Abstract
The Ojców National Park, 22 km NNW of Cracow (Kraków), is subjected to the influence of very strong air pollution. Coniferous trees, especially the silver fir Abies alba and the Scots pine Pinus sylvestric suffer seriously under these conditions. The individual tolerance of fir to the stress factors proved to be very differenciated and only to a small degree connected with the height of trees and their position in forest canopy. Some differenciation in fir vitality resulted however from the site conditions and the exposure to winds carrying air pollutants. Floristic changes in the mixed forest Pino-Quercetum during the last 30 years were documented by repeated phytosociological releves. The most significant of these changes is the disappearance of carpet mosses and other acidophilous species of the Vaccinio-Piceetea class. Consequently, most of the forest stands classified before as Pino-Quercetum do not represent this plant association any more. The symptoms of damage, existing also in deciduous forests, indicate that an effective nature protection in the Ojców National Park can be secured only by limitation of air pollution.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Andersson F. 1986. Acid deposition and its effects on the forests of nordic Europe. Water, Air & Soil Pollut. 30: 17–29.
Becker M. 1987. Bilan de santé actuel et rétrospectif du sapin (Abies alba Mill.) dans les Vosges. Etude écologique et dendrochronologique. Ann. Sci. Forest 44(4): 379–402.
Bernadzki E. 1983. The dying of fir within its natural range. In: Białobok S. (ed.), Jodła pospolita Abies alba Mill., pp. 493–501, PWN, Warszawa-Poznań (P).
Białobok S., Oleksyn J. & Rachwał L. 1984. Selection of trees and shrubs for forest reconstructing in industrial regions. In: Grodziński W., Weiner J. & Maycock P.F. (eds.), Forest ecosystems in industrial regions, pp. 239–245. Springer, Berlin.
Cape J.N., Peterson I.S., Wellburn A.R., Wolfenden J., Melhorn H. & Freer-Smith P.H., 1988. Early diagnosis of forest decline. Institute of Terrestrial Ecology, Dorchester.
Dässler H.G. & Börtitz S. (eds.) 1988. Air pollution and its influence on vegetation. Junk, Dordrecht.
Dubiel, A. 1990. Changes in the spruce forest of the Gorce Mts. (Southern Poland) following the outbreak of the hymenopteron Cephalcia falleni Dalm. Zesz. Nauk Uniw. Jagiell., Prace Bot. (in print) (P).
Evers, F.H. 1987. Excursions to forest stands in the Northern Black Forest. In: XIV Int. Bot. Congr. Guide to Excursion No 13: 21–27, Berlin.
Franklin J.F. 1987. Tree death as an ecological process. The causes, consequences and variability of trees mortality. BioScience 37(8): 550–556.
Grodzińska K. 1978. Mosses as bioindicators of heavy metal pollution in Polish National Parks. Water, Air & Soil Pollut. 9: 83–97.
Grodzińska K. 1980. Heavy metals pollution of Polish National Parks. Ochr. Przyr. 43: 9–27 (P).
Grodziński W., Weiner J. & Maycock P.F. (eds.) 1984. Forest ecosystems in industrial regions. Springer, Berlin.
Härtel O. & Grill D. 1972. Die Leitfahigkeit von Fichtenborken-Extrakten als empfindlicher Indikator für Luftverunreinigungen. Eur. J. Forest Pathol. 2(4): 205–215.
Juszkiewicz J. & Partyka J 1987. Atmospheric air pollution in the Ojców National Park. Parki Nar. Rezerwaty Przyr. 1987: 41–49 (P).
Kaźmierczakowa R. 1988. Degradation of pine forest Vaccinio myrtilli-Pinetum vegetation under influence of zinc and lead smelter. Stud. Nat. A 31: 29–80.
Klein J. 1974. Meso- and microclimate of the Ojców National Park. Stud. Nat. A 8: 1–106 (P).
Klein R.M. & Perkins T.D. 1987. Cascades of causes and effects of forest decline. Ambio 16 (2–3): 86–93.
Kramer W. 1982. Das Tannensterben. Forstarchiv 53: 128–132.
Kuhn N., Amiet R. & Hufschmit N. 1987. Veränderungen in der Waldvegetation der Schweiz infolge Nährstofanreicherungen aus der Atmosphäre. Allg. Forst-Jagd-Zeitung. 158(5/6): 77–84.
Larsen J.B. 1986. Das Tannensterben: eine neue Hypothese zur Klärung des Hintergrundes dieser rätselhaften Komplexkrankheit der Weisstanne (Abies alba Mill.). Forestwiss. Centralbl. 105: 381–396.
Lenz, O., Nogler, P. & Braker O.U. 1988. L'evolution du temps et le déperissement du sapin blanc dans la région de Berne. Inst. Féd. Rech. Forest. Rapp. 303: 44 pp.
Medwecka-Kornaś A. 1952. Les associations forestières du Jura Cracovien. Ochr. Przyr. 20: 133–236 (P).
Medwecka-Kornaś A. 1955. Les associations forestières des Gorce (Karpathes occidentales polonaises). Ochr. Przyr. 23: 1–110 (P).
Medwecka-Kornaś A. & Kornaś J. 1963. Vegetation map of the Ojców National Park. Ochr. Przyr. 28: 16–87 (P).
Medwecka-Kornaś A., Kozłowska H., Gawroński S. & Matysiak E. 1989. Pine bark extracts as the indicators of air pollution in the Ojców National Park (Southern Poland). Fragm. Florist. Geobot. 34(3–4): 425–444(P).
Michalik S. 1974. The changes induced by man in the vegetation of the Ojców National Park. Ochr. Przyr. 39: 65–154 (P).
Rost-Siebert K. & Jahn G. 1988. Veränderungen der Waldbodenvegetation während der letzten Jahrzente—Eignung zur Bioindikation von Immissionswirkungen? Forst und Holz 43(4): 75–81.
Scholz F. 1981. Considerations about selection for air pollution resistance in polluted stands and consequences for correlated traits. Arch. Ochr. Środowiska 2–4; 91–100.
Schütt P. 1977. Das Tannensterben. Der Stand unseres Wissens über eine actuelle und gefährliche Komplekskrankheit der Weistanne (Abies alba Mill.). Forstwiss. Centralbl. 96: 177–186.
Schütz P. 1985. Forest decay in a continental-wide polluted environment: control by silvicultural measures. Experientia 41(3): 320–325.
Smith W.H. 1981. Air pollution and forests. Springer, Berlin.
Świeboda M. 1980. The impact of industrial air pollution on the Scots pine, Pinus silvestris L., in the area between the ‘Bolesław’ lead and zinc smelting works and the Ojców National Park. Ochr. Przyr. 43: 329–361 (P).
Troyanowsky C. (ed.) 1985. Air pollution and plants. Proceedings of the 2nd European Conference on Chemistry and the Environment. May 21–24, 1984 Lindau. VCH Verlagsges. Weinheim, RFG.
Wang D. & Schaap W. 1988. Air pollution impacts on plants: current research challenges. ISI Atlas Sci., Anim. Plant Sci. 1(1): 33–39.
Z(abecki W. 1984. The extent of weakening and dying of the Abies alba stands in the Ojców National Park as affected by industrial emissions; Zesz. Nauk. Akad. Roln. Kraków 184: 113–123 (P).
Ziegler H. 1986. Pflanzenphysiologische Aspekte der Waldschäden, Rheinisch-Westfälische Akad. Wiss. Vorträge N 347: 7–40.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Medwecka-Kornaś, A., Gawroński, S. The dieback of fir Abies alba Mill. and changes in the Pino-Quercetum stands in the Ojców National Park (Southern Poland). Vegetatio 87, 175–186 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00042953
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00042953