Ecosystem services (ES) in cities and surrounding suburban areas are one of the major factors which guarantee quality of life. Most studies directly referring to urban ecosystem services are conducted on a local scale or for selected cities. There are few studies which focus on temporal changes of the provision of ecosystem services across a large number of cities. This paper analyzes selected land use type (forest, green urban area), soil sealing, selected ecosystem services (food provisioning, climate regulation, recreation), and biodiversity potential in 85 large cities (over 100,000 citizens) from the Continental (Central and Eastern) biogeographical region in Europe. We used the Corine Land (2) The process of soil sealing growth occurred in all studied cities and the rate was the most intense in Polish cities; (3) There was a decrease of food production and biodiversity potential in all the analyzed cities; (4) climate regulating services experienced only slight changes; (5) There was a very positive trend of the recreation indicator in most core zones of the cities in Germany and several cities in the Czech Republic, Poland, and Denmark. Moreover, our results of the temporal changes of land use and ES in European cities in the Continental biogeographical region indicate how important it is to monitor CLC and ES for potential spatial planning and regional policy interventions.

Visitor’s access to understorey vegetation in park forest stands results in the impoverishment of plant species composition and a reduction in habitat quality. The phenomenon of biotic homogenisation is typical in urban landscapes, but it can proceed differently depending on the scale, a detail that has not been observed in previous studies. This research was carried out in seven Warsaw parks (both public and restricted access). Thirty-four forested areas were randomly selected, some subjected to strong visitors’ pressure and some within restricted access areas, free of such impacts. The latter category included woodlands growing in old forest and secondary habitats. Public access to the study areas contributed to the disappearance of some forest species and their replacement by cosmopolitan non-forest species, leading to loss of floristic biodiversity in areas of high ecological importance at the city scale. Some human-induced factors, including soil compaction and changes in soil pH, moisture and capillary volume, were found to cause habitat changes that favoured native non-forest plants. Despite changes in species composition, the taxonomic similarity of understorey vegetation in both categories—public access and restricted access—was comparable. In a distance gradient of measurements taken around selected individual trees, there was found to be significant variation (in light, soil pH and compaction) affecting the quality and quantity of understorey vegetation (including rare species). In conclusion, the protection of rare forest species could be achieved by limiting access to forested areas, particularly in old forest fragments, and we highly recommend its consideration in the proposal of future park restoration plans.

The purpose of this study is to present opportunities for using landscape metrics to evaluate geodiversity on individual landscape levels. The research area is located to the west of the Płock Urban and Industrial Agglomeration in Poland. Within this area, hierarchically organized regional units were delimited (Richling, Malinowska, Szumacher 2013). The area is divided into 87 first-level regions, 36 second-level regions and 9 third-level regions. The units have been treated as basic fields for geodiversity analysis purposes using selected landscape measures and metrics, to include area, density, size, edges and diversity (among others, Shannon's Diversity Index (SDI), Shannon's Evenness Index (SEI), domination (D) and redundancy (R)) generated in Patch Analyst v. 5, Fragstats v. 4.0, ArcGIS v.10 and Statistica v. 10 software.

In an urban landscape, green areas are the key leisure facility for inhabitants, providing them with opportunities to relax and observe wildlife. With relevant infrastructure in place, these areas facilitate sport activities, ensuring mental and physical well-being. Sometimes they are a source of inspiration for artists. Without contact with nature, people become depressed, and the quality of their life deteriorates (Oleksiejuk, Jankowska 2009, Bożętka 2008, Chmielewski et al. 1996, Piątkowska 1983). This opinion is a part of the biophilia hypothesis developed by Edward O. Wilson (1984). The recreational use of protected areas, including open land reserves, has been discussed in several publications (Seeland

The concept of catena in landscape surveys is used to demonstrate the surroundings of landscape units, their vertical structure and inter-unit processes, as well as the mosaic nature of the landscape. Furthermore, it reflects the structural and functional heterogeneity of the surveyed area, at the same time indicating types of links between landscape units, depending on a variety of geological, habitat-related and biotic conditions, including land use and its transformation arising from anthropopressure. The catena survey performed included four key morphological and lithological units with varied landscape structure and functioning: glacial upland, vast outwash plains, the Wisła River valley and deepened channel valleys, as well as dune hills and hillocks. The results prove that the functioning of landscape systems depends on the forms of land use and their durability. Characteristics of leading components in catenas are diverse despite a similar genesis of landforms and relief shaping processes.