No abstract

Landscape changes in the Carpathians are related to centuries of human activity, which can be regarded as the key component of global change. Changes in mountainous regions are mainly caused by agriculture, urbanization, forest cutting for production and land abandonment. This paper aimed to assess the impact of natural and historical-cultural factors on forest ecosystem transformations occurred in the period 1848-2014 in two small areas (about 45 km 2 ) on the Beskid Mountains (southern Poland). The comparison of historical and current maps, along with the application of GIS and field verification, allowed a full interpretation of changes in land use in the studied areas. A decrease of 58.0% in non-forest areas was observed in the considered period, while the forested area grew systematically by 28.3% and the forest-field boundary lowered in altitude. Current forest ecosystems are distributed as a mosaic and mainly consist of Dentario glandulosae-Fagetum, Luzulo nemorosae-Fagetum, Abieti-Piceetum montanum, with logged sites taking up large areas. Forest ecosystems include valuable semi-natural meadows such as Gladiolo-Agrostietum, Hieracio-Nardetum, Arrhenatheretum medioeuropaeum, Cirsietum rivularis or Juncetum effusi, whose extension is reducing and fragmentation increasing due to the recolonization of forest tree species after abandonment. We concluded that trends in land use in the Carpathians were mainly determined by non-environmental factors related to the development of farmingpasturing and forest management. The applied approach could be extended to other regions in the Carpathians which were subject to analogous historicalcultural influences. Moreover, our results allow for a comparison with other regions which are subject to similar impacts of natural processes, but to different impact of historical and cultural processes.

Zarys treści. Europejska Konwencja Krajobrazowa -najważniejszy dokument Komisji Europejskiej dotyczący ochrony i kształtowania krajobrazu, zobowiązała wszystkie ratyfikujące ją strony do: zidentyfikowania swoich krajobrazów na całym terytorium kraju; przeanalizowania ich charakterystyk oraz przekształcających je sił i presji; dokonania oceny tak zidentyfikowanych krajobrazów.Celem niniejszego artykułu jest przegląd teoretyczno-metodycznych założeń dotychczasowych typologicznych podziałów krajobrazów w różnym stopniu przekształcanych przez człowieka i na tym tle prezentacja autorskiej koncepcji typologii krajobrazów aktualnych, obejmujących łącznie tzw. krajobrazy "przyrodnicze" i "kulturowe" występujące obecnie w Polsce.Przedstawiona propozycja jest rozwinięciem jednego z nurtów prac nad ogólnopolskim projektem "Identyfikacja i ocena krajobrazów -metodyka oraz główne założenia". Proponowana klasyfikacja oparta jest na dwóch głównych grupach kryteriów: (1) skali antropogenicznego przekształcenia krajobrazu; (2) dominacji określonych form pokrycia oraz struktury i intensywności zagospodarowania terenu. W sumie, na podstawie analizy obecnego zróżnicowania krajobrazów Polski, wyróżniono 3 grupy, 15 typów oraz 49 podtypów krajobrazów aktualnych. Przewidziano także możliwość wyodrębniania czwartego, najbardziej szczegółowego poziomu klasyfikacji -tj. form krajobrazów. Typologia ta może i powinna znaleźć zastosowanie podczas realizacji audytu krajobrazowego, do wykonania którego zobowiązuje uchwalona w 2015 r. tzw. "Ustawa Krajobrazowa".

Abstract:The current article will attempt to confirm that Polish post-mining areas are characterized by high cognitive and aesthetic values and that they have great geotourism potential, which has been little used so far. Tourism is regarded to be one of the most dynamically growing sectors of the global economy and is a phenomenon that occurs in the landscapes of all ecological and altitudinal zones. Geotourism is among the relatively recent types of tourism. Poland is a highly attractive country for geotourism. The aim of this article is to analyze the distribution and size of post-mining areas in Poland and, based on these analyses, to assess the geotourist potential of selected post-mining regions. Based on the distribution of natural resource mining sites and their potential and actual use in geotourism, the authors selected 20 actual and potential geotourist regions in Poland. These regions were divided into three basic categories based on their attractiveness.

Detailed analyses were conducted of human impact on juniper forest landscapes occurring within the Zarafshan Range (Pamir-Alay). Juniperus seravschanica and J. semiglobosa belong to forest-forming species in Central Asia. At present, juniper forests all over Tajikistan are seriously threatened as a result of excessive logging and cattle grazing. The aim of this paper is to present juniper forest transformation as a result of human activities as well as the diversity of soil properties in the organic and humus horizons in the altitudinal system of soil zonation. Three groups of phytocoenoses were distinguished: those with a dominant share of Juniperus seravschanica; those with a dominant share of J. semiglobosa; and mixed. Associations with Juniperus seravschanica and J. semiglobosa feature several variants of phytocoenoses with dominant species: Artemisia lehmanniana, A. dracunculus, Eremurus olgae,