHOLOGY, Issue 7-8 2009Wojciech Kraj Abstract Between 1996 and 2006, 97 strains of Sclerophoma pythiophila were isolated from 3 to 10-year-old trees of Pinus sylvestris from three regions of Poland differing by climatic conditions and geographic location. On the basis of 56 random amplified microsatellites (RAMS) markers obtained with the use of five primers, very high level of genetic variability of strains (mean Jaccard's coefficient 0.56) was ascertained. Among the analysed markers only one was completely monomorphic, whereas six were monomorphic in 90%. Greater genetic similarity was ascertained for strains in southern Poland (0.58) in comparison with strains deriving from northern Poland (0.52). Correlation between the percentage share of polymorphic loci and the average annual temperature of places of strain isolation (r = 0.62) were shown, as well as the number of days with snow cover (r = 0.79). On the basis of the amova analysis, it was ascertained that 11.6% of genetic variability was located between regions of the strains origin and 88.4% within the regions. [source] Tree mortality and effects of release from competition in an old-growth Fagus-Abies-Picea standJOURNAL OF VEGETATION SCIENCE, Issue 5 2001Jerzy Szwagrzyk Abstract. In a montane mixed Fagus-Abies-Picea forest in Babia Gora National Park (southern Poland), the dynamics of an old-growth stand were studied by combining an 8-yr annual census of trees in a 1-ha permanent sample plot with radial increments of Abies and Picea growing in the central part of the plot. The mortality among the canopy trees was relatively high (10% in 8 yr), but the basal area increment of surviving trees slightly exceeded the losses caused by tree death. DBH increment was positively correlated with initial diameter in Abies and Picea, but not in Fagus. For individual trees smaller than the median height, basal area increment was positively related to the basal area of old snags and the basal area of recently deceased trees in their neighbourhood, but negatively related to the basal area of live trees. Dendrochronological analysis of the past growth patterns revealed numerous periods of release and suppression, which were usually not synchronized among the trees within a 0.3 ha plot. The almost normal distribution of canopy tree DBH and the small number of young individuals in the plot indicated that stand dynamics were synchronized over a relatively large area and, hence, were consistent with the developmental phase concept. On the other hand, the lack of synchronization among periods of growth acceleration in individual mature Abies and Picea trees conforms more closely to the gap-dynamics paradigm. [source] Neoselachian sharks from the Callovian,Oxfordian (Jurassic) of Ogrodzieniec, Zawiercie Region, southern PolandPALAEONTOLOGY, Issue 4 2010JAN REES Abstract:, Callovian and Oxfordian strata in Ogrodzieniec near Zawiercie, southern Poland, have yielded two shark tooth assemblages that collectively include 14 neoselachian taxa. A previously unrecognised member of the Orectolobiformes, Akaimia altucuspis gen. et sp. nov., is described and characterised by a dentition remarkably similar to modern wobbegong sharks (Orectolobidae) by convergence. The assemblages also include the first anterior teeth ever found of the palaeospinacid ,Synechodus'prorogatus Kriwet, in addition to teeth from two other palaeospinacids, Sphenodus spp., four different orectolobiforms, two hexanchids and Protospinax spp. These shark tooth assemblages contribute to the poorly known Callovian and Oxfordian neoselachian faunas and indicate that the diversity was higher than previously appreciated, particularly within the Orectolobiformes. [source] Fertility, body size, and shape: An empirical test of the covert maternal depletion hypothesis,AMERICAN JOURNAL OF HUMAN BIOLOGY, Issue 4 2009Ilona Nenko In populations with limited resources, high-reproductive effort may lead to poor nutritional status of the mother (the maternal depletion syndrome), whereas in well-nourished populations woman's body weight tends to increase after each pregnancy. However, in affluent populations, women's body shape may change due to mobilization of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) from the lower parts of their bodies to meet the needs of the developing child (the "covert maternal depletion"). We studied relationships between reproductive history traits and body size and shape for 296 rural, parous women in good nutritional status (mean body mass index, BMI = 27.9, SD = 5.94), aged 22,85 (mean 47.8, SD = 16.34) from southern Poland. Body mass adjusted for age, age of menarche, body height, and similarly adjusted BMI were each positively related to the number of children born by a woman (R = 0.13, P = 0.02 and R = 0.13, P = 0.02, respectively). Waist and hip circumferences, adjusted for confounders, did not show statistically significant relationships with the number of children. Moreover, groups with low and high parity did not significantly differ in hip/BMI and waist/BMI ratios, which were proposed to be indicators of covert form of maternal depletion (after controlling for overall body fatness and age). In conclusion, parity caused a slightly higher body mass and BMI later in life. However, parity did not lead to covert maternal depletion, perhaps because women in this population have relatively high-dietary intake of PUFAs. Am. J. Hum. Biol., 2009. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Origin of Pleistocene outwash plains in various topographic settings, southern PolandBOREAS, Issue 2 2009TOMASZ SALAMON The style of Pleistocene outwash sedimentation in the foreland of the central European Mountains (the Carpathians and Sudetes) was controlled to a large extent by the topography. The deposits of three outwash plains formed in various morphological situations in front of the Upper Odra Lobe during the Odranian glaciation (older Saalian) are described here to show the conditions of their development and to reveal the relation between outwash plain sedimentology and proglacial topography. One outwash plain was formed between the mountain front and the ice-sheet margin, which advanced into the zone of fore-mountain alluvial fans. This outwash, deposited parallel to the ice margin, was under the considerable influence of extraglacial rivers flowing from the mountains. The second outwash was deposited in a small valley dipping away from the ice sheet and successively buried by glaciofluvial sediments. It evolved from a narrow valley sandur to an unconfined outwash plain. The third one was formed in a relatively broad, dammed valley dipping towards the ice sheet, where proglacial lake base level controlled the pattern of outwash channels as well as the character of the sedimentation. The studied outwash plains have different sedimentary successions. Their sedimentary profiles differ from each other even in the neighbouring valleys, indicating that distinct depositional conditions existed at the same time in closely spaced areas. It is suggested that the glaciomarginal deposition was controlled mostly by the orientation of the valleys and the inter-valley areas relative to the ice-sheet front. Size and morphology of valleys and interfluves were also important. Depending on their orientation, the outwash plains were fed by meltwaters in various ways; the dip of their surfaces was markedly different and the dynamics of the proglacial river systems were diverse. [source] | |||||||||||||