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Jaskinia Lodowa w Ciemniaku (Ice Cave in Ciemniak), Western Tatra, Poland - over a century-long investigations of climate warming-caused degradation of subterranean ice mass
Jaskinia Lodowa w Ciemniaku (Ice Cave in Ciemniak), in the Tatra Mountains (Tatry), is believed to host the largest subterranean ice mass in Poland. It has been known for over a century, however, the onset of its scientific investigations dates back to 1922, when Tadeusz and Stefan Zwoliński mapped it. Since then, it has become one of the best-known caves in Poland. It was described in over a hundred scientific and popular science papers. They include findings of international importance, e.g. works related to radioisotopes, ice-mass balance and age. However, some of the questions asked a century ago are still partly unanswered. One may wonder if they will be delivered before climate warming causes the largest ‘cave glacier’ in Poland to disappear.
The Fen that vanished: The untold story of drainage and peat extraction in Bagno Chlebowo peatland with implications for nature conservation
Ericoid shrub encroachment shifts aboveground–belowground linkages in three peatlands across Europe and Western Siberia
AbstractIn northern peatlands, reduction of Sphagnum dominance in favour of vascular vegetation is likely to influence biogeochemical processes. Such vegetation changes occur as the water table lowers and temperatures rise. To test which of these factors has a significant influence on peatland vegetation, we conducted a 3‐year manipulative field experiment in Linje mire (northern Poland). We manipulated the peatland water table level (wet, intermediate and dry; on average the depth of the water table was 17.4, 21.2 and 25.3 cm respectively), and we used open‐top chambers (OTCs) to create warmer conditions (on average increase of 1.2°C in OTC plots compared to control plots). Peat drying through water table lowering at this local scale had a larger effect than OTC warming treatment per see on Sphagnum mosses and vascular plants. In particular, ericoid shrubs increased with a lower water table level, while Sphagnum decreased. Microclimatic measurements at the plot scale indicated that both water‐level and temperature, represented by heating degree days (HDDs), can have significant effects on the vegetation. In a large‐scale complementary vegetation gradient survey replicated in three peatlands positioned along a transitional oceanic–continental and temperate–boreal (subarctic) gradient (France–Poland–Western Siberia), an increase in ericoid shrubs was marked by an increase in phenols in peat pore water, resulting from higher phenol concentrations in vascular plant biomass. Our results suggest a shift in functioning from a mineral‐N‐driven to a fungi‐mediated organic‐N nutrient acquisition with shrub encroachment. Both ericoid shrub encroachment and higher mean annual temperature in the three sites triggered greater vascular plant biomass and consequently the dominance of decomposers (especially fungi), which led to a feeding community dominated by nematodes. This contributed to lower enzymatic multifunctionality. Our findings illustrate mechanisms by which plants influence ecosystem responses to climate change, through their effect on microbial trophic interactions.
Has Quaternary palynolopalynology reached its climax?
Throughout more than 100 years of its history palynology has become an independent discipline that is being applied in various fields from palaeoecology, aerobiology, forensic sciences to taxonomy. Bibliometric analysis allows to distinguish different phases in the evolution of palynology. From the initial phase, when the first pioneer results were released, through the building phase when the potential of pollen analysis has been expanding into new research areas, to mature phase in which palynology becomes a basic research method with worldwide recognition applied in many scientific fields. However, the scientometric analysis of palynological documents suggests that in the second decade of the 20th century, the increasing trend of the number of published documents stopped. This tendency has been observed in most of the journals publishing palynological content. This may suggest that the discipline has reached its climax. Moreover, the last couple of years show a slow but constant drop in the number of published documents. During this period also a decrease in mean citation per document and per year is observed. This poses a question – does this issue reflect only the state of the discipline or is that a wider phenomenon touching also other scientific fields related to palynology as for example palaeoecology? On the other hand, bibliometric analysis points out also some positive aspects of the evolution of palynology such as the increase in international co-authorship and the increase in the number of co-authors per document that indicates the development and specialization of the discipline.
Ice Caves as Emerging Research Objects of the Climate‐Crisis Era
ABSTRACTIce caves remain relatively underexplored as climatic archives. Due to the rapid loss of ice mass that is observed worldwide as a result of global climate warming, we are losing this record year by year. This trend has likely prompted scientists from all over the world to expand and accelerate their research on perennial cave ice. In this study, using bibliometric analysis, we demonstrate how ice caves have become increasingly popular subjects of scientific research, especially within the past two decades. The article reveals that climate change has recently become a significant topic in speleological research. However, relatively few articles are directly focused on this issue, and the keyword is more commonly used as a connection between other areas of geoscience research. Many studies emphasize the urgent need for interdisciplinary collaboration to address the challenges facing this fragile ecosystem. Although the increasing number of published scientific studies resembles a race against time to explore as much as possible before this unique underground world disappears.
Heavy metals in lake surface sediments in protected areas in Poland: concentration, pollution, ecological risk, sources and spatial distribution
AbstractThis paper presents the state and spatial distribution of surface sediment contamination of 77 lakes in Poland by Cr, Ni, Cd, Pb, Zn, and Cu. The analyzed lakes were located within a network of nature protection areas in the territory of the European Union (EU). Spatial distribution of the heavy metals (HMs), factors favoring the delivery/accumulation of HMs in surface sediments, and pollution sources were analyzed. The results indicate the contamination of lake sediments by HMs, but the potentially toxic effects of HMs are only found in single lakes. The spatial distribution of Cr indicates predominant impacts of point sources, while for Pb, Ni, and Zn, the impact of non-point sources. The analysis showed the presence of areas with very high values of particular HMs (hot spots) in the western part of Poland, while a group of 5 lakes with very low values of Ni, Pb, and Zn (cold spots) was identified in the central part of Poland. Principal component analysis showed that presence of wetlands is a factor limiting HMs inflow to lakes. Also, lower HMs concentrations were found in lake surface sediments located in catchments with a higher proportion of national parks and nature reserves. Higher HMs concentrations were found in lakes with a high proportion of Special Protection Areas designated under the EU Birds Directive. The positive matrix factorization analysis identified four sources of HMs. High values of HMs concentrations indicate their delivery from industrial, urbanized, and agricultural areas. However, these impacts overlap, which disturbs the characteristic quantitative profiles assigned to these pollution sources.