<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p> In Poland, the largest stretches of abandoned agricultural areas were formed at the end of the 1980s, along western and eastern borders, among others, in Przemyśl Foothills (Pogórze Przemyskie). Therefore, the research on the diversity of plant communities from abandoned agricultural areas as well as main directions and the rate of succession after the cessation of management was undertaken in the vicinity of twelve municipalities in south-eastern Poland. This research revealed that the dominating direction of changes of the abandoned agricultural area vegetation was vanishing of plant groups with segetal and meadow species and spreading of shrub communities. A general increase in the forestation rate of the researched abandoned agricultural areas from 10-40% of the area in 1970-1971 to about 30-70% in 2003-2004 may be the evidence of the occurrence intensity of those phenomena.</p></abstract>

In Poland, the largest stretches of abandoned agricultural areas were formed at the end of the 1980s, along western and eastern borders, among others, in Przemyśl Foothills (Pogórze Przemyskie). Therefore, the research on the diversity of plant communities from abandoned agricultural areas as well as main directions and the rate of succession after the cessation of management was undertaken in the vicinity of twelve municipalities in south-eastern Poland. This research revealed that the dominating direction of changes of the abandoned agricultural area vegetation was vanishing of plant groups with segetal and meadow species and spreading of shrub communities. A general increase in the forestation rate of the researched abandoned agricultural areas from 10-40% of the area in 1970-1971 to about 30-70% in 2003-2004 may be the evidence of the occurrence intensity of those phenomena.

Vegetation differentiation and secondary succession on abandoned agricultural large-areas in south-eastern Poland

Department of Botany, Institute of Biology, Pedagogical University, Podchorążych 2, 30-084 Kraków, Poland

Biodiversity Research and Conservation

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

In Poland, the largest stretches of abandoned agricultural areas were formed at the end of the 1980s, along western and eastern borders, among others, in...

Vegetation differentiation and secondary succession on abandoned agricultural large-areas in south-eastern Poland

Published Online: Jun 03, 2016

Page range: 35 - 50

Received: Aug 31, 2015

Accepted: Mar 08, 2016

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/biorc-2016-0005

Keywords
cessation of management, environmental conditions, fallows, fields, meadows, pastures, succession

© De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Vegetation differentiation and secondary succession on abandoned agricultural large-areas in south-eastern Poland

Published Online: Jun 03, 2016

Page range: 35 - 50

Received: Aug 31, 2015

Accepted: Mar 08, 2016

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/biorc-2016-0005

Keywordscessation of management, environmental conditions, fallows, fields, meadows, pastures, succession

© De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Keywords
cessation of management, environmental conditions, fallows, fields, meadows, pastures, succession