Marek Degórski

Abstract

This paper presents the evolution of research paradigms in geography related to the study of relationshipsbetween humans, environment and place, and their tenacious role in functional and spatial analyses of the environmentalmegasystem. The author describes ontological, epistemological as well as axiological dimensionsof interdependencies between humans, environment, and place, understood as space in which the integrationof nature and culture takes place, influencing, among other things, human behavior and generation of thequality of human living conditions. Surveys conducted among the inhabitants of the environs of Warsaw revealedhow different the perception and valuation of environmental issues is depending on space of place, itsstructure, and function. The author also emphasized the potential of environment as a value, which presently,in connection with the quality of human life, is perceived in the category of supply and demand.

Keywords: relationship, environment, space, place, paradigm, Warsaw Metropolitan Area

Marek Degórski [m.degor@twarda.pan.pl], Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00‑818 Warszawa, Poland

Abstract

This paper defines the relationships between geographical location (which determines macroclimatic differentiation andreflects the history of the vegetation), soils (which determine hydrolytic acidity, degree of base saturation and organiccarbon content), and selected characteristics of vegetation (species richness, herb layer biomass, moss layer biomass)in one type of forest community, namely, pine forests of the Vaccinio-Piceetea class. The study area covers the majorpart of the European domain of pine forests, from 70.15°N (Norway) to 50.35°N (Poland) and from 12.02°E (Sweden)to 33.6°E (Russia). The geographical pattern shows the following correlations: (a) a rise in the number of vascular plantspecies in the herb layer as one moves from west to east and from north to south; (b) no significant relationship betweengeographical location and the biomass of the herb layer, but it is possible to divide the study area into two parts: centralScandinavia, characterized by a high level of biomass, and the rest of the area, characterized by lower herb layerbiomass; (c) a south-north increase in the standard deviation of herb layer biomass (serving also as a measure of spatialheterogeneity of the forest floor in terms of the synusial structure of the community); (d) greater biomass of the bryophyte(moss+lichen) layer in the north than in the south and in the east than in the west; (e) stability at lower latitudes ofstandard deviation for moss biomass (serving also as a measure of spatial heterogeneity of the forest floor in terms ofthe synusial structure of the community), albeit with a sharp increase north of latitude 55°N.

Keywords: Vaccinio-Piceetea, species richness, species biomass, geographical pattern, European pine forests, gradients

Jerzy Solon [j.solon@twarda.pan.pl], Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00‑818 Warszawa, Poland
Marek Degórski [m.degor@twarda.pan.pl], Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00‑818 Warszawa, Poland

Abstract

Ultramorphoscopic analysis offers one way of gaining an insight into temporal and spatialchanges that have taken place in the environment. The underlying basis here is a system ofclassified features; processes of physical, chemical and biological weathering; and processes oftransport through different environments. It is the aim of this article to present the use of morphoscopicSEM studies of podsolic soils from different parts of central and northern Europe inreconstructing the way litho- and pedogenetic conditions evolved in the Late Pleistocene andHolocene. By drawing on the research carried out, it has been possible to point to certain indicativemorphoscopic features of quartz grains that are characteristic for defined morphogenicenvironments.

Keywords: scanning electron microscope (SEM), quartz grain, sedimentation environment, podsolic soils, central and northern Europe

Marek Degórski [m.degor@twarda.pan.pl], Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00‑818 Warszawa, Poland
Alojzy Kowalkowski, Forest Research Institute, 05-550 Raszyn, Sękocin, Poland

Abstract

The aim of the work described here has been to assess the contents of, and interrela-tionships between, the different forms of iron and aluminium present in soils, these being treated as indicative of soil-cover development and its contemporary functioning in an area under the very significant impact of atmospheric factors with a periodically endopercolative type of water regime. The area in question was the Cherrapunji Spur area of India, as extending along the southern slope of the Meghalaya Plateau, with its highest annual precipitation totals concen-trated during the period of the summer monsoon. Results show how the contents of the different forms of the two elements in soil offer an ideal tool by which to both determine the conditioning present in the palaeo-environments in which given soil covers developed and evaluate the pedo-genic processes ongoing currently.

Keywords: forms of iron and aluminium, leaching and podzolization of soil, Cherrapunji Spur, India

Marek Degórski [m.degor@twarda.pan.pl], Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00‑818 Warszawa, Poland

Abstract

With environmental conditions coming to play an ever-greater role in regional development,this paper has sought to determine how multi-functionality of the environment relatesto the formation of regions’ development potential, by way of attractor gravity and increasedregional viscosity. The attendant analysis has addressed both the theoretical foundations forthe modelling of reality and of presentation of the potential for ecological-economic modelsto be used in the devising of development policies. The proposals made in consequence offera new perspective on the environment and the role it is playing in socio-economic development,particularly where responses to ecosystem services are concerned.

Keywords: environment, ecological-economic models, socio-economic development, ecosystem services

Marek Degórski [m.degor@twarda.pan.pl], Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00‑818 Warszawa, Poland

Abstract

This article looks at certain socioeconomic consequences of extreme hydrometeorologicalphenomena in the Polish Lowland, e.g. fl oods, droughts, hurricanes, heat and cold waves that haveall become more intense in Poland over recent years. The particular focus is on the impact of extremehigh temperature and severe cold events on socio-medical parameters such as mortality. The analysis isespecially concerned with increased daily numbers of deaths in 3 large urban centers located in northeastPoland.

Keywords: extreme hydrometeorological phenomena, heat waves, cold waves, human mortality, Polish Lowland

Magdalena Kuchcik [mkuchcik@twarda.pan.pl], Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00‑818 Warszawa, Poland
Marek Degórski [m.degor@twarda.pan.pl], Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00‑818 Warszawa, Poland

Abstract

The recent fast development of processes of' industrialization and urbanizationwhich brings about far-reaching structural changes in geographical space makes usseek the most optimal solutions in landscape planning and management. On theone hand, such solutions must protect still existing natural areas whose share inthe total area is progressively decreasing and aim at making the anthropogenicimpact on the environment as limited as possible, and, on the other, they musttake into account dynamic changes of biotopes' characteristics and, thus, determinethe strength and pace of degradation of the environment under the influence ofintensifying man's activity. To work out a concept which would meet these postulates,it is necessary to have such methods which would make it possible, in a short time,to obtain as many data on the investigated environment as possible, and especiallythose which characterize potential biotic values of habitats. This makes geographersface new methodological tasks as todate research on the natural environmentemploying field-laboratory methods requires high expenditure of work and is verytime-consuming, and the results obtained from this research not always give fullcharacteristics of habitats' potential values. Therefore, the search for new methodicalsolutions should be expanded to other branches of science dealing with research onthe natural environment, and primarily to different biological sciences. The basis forworking out a new method of landscape research should be provided by scientificachievements obtained in those branches.The aim of this study is to present one of the methods of research on thenatural environment which is of an interdisciplinary character, i.e. plant bioindication(phytoindication) which excellently supplements methods traditionally employedin landscape planning and modelling. The analysis presented in this study includesresults of Polish studies with particular regard to results obtained on the basis ofa method which is even more broadly employed in landscape research in Poland,namely, the Ellenberg method (1950, 1952, 1974, 1979).

Marek Degórski [m.degor@twarda.pan.pl], Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00‑818 Warszawa, Poland