The soils adjacent to an area of historical mining, ore processing and smelting activities reflects the historical background and a mixing of recent contamination sources. The main anthropogenic sources of metals can be connected with historical and recent mine wastes, direct atmospheric deposition from mining and smelting processes and dust particles originating from open tailings ponds. Contaminated agriculture and forest soil samples with mining and smelting related pollutants were collected at different distances from the source of emission in the Pb-Zn-Ag mining area near Olkusz, Upper Silesia to (a) compare the chemical speciation of metals in agriculture and forest soils situated at the same distance from the point source of pollution (paired sampling design), (b) to evaluate the relationship between the distance from the polluter and the retention of the metals in the soil, (c) to describe mineralogy transformation of anthropogenic soil particles in the soils, and (d) to assess the effect of deposited fly ash vs. dumped mining/smelting waste on the mobility and bioavailability of metals in the soil. Forest soils are much more affected with smelting processes than agriculture soils. However, agriculture soils suffer from the downward metal migration more than the forest soils. The maximum concentrations of Pb, Zn, and Cd were detected in a forest soil profile near the smelter and reached about 25 g kg(- 1), 20 g kg(- 1) and 200 mg kg(- 1) for Pb, Zn and Cd, respectively. The metal pollutants from smelting processes are less stable under slightly alkaline soil pH then acidic due to the metal carbonates precipitation. Metal mobility ranges in the studied forest soils are as follows: Pb > Zn ≈ Cd for relatively circum-neutral soil pH (near the smelter), Cd > Zn > Pb for acidic soils (further from the smelter). Under relatively comparable pH conditions, the main soil properties influencing metal migration are total organic carbon and cation exchange capacity. The mobilization of Pb, Zn and Cd in soils depends on the persistence of the metal-containing particles in the atmosphere; the longer the time, the more abundant the stable forms. The dumped mining/smelting waste is less risk of easily mobilizable metal forms, however, downward metal migration especially due to the periodical leaching of the waste was observed.

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Since the 1990s, the territory of the Šumava National Park (Czech Republic) has faced significant changes in land cover, especially deforestation, in conjunction with several bark beetle disturbances and hurricane Kyrill in 2007. The aim of the study is to review the hydrological and climatic function of the forest and deforestation impacts on the landscape temperature. As a case study, surface temperature changes of the selected area of Šumava National Park from the satellite Landsat thermal data is presented from 1991 to 2016. At the sites with decayed forest, the surface temperature increased by 2-4°C. Images from ground temperature measurements illustrate extreme temperature differences (∼35°C) at locations where dead wood has not been removed; in the live forest, they are around 5°C. Further, we show the increase in air temperature is associated with the decay of forest stands, including snow melting. The duration of the permanent snow cover on the mountaintops with the growing forest in the last four years is, on average, 11 days longer than the areas with decayed forest. The results show that the increase in surface temperature in the large area causes changes in the local climate and hydrological regime. These changes may have a negative impact on the surrounding ecosystems, including the Šumava wetlands and peat bogs belonging to the Ramsar sites. 1. Forests promote precipitation. 2. Trees and forests are natural cooling systems. 3. Forests generate air and moisture flows. 4. Trees and forests can improve groundwater recharge. 5. Forests can moderate flooding. The authors bring evidence both from ecophysiological studies and from evaluation of how large forest complexes function. They emphasize the direct role of forests in the distribution of solar energy, cooling, water cycle, and local climate. The IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) and mainstream science focus on the role of forests and wetlands in global climate change in terms of the greenhouse effect: forests affect climate by serving as a sink/source for carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases (GHGs). Forests affect the climate positively through carbon dioxide

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Vegetation cover of the landscape plays an important role in the transformation of solar energy and the formation of microclimate in the landscape. A study carried out in the Velka´podkrusˇnohorska´brown coal dump (Czech Republic) focused on the impact of the structure and functions of landscape cover on temperature and humidity properties in nine localities with various states of vegetation cover. The development of temperature and relative humidity measured in various levels (temperature and relative humidity at 2 m and at canopy level; temperature on soil surface and at the depth of 0.1 m below soil surface) were assessed for the period of 1 July 2010-14 July 2010 and an evaluation of the Landsat 5 TM satellite data, collected on 10 July 2010, was carried out. Temperature development varied between the individual localities mostly at soil surface and in the ground; however, air temperatures and humidity were very similar at a height of 2 m. Extreme values of temperatures were measured on surfaces lacking vegetation cover or covered with sparse vegetation, in particular. On the basis of satellite data analysis, we determined the differences between the amounts of vegetation, temperatures and humidity values depending on the type of landscape cover and the stage of reclamation. The study results proved the significant impact of vegetation on the transformation of falling solar energy and the formation of microclimate, and thus the importance of fast regeneration of functional vegetation cover in the surfaces newly forming in former brown coal mines.