Analysis of Carpathian permanent forests by Jagiellonian University scientists
Scientists from various fields are joining the discussion on how to indicate, which natural areas are the most valuable from the natural point of view point of view and Should all these areas be protected?. Dr. Dominik Kaim and Dr. Ewa Grabska-Szwagrzyk, geographers from Institute of Geography and Spatial Management of the Jagiellonian Universitydecided to take part in this discussion and use a series of maps from different periods to check where In the Carpathians, the forest has been growing continuously for a long time – that is, it is “permanent forest”. It turned out that 40 percent of the Carpathian area from Cieszyn to Przemyśl (20 thousand km2) occupies a forest that has been growing there for 170 yearsThe research results were published in Conservation Letters (https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/conl.13043).
Introduction to in-depth interdisciplinary research
“We assumed that indicating the area occupied by ‘permanent forest’ could be a great an introduction to defining areas as future protected areas” – the authors of the article explained in an interview with PAP. At the same time, Dominik Kaim and Ewa Grabska-Szwagrzyk emphasized that they do not believe that the entire area defined as “permanent forest” should be absolutely protected. They only want to encourage more in-depth research using tools from various scientific disciplines.
“Our research results show that you don’t have to search for valuable areas blindly. Let’s look where we already know that the area is most promising in terms of natural value” – said Kaim. And Ewa Grabska-Szwagrzyk added that the results of their research should encourage specialists performing lidar research, botanists Whether biologists for further work.
“If we want to have a discussion about this, where and how to expand protected areas in Polandthis use of archival maps is a good first step,” said Ewa Grabska-Szwagrzyk.
Historical military maps as a source of basic data for naturalists
The oldest used by geographers military mapdating from the mid-19th century, was made in the Austrian partition. “19th Century Maps were already of good quality on a European scale. The technology was already well developed and the maps had a geodetic basis – so it was possible to take measurements using them,” Dominik Kaim explained. He recalled that The Austrians made cadastral maps – that is, very detailed maps defining what is happening on each plot on an empire scale – because they wanted to collect taxes on this basis.
“Then these maps were reduced in size because they no longer required the level of detail needed for tax purposes and they were adapted for military purposes. These maps were secret, they still covered the whole country, but they served rather strategic purposes. And we used these military maps,” Kaim said. It turned out that there are many areas that meet the criteria for “permanent forest” and that they are extensive.
Permanent forest in the Carpathian regions
“The patches of permanent forests for mountain areas often have an area of 100 km2. In Bieszczady Mountains Whether Beskid Żywiecki there are quite a few of these places. In the foothills they are a bit smaller – they are about 60 km2. An example is Przemyśl Foothills – the north-eastern part of the Carpathians, where it has been designed for many years Turnicki National Park” – said Ewa Grabska-Szwagrzyk. She added that the map can be viewed online“We have also made the data available for download, anyone can use it,” she noted.
Geographers also used data from Forest Data Bankbelonging to State Forests. Thanks to this, they determined the age of the trees growing in the area they studied.
Age of trees and assessment of the value of permanent forests
“Age of trees is important because it is one of the determinants of whether a forest is valuable. The median age of trees growing in a permanent forest is 90 years, but there are of course individual trees that are older. Sometimes they are 200 years old,” Grabska-Szwagrzyk said. She added that information from the Forest Data Bank helped scientists determine “whether the maps are correct.”
Changes in forest area from the 19th century to the present
Other important information that could be read from the maps was changes in forest area from the 19th century to the present day. In Europe pbefore the industrial revolution, man he lived from agriculture and he cut down foreststo acquire new areas for cultivation.
“This process took place differently in different parts of Europe. But in the 19th century it stopped because agriculture is no longer the only way to make a living. The forest began to regenerate in some places, i.e. forest cover increased on a continental scale. We captured this moment on the oldest maps,” said Dominik Kaim. (PAP)
Author: Urszula Kaczorowska
