The chemical composition and efficiency of biogas production in the methane fermentation process of silages of wild and cultivated varieties of reed canary grass were compared. An attempt was made to answer the question on how the habitat and the way of utilization of plants affect chemical composition and biogas yield. Physicochemical properties such as dry matter, organic dry matter, protein, fat, crude fiber fraction, macro- and microelements content were considered. The anaerobic digestion process and FTIR analysis were also carried out. The results showed that the two varieties differ essentially in their physical and chemical properties. The cultivated variety was characterized by higher biogas yield (406Ndm(3)kg(-1) VS) than the wild one (120Ndm(3)kg(-1) VS). This was probably related to the chemical composition of plants, especially the high content of indigestible crude fiber fractions and ash. These components could reduce biogas quantity and quality.

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Abstract. This paper looks into the impact of free grazing by sheep and horses on the chemical and biological properties of soils in the partial protection zone of the Roztocze National Park. The study sampled three different types of pastureland in the area: pastures for sheep, horses and for combined grazing by sheep and horses. Compared to an ungrazed reference pasture, free grazing significantly stimulated the activity of enzymes which catalyze the transformation of organic matter (dehydrogenases, phosphatases and ureases) and it also positively influenced other chemical properties of the soils. Among the soils under free-grazing management, the pasture grazed to horses underwent the most advantageous changes in terms of the eco-chemical status of the soil.

The objective of the study was to assess the changes in vegetation and turf cover of psammophilous grasslands in the Kózki Nature Reserve under grazing and non-grazing conditions. The investigations were conducted in the years 2010-2013 in southern part of the Kózki Nature Reserve, in the Podlaski Przełom Bugu (the Podlasie Bug Gorge) Landscape Park where sheep of the native breed Świniarka graze as part of the agrienvironmental project “Preservation of endangered genetic animal resources in agriculture”. The pasture area is a mosaic of sandy grasslands of the Koelerio glaucae-Corynephoretea canescentis class and meadow communities of the Molinio-Arrhenatheretea class. The turf cover of the study areas varied depending on the type of phytocoenoses and on grazing the sward by sheep or the cessation of its use. Significantly greatest turf cover was determined for communities with species ChAll. Vicio lathyroidis-Potentillion argenteae involving species ChCl. Molinio-Arrhenatheretea and dominated by species ChCl. Koelerio glaucae-Corynephoretea canescentis involving species ChCl. Molinio-Arrhenatheretea, community with Calamagrostis epigejos and with Poa pratensis. Significantly smallest turf cover was observed for the Spergulo-Corynephoretum association where grazing by the Świniarka sheep led to successive reduction of the vegetation cover in the study period. Monitoring of the number of trees and shrubs indicated that all species of this group of plants, up to the height of 100 cm, were nibbled or damaged by sheep during the grazing. Therefore, sheep of the Świniarka breed can be used in the protection of psammophilous grasslands because they hinder the secondary succession of tree and shrub vegetation.

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