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Information on the foraging of White Storks on rubbish dumps, a novel behaviour in Central European populations, is presented. Observations were first made in 1999 and to date; they have been recorded on sixteen locations in Poland. From one to 348 White Storks (median=2, N=116) were observed on rubbish dumps, and most of the records (86%) were of 1-3 birds. Birds foraging on rubbish dumps were recorded from late March to early September, but the highest numbers were seen during the summer months. Most of the birds (77%, N=171) were recorded foraging directly on an area where rubbish had been thrown, while a minor fraction (16%) was seen on neighbouring recultivated grassy areas. Dumps were used as an additional food source probably in areas where natural foraging grounds are limited. The increased frequency of observations during the summer months probably resulted from the greater nutritional needs of large nestlings which force the adults to find alternative food sources or foraging habitat shift by non-breeding birds.

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This study analyzed the effect of atmospheric deposition on canopy leaching processes in stands predominantly composed of Scots pines. The research was conducted in two stands: the first located in the southwestern part of the Świętokrzyskie Mountains in the area known as Białe Zagłębie (Malik), and the second in the northwestern part of Poland in Western Pomerania (Czarne). The study was conducted in the hydrological years 2010–2013. The goal of the study was to assess the chemical transformation of precipitation as a result of various human activities. In Malik, the main factor that determined the physicochemical and chemical properties of throughfall was the cement/lime dust emitted by nearby industrial plants, which not only affected the quantity of deposit but also contributed to the alkalization process of throughfall. By contrast, the main source of pollution in Czarne, where local emitters are absent, was long-distance transport. We conducted a principal component analysis (PCA) in both stands that produced components representing local pollution (Malik) and long-distance transport (Czarne). For the stand in Czarne, sea aerosols were an important source of Na+ and Cl− ions in precipitation. In both stands, the highest enrichment ratio (ER) values were recorded for K+ ions. The contribution of leaching processes to the bulk deposition of K+ ions in Malik was 85.8%, whereas in Czarne, it was 73.8%. Regardless of the degree of anthropopressure, the intensity of quantitative and qualitative transformation in pine stands was comparable.

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