ROCZNIKI GLEBOZNAWCZE TOM LXII NR 2 WARSZAWA 2011: 357-364
MACIEJ ROGALSKI EDWARD NIEDŹWIECKI 2, RYSZARD MALINOWSKI 2,
DOROTA MUSIELAK MARCIN ŻOLĘDZIEWSKI PAULINA GRADZIK *,
MARIA TRZASKOŚ 3
NATURAL-SITE VALUE OF EXTENSIVELY USED
SKO SZEWSKIE MEADOWS
WALORYZACJA SIEDLISKOWA I FLORYSTYCZNA
EKSTENSYWNIE UŻYTKOWANYCH
ŁĄK SKOSZĘ W SKICH
'Department of Ecology and Environmental Protection, Szczecin University d ep artm en t of Soil Science, West Pomeranian University of Technology 3 Department of Grassland Science, West Pomeranian University of Technology A bstract: Multi-hectare grasslands, situated on organic so ils along the Szczecin Lagoon, have been inclu ded into protective areas under the Habitat and Bird Directives. To protect these habitats, exten sive grazing o f the K onik Polski horses, Scottish Highland cattle, Lim ousine b e e f cattle and cutting-grazing management is carried out since 2003. The objective o f the present study, carried out for four years (2 0 0 7 -2 0 1 0 ), w as to determine the soil properties o f selected m eadow com m unities with regard to their floristic characteristics. The results were focused on the com m unities dom inated by C a lam agrostis e p ig e jo s and H olcus lanatus, occurring on the area grazed by horses. In addition, the P halaris aru ndinacea community, utilized by cutting and cattle grazing was also analyzed. The total content o f m acroelements in the soil was highly diverse. The level o f solub le phosphorus w as relatively low and the content o f potassium was typical o f organic soils. The total content o f sodium and m agnesium w as low, whereas the content o f calcium w as much more favourable. A m ong trace elem ents, the contents o f iron, m anganese, copper, cobalt and nickel are at a natural level. In the part o f m eadow so ils with H olcus la n atu s, accum ulation o f zinc and lead was observed, w hich points to slight soil contamination. The conducted analysis o f the flora show ed that the number o f sp ecies o f the family P oaceae ranged from 13 taxons in the w ood sm all reed com munity to 10 in the m eadow soft grass community. D icotyledon ous plants had the greatest represen tation on the reed canary grass meadow. A four-year period o f exten sive grazing by horses benefited the expansion o f such grasses as: P o a p ra te n sis, D a ctylis g lom erata, Elym us repen s, A g ro stis c a p illa ta and C alam agrostis canescens. There was a progressive decrease in grass sp ecies like: C alam agrostis e p ig ejo s, D esch am psia ca esp ito sa or H olcus lanatus. The cutting-pasturing use o f the reed canary grass m eadow had a positive effect on the expansion o f m eadow blue grass and quack grass. Under these conditions the number o f reed canary grass and m eadow foxtail w as reduced.
K ey w o r d s : extensive grazing, chem ical properties o f soil, m eadow com m unities
INTRODUCTION
The studies were conducted on the area of Skoszewskie Meadows, adjacent to the Szczecin Bay, the lowest IV terrace of the Odra Flood-plain [Karczewski 1968].
According to Jasnowski [1962] this terrace constitutes a vast complex of lowmoor peat of the Czarnocinski Basin lying extremely low in relation to the waters of the Bay of Szczecin (1km from the Bay peat level reaches 0.5 m above sea level and 0.8-2 km from it.) The thickness of peat deposit varies from only 35 cm near the Bay of Szczecin to the maximum of 2 m. Deposit profile is mostly composed of wood peat and bog peat in its upper part (reed, reed-sedge, sedge).
Soil drainage totally stopped the growth of peat deposits and as a result of decession process the developed peat transformed into muck or muckous soils. For many years they had been used as grassland, primarily meadows, for the needs of local population. Skoszowskie Meadows were most intensively used by the State Farms and after they ceased to exist, were set aside, which with the lack of agricultural practices and devasta tion of hydro-melioration system caused the growth of communities of the order Moli- nietalia, Phragmitetalia and Magnocaricetalia [Kochanowska et al. 2007].
At present, this area has been included in the protected areas related to the Habitat and Bird within Natura 2000 programme. In order to maintain the communities of meadow vegetation and favourable nesting-sites for avifauna the parts of meadows adjacent to the Bay of Szczecin are being used for extensive cattle grazing, breeding Polish ponies and for rotation utilisation, cutting-pasturing [Bahonko et al. 2004, Musielak 2006, Musielak, Rogalski 2006].
These are long-term operations and therefore the aim of the present study is to deter mine the usefulness of the soils and covering them meadow communities to the needs of applied ways of grassland use.
MATERIAL AND METHODS
The present geobotanical studies were initiated in 2002 on the area of ca 600 ha and their first stage was the designation of suitable sites for intensive grassland management. In the year 2003 the sites for one-cut and sporadic grazing or round-the-clock and a yearlong grazing by horses (stocking density 0.3-0.5 SD/ha), Scottish Highland cattle (stocking density 0.3-0.6 SD/ha); and seasonal, from spring to autumn, grazing of beef cattle-Limousine (stocking density 0.5-0.6 SD/ha) were separated.
Under these conditions a preliminary attempt at determining natural effects resulting from active conservation forms of permanent grassland under study i.e. their natural and economic value, was undertaken.
In this paper, the study results concerning the community dominated by wood small reed (Calamagrostis epigejos), meadow soft grass group (Holcus lanatus), syntaxa, oc curring on the area grazed by horses have been presented. In addition, the reed canary grass association (Phalaris arundinacea) under a cutting- grazing system was also ana lysed.
The syntaxa were distinguished on the basis of phytosociological studies, supplemen ted with an estimation method [Mannetje 2001]. Every year, on chosen, representative, permanent areas the examinations were repeated in the period June - July and in Septem ber. Apart from that, complete lists of vascular plant species were made.
The natural-sites value o f extensively used skoszewskie meadows 359
Therefore, it was possible to determine the changes in the examined phytocenoses caused by management. A special attention was paid to the response of particular species [Kochanowska et al. 2007 ]. Species terminology was adopted after Mirek et al. [1995].
Numerous boreholes made it possible to localize 3 representative soil pits. Two of them were situated near the Smiecka Kepa, about 150-200 m from the Bay flood bank and the third one 500m from the Bay, 200 m from the Czamocinski Canal.
The first soil pits was made on the community with wood small reed, the second one on the area dominated by meadow soft grass and the third one by reed canary grass rushes.
After finding morphological features, soil samples from particular soil horizons were taken for laboratory studies. Soil pH, organic matter content, the content of soluble in HN0+HC104 macroelements (K, P, Mg, Ca, Na) and microelements (Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu, Co, Ni, Pb, Cd) were determined. Ca, K and Na content was obtained by flame photometry, P-colorometrically and trace elements and Mg using atomic absorption spectrophotome ter Unicam Solar 929.
The soil content of elements soluble in HC1 at the concentration 0.5 mol • dm'3 was used to calculate their percentages in their total content.
RESULTS
The structure of soil profile affords to distinguish two kinds of soils: muck soils with the predominant subtype: peat-mud-muck soil and muck soils with a sporadically found in the vicinity o f the Bay of Szczecin, subtype of muckous soils [Systematyka Gleb Polski 1989]. Irrespective of typology these soils (Table 1) are characterised by:
- a great degree of silting, especially near the Bay of Szczecin,
- sandy subsoil (from fine to coarse and medium sand) at the depth of 30-80 cm; - a relatively high content of organic matter (over 50% on average) in the peat parent-
rock with a varying amount in the mud-muck horizons,
- strongly acid or acid reaction, especially in the upper part of the profile.
The total content of macroelements is highly diverse. The level of phosphorus soluble in HNO +HCIO is relatively low. In the case of potassium, except for the sandy subsoil, from 0.J3 to 3.78 g • kg"1 dry matter were found, which is the typical content of organic soils of Western Pomerania.
There is hardly any solubility of this element in HC1 at the concentration of 0.5 mol • dm"1 (Table 2). As this is observed on many meadows of Western Pomeranian province the need for potassium supplementation arises [Niedzwiecki et al. 2002, 2004].
The total amount of sodium and magnesium, in the light of other organic Pomeranian soils is low, whereas the content of calcium, due to its great solubility in 0.5 mol-dm'1 HC1, is much more favourable (Table 1 and 2).
Among trace elements, the contents of iron, manganese, copper, cobalt and nickel are at a natural level. In the part of meadow soils by the Bay of Szczecin, in the community with Holcus lanatus, the accumulation of zinc (to 700.3 mg • kg'1 dry matter) and lead (to 174.6 mg • kg"1 dry matter) was observed, which points to a slight soil contamination with heavy metals [ Kabata-Pendias, Pendias 1999]. Both zinc and lead are characterised by a high solubility in HC1 at the concentration 0.5 mol • dm"3, (to 82.6% and 68.6%, respectively) (Table 2). Thus, it seems necessary to analyse the chemical composition of
Soil horizons Depth PHkc, Losses on ignition g • k g 1 d .m mg* k g 1 d.m [cm] [%] K P Mg Ca N a Fe Mn Zn Cu Co N i Pb Cd
Mucky soli: subtype muckous soil (community with C alam agrostis epigejos)
A(Mm)i 0-20 4.0 7.3 1.75 1.47 1.25 8.11 0.21 16416 1060 2 56 .0 25.7 14.0 12.5 62.4 2.20 A(Mm)i 2 0 -3 0 3.3 9.0 2.16 0.58 1.59 1.30 0.10 21936 794 259.3 30.7 15.5 10.1 83.1 0.99
AC 30-4 0 4.8 1.1 0.23 0.09 0.21 0.60 0.02 1264 29 162.3 0.7 0.5 0.5 1.2 0.05
C 4 0 -9 0 4.2 1.9 0.18 0.12 0.15 0.59 0.03 1080 117 180.3 2.3 1.3 0.9 15.6
i... 0.22 Muck soil: subtype peat-mud-muck soil (domination Holcus lanatus)
Mm 0-10 3.3 26.1 3.78 0.52 3.02 2.92 0.24 36280 612 388.5 52.0 18.4 19.4 123.6 1.42 Mm 10-30 3.3 13.0 3.75 0.51 3.58 2.41 0.18 51504 917 386.1 60.1 25.1 21.4 174.6 2.36 Mm 30-45 4.5 8.8 3.30 0.40 2.94 4.57 0.19 35592 1145 700.3 41.5 22.9 22.0 122.7 3.03 Ot 4 5 -8 0 4.9 56.9 0.63 0.23 2.06 28.84 0.17 8735 763 313.3 8.3 3.3 10.6 17.6 0.63 Muck soil: subtype peat-mud-muck soil (community with P halaris arundinacea)
Mm 0 -10 4.8 52.5 0.41 0.55 0.59 17.73 |0.14 9445 279 62.3 9.9 1.8 2.6 33.7 0.69 Mm 10-25 5.1 51.9 0.44 0.55 0.64 25.48 0.17 14615 391 28.1 9.9 1.9 3.7 42.4 0.57 Ot 25-35 4.8 47.1 0.33 0.15 0.44 20.87 I10.18 12810 137 16.0 5.8 2.6 2.1 7.0 0.50 D 3 5 -8 0 3.6 1.2 0.11 0.04 0.10 0.55 0.04 1517 11.3 13.7 1.2 1.4 0.5 3.2 0.05 M . R o g a ls ki et a l
The natural-sites value o f extensively used skoszewskie meadows 361
TABLE 2. Percentages o f elements soluble in 0.5 mol • dm-3 HC1 in their total content in soil horizons to 30 cm Soil horizons Depth [cm] K P M g Ca N a Fe M n Zn Cu Co N i Pb Cd
Mucky soli: subtype muckous soil (community with C a lam agrostis epigejos)
A(Mm)i 0-2 0 8.6 31.9 11.2 90.7 60.4 42.8 35.6 76.4 56.4 24.1 45.0 62.0 54.5 A(Mm)i 2 0 -3 0 2.7 59.2 6.9 78.6 14.6 21.9 32.0 72.5 55.7 2 3 .7 28.7 59.2 78.3 Muck soil: subtype peat-mud-muck soil (domination H olcus lanatus)
M m 0-10 3.5 69.4 13.9 73.7 33.4 29.2 70.3 60.7 40.2 49.3 36.0 68.6 87.9 M m 10-30 2.0 45.2 9.3 74.6 25.5 29.6 45.9 66.4 53.4 35.8 35.3 66.1 57.2 Muck soil: subtype peat-mud-muck soil (community with P halaris arundinacea)
Mm 0-10 27.8 49.7 45.3 77.4 69.3 37.7 68.4 81.0 30.3 34.1 59.3 54.6 73.9 M m 10-25 15.2 55.0 37.1 83.7 73.1 36.7 81.0 82.6 20.2 39.7 57.1 153.2 78.9
the vegetation cover on this area, since elevated amounts of trace elements pose a threat to people and animals [ Kabata-Pendias, Pendias 1999; Kabata-Pendias et al. 1993; Krol et al. 2007; Kucharczyk et al. 2003].
The conducted analysis of the flora showed that the amount of the species of the family Poaceae ranged from 13 taxons in the community with wood small reed to 10 in the meadow soft grass community. The number of papilionaceous species was very small, from 2 to 3 representatives. Dicotyledonous plants had the greatest representation on the reed canary grass meadow (Fig. 1).
A four-year period of extensive grazing by horses benefited the expansion of such grasses as: Poa pratensis, Dactylis glomerata, Elymus repens, Agrostis capillata and Calamagrostis canescens.
Besides, in the community with Holcus lanatus, the number of Agrostis gigantea and Festuca rubra increased and perennial rye-grass appeared in the wood small reed com munity. There was a progressive decrease in grass species like: Calamagrostis epigejos, Deschampsia caespitosa or Holcus lanatus.
The cutting-pasturing use of the reed canary grass meadow had a positive effect on the expansion of meadow blue grass and quack grass. Under these conditions the number of reed canary grass, wood small reed and meadow foxtail was reduced.
No response to grassland use was observed in Alopecurus geniculatus and Festuca arundinacea on pastures and Holcus lanatus on meadows.
On the sites used for grazing the number of white clover increased whereas there was a drop in the number o f meadow vetchling and common clover.
In the community with meadow soft grass the share of spreading rush substancially enhanced.
The response of other species of vascular plants varied. Dicotyledonous plants such as Cardaminepratensis, Epilobium hirsutum, Polygonum lapathifolium, Ranunculus acris, R. sceleratus in great numbers appeared in reed canary rushes.
Grazing clearly limited the occurrence o f Urtica dioica, Cirsium arvense and Galeop- sis tetrahit.
Community with C a la m a g ro s tis ep ig e jo s FIGURE 1.
N um ber o f perm a nent, appearing and disappearing sp e cies in flora o f exa mined communities
Even extensive management forms brought about the decrease in the number o f sed ge, common nettle or com thistle species w hich had thrived on abandoned, w et m e adow s.
The invasion o f these species in meadow vegetation cover is observed after meadows are no longer used [Grynia 1996; Kochanowska et al. 1995, 2007; N iedźw iecki, Trza- skoś 1999].
It should be emphasised that the physiognom y o f grassland under study has changed. N ot so long ago uncut, flow ering and fruiting m eadows, frequently with corn thistle monoculture, reed canary rushes and sedge dominated as it was reported by Kochanow ska et al. [1995] and Kochanowska and Rygielski [1994].
The natural-sites value o f extensively used skoszewskie meadows 363
CONCLUSIONS
On the examined area it was found that:
1. Muck or muckous soils are characterised by a great degree of silting, a relatively high organic matter content in the peat parent material, sandy subsoil, strongly acid or acid reaction and the total macroelement content typical of organic soils of Western Pomerania.
2. Elevated content of lead and zinc under the meadow soft grass community, points to the need for analysing the concentrations of these elements in vegetation cover since it is used for grazing.
3. Konik polski grazing contributed to the growth of valuable meadow grass species such as: Poapratensis, Dactylis glomerata, or even Elymus repens.
4. Under the influence of animals the number of such species as: Calamagrostis epige jos, Deschampsia caespitosa and Holcus lanatus reduced but on the other hand, the
expansion of spreading rush should be taken into account under such conditions. 5. One, late cutting of reed canary rushes, coupled with grazing had positive effects on
the floristic diversity of this community. This regime was beneficial to the develop ment of meadow bluegrass and quackgrass but first of all, dicotyledonous plants.
S treszczen ie: W ielohektarowe użytki zielone, p ołożone na glebach organicznych nad Zalew em Szczeciń skim, zostały w łączone do obszarów chronionych w ramach Dyrektywy Siedliskow ej i Ptasiej. W celu ochrony tych siedlisk, od 2 003 roku, prowadzi się na nich ekstensyw ny w ypas koników polskich, szkockiego bydła górskiego, bydła m ięsnego rasy Lim ousin oraz użytkow anie kośno-pastw iskow e. C e lem prezentowanych badań, prow adzonych przez cztery lata (2 0 0 7 -2 0 1 0 ) było określenie w łaściw ości gleb wybranych zbiorow isk łąkow ych na tle charakterystyki szaty roślinnej. W pracy przedstawiono w yniki badań dotyczące zbiorow isk zdom inow anych przez C a lam agrostis ep ig ejo s i H olcus lan atu s, w ystępujących na obszarach w ypasanych przez koniki polskie. Ponadto zbiorow isko z P h alaris arun- dinacea użytkow ane kośno-p astw isk ow o z w ypasem bydła, było także analizow ane. O gólna zawartość w gleb ie m akroelem entów była bardzo zróżnicow ana. P oziom rozpuszczalnego fosforu był stosunkow o niski a zawartość potasu okazała się typow ą dla gleb organicznych. O góle stężenie sodu i magnezu było niskie, w przeciw ieństw ie do zawartości wapnia. Spośród pierw iastków śladow ych, zawartość żelaza, manganu, m iedzi, kobaltu i niklu była znacznie korzystniejsza. N a gleb ie pod zbiorow iskiem z H olcus lanatus, zaobserw ow ano kumulację cynku i ołow iu, co św iadczy o niew ielkim skażeniu gleby. Przepro w adzone analizy flory w ykazały liczba gatunków z rodziny P o a cea e wahała się od 13 w zbiorow isku z trzcinnikiem piaskow ym do 10 na łące kłosów kow ej. D w uliścienne były najliczniej reprezentowane w zbiorow isku z m o zg ą trzcinow atą. E kstensyw ny w ypas koni, przez cztery' lata, sprzyjał ekspansji takich traw jak: P o a p r a te n sis, D a ctylis g lo m e ra ta , E lym us repens, A gro stis c a p illa ta i C alam agrostis canescen, a ustępowaniu C ala m a g ro stis e p ig ejo s, D e sch am psia ca esp ito sa i H olcus lanatus. U żytkow a nie kośno-p astw iskow e łąki m ozgow ej, w pływ ało korzystnie na w zrost udziału w iech liny łąkowej i perzu w łaściw ego. W takich warunkach ustępow ała m ozga trzcinowata i wy czyn iec łąkowy.
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Prof. dr hab. Maciej Rogalski r
Katedra Ekologii i Ochrony Środowiska Uniwersytet Szczeciński
ul Wąska 13 71-415 Szczecin tel. 91 444 16 84
