Meadows are characteristic features of the forested mountain landscape in the northern temperate zone. In terms of origin, they can be classified as natural, semi-natural and improved. Mountain meadows have great ecological value due to vast biodiversity and the ecosystem services they provide. However, over the past few decades, a significant decrease in their area has been observed in many places across the world. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the scale and the main drivers of forest encroachment on temperate mountain meadows as well as to describe current research directions and methods. The observed decline in meadow area may be driven by natural factors related generally to climate change or may result from changes in land use. This process is investigated on a variety of spatial scales ranging from experimental plots to entire geographic regions. Studies on forest encroachment on mountain meadows are now carried out by researchers from many different countries. Nevertheless, there still does not exist a complex, multidisciplinary approach and comparative studies for different mountain ranges are not found in the literature. Key wordsorigin of meadows • forest encroachment • secondary succession • climate change • land abandonment

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This paper presents the preliminary results of research on soil resilience to anthropopressure in Łosie village (Lower Beskids Mts). The considered risks included three features which reflect soil resilience: predicted soil loss caused by water erosion, mechanical and physico-chemical filtration capacities. The average annual rate of soil loss was calculated based on the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE). Analyses of mechanical and physico-chemical filtration capacities of soils were conducted on the basis of algorithms which took into account the soil texture class and groundwater table class. The results confirmed that the highest predicted soil loss takes place within arable lands, particularly those located on slopes - with up and down tillage. During the period from 1997 to 2009, predicted soil loss decreased by 57% due to the decline in the percentage of arable land in the research area. It was found that the introduction of cross-slope tillage within arable lands could decrease overall predicted soil loss up to 67%. Areas with the lowest mechanical filtration capacities were located on slopes and related to sandy clay soils whereas the areas with the lowest physico-chemical filtration capacities were situated in valley bottoms and are mainly due to the shallow level of the groundwater table. Finally, it was noted that the different types of analyzed risk do not overlap nor even do they correspond with each other, which is conditioned by different features of the environment that were taken into consideration. The obtained results have shown how important sustainable spatial planning evaluation of various types of environmental resilience is.

abstract. The traditional character of Hutsul villages and their spatial development has been changing slowly but inevitably over the course of time. Historically, single farmsteads were built separately and were mostly self-sufficient, the distance between them being considerable. Nowadays, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the economic transformation brought along many changes, among these the fact that depopulation is taking place and alterations in spatial development are occurring again. The localisation of secluded farmsteads, situated far away from each other is no longer as important as it used to be. Reasons for the abandonment of farmsteads were examined, and factors such as altitude, distance from the village centre and the administration affiliation were taken into account. Land use changes were analysed in relation to the slope inclination. Some of the most important factors influencing the intensity and direction of these processes are high prices of land, improvement in living conditions, better access to services and the general 'westernisation' of lifestyles. The depopulation rate has been seen to increase in correlation with the rising altitude and distance from the village centre. On the other hand, there was no unambiguous link between the abandonment of farmsteads and administration affiliation. Mowed areas were localised on the slopes with the smallest inclination.