Anna Kowalska
Articles
The potential of Polish forests to provide ecosystem services
Geographia Polonica (2024) vol. 97, iss. 1, pp. 65-90 | 
Full text
doi: https://doi.org/10.7163/GPol.0269
Abstract
Polish forests differ in their potential to provide ecosystem services (ES), but it is unclear how and to what extent. We assessed the potential of 35 forest habitat types to provide 17 key ES and showed that the montane mesic broadleaved forest has a high potential to provide the largest number of key forest services (14 out of 17), which gives it the status of a multi-service hotspot. The highest overall potential was found in the forests of mountain regions, slightly lower in the postglacial northern regions, and the lowest in the central lowland regions.
Keywords: Ecosystem service potential, ecosystem service hotspots, ecosystem service bundles, sustainable forest management, forest habitat types, forest regions, State Forests, nationwide scale, Poland
[a.affek@twarda.pan.pl], Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00‑818 Warszawa, Poland
[j.solon@twarda.pan.pl], Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00‑818 Warszawa, Poland
[aniak@twarda.pan.pl], Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00‑818 Warszawa, Poland
[eregulska@twarda.pan.pl], Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00‑818 Warszawa, Poland
[j.wolski@twarda.pan.pl], Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00‑818 Warszawa, Poland
[ekolaczk@twarda.pan.pl], Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00‑818 Warszawa, Poland
Poland on maps
Geographia Polonica (2013) vol. 86, iss. 4, pp. 393-402 | Full text
doi: https://doi.org/GPol.2013.31
Abstract
Presented here are the means of generating and possibilities for applying a digital map of sequences of ‘forest/non‑forest’ states in a study area, as based on topographic maps for seven instances in time (between 1800 and the present day). There is also a brief description of cartographic material used, as well as the methods applied in generating a variability model. The study area was then analysed from the point of view of differences in the aforementioned sequences of ‘forest/non‑forest’ states, this revealing marked contrasts between two Polish regions that are adjacent, but were conditioned differently in the past, in political and social terms. The study ends by considering the relationship between the distinguished sequences and habitat type, as referred to in terms of potential natural vegetation.
Keywords: historical maps, changes in forest cover, potential natural vegetation, habitat variation, central Poland
[jan.mat@twarda.pan.pl], Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00‑818 Warszawa, Poland
[j.wolski@twarda.pan.pl], Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00‑818 Warszawa, Poland
[aniak@twarda.pan.pl], Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00‑818 Warszawa, Poland
Review
Geographia Polonica (2008) vol. 81, iss. 2, pp. 100-102 | Full text
Keywords: geo-visualisation, spatial planning
[aniak@twarda.pan.pl], Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00‑818 Warszawa, Poland
Articles
Geographia Polonica (2006) vol. 79, iss. 1, pp. 113-130 | Full text
Abstract
This paper concerns the extent and causes of spatial and temporal land-use changesongoing in different habitats of the Vistula River valley in central Poland. The study area extendsalong that valley between the city of Warsaw and Włocławek, while the study period spans about150 years. The analysis was based on digital topographical maps from the 19th and 20th centuries,as well as a potential vegetation map. The history of land-use change was shown to be different ineach habitat in the study area, while the character of land-use and direction of changes that didarise were mostly determined by habitat conditions.
Keywords: map of potential vegetation, historical land-use changes, habitat diversity, digital map analysis, Vistula River valley
[aniak@twarda.pan.pl], Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00‑818 Warszawa, Poland