Volume 30 (2019): Issue 1 (March 2019)

The paper presents the results of a 5-year study on the population size of the white stork (Ciconia ciconia L.) as one of the indicator species used to assess a biodiversity level in agricultural areas. The study was carried out in Masurian Landscape Park situated in Warmińsko-Mazurskie Voivodeship. The results demonstrated that the white stork population size was closely linked to agricultural areas, in particular, the extensively managed permanent grassland. In the years 2014–2018, even if minor changes were observed in the land use structure, the white stork population size showed a slight upward trend within the study area. In order to maintain this status, efforts should be made to preserve open landscapes (first and foremost – meadows and pastures), which are preferred feeding grounds of white stork. Consequently, potential decision as regards afforestation and housing should be made considerately.

The aim of the research was to evaluate the accumulation level of copper, zinc and nickel in forest mushrooms – Bay Bolete (Xerocomus badius), Saffron Milk Cap (Lactarius deliciosus), Rough-Stemmed Bolete (Leccinum scabrum), Slippery Jack (Suillus luteus) and Parasol Mushroom (Macrolepiota procera). The analysed mushrooms were obtained from growth forests located in the Masovian Voivodeship in the following counties: Siedlce, Sokołów, Łosice and Łuków. Total content of metals was determined using the method of atomic emission spectroscopy with inductively coupled plasma, after the earlier mineralisation of materials ‘by dry combustion’ in a muffle furnace at the temperature of 450°C, and after melting of ash in a 10% solution of HCl. In the soil samples taken from the places where the tested mushrooms occur, pH in 1 mol KCl·dm-3 and total content of copper, zinc and nickel were determined by the ICP-AES method after earlier mineralization in mixture of concentration HCl and HNO3 (3:1) in a microwave system. Test results were statistically analysed with the use of software STATISTICA 12 PL (STATSOFT, TULSA, USA). The analysed mushrooms had diverse content of the determined metals. The highest total average content of copper and zinc was present in Bay Bolete: 34.83 mg ∙ kg-1d.m. for Cu and 155.50 mg ∙ kg-1d.m. for Zn, and the highest average content of nickel was contained in Rough-Stemmed Bolete – 2.98 mg ∙ kg-1d.m.. The lowest average content of copper and zinc was determined in Rough-Stemmed Bolete: 11.98 mg ∙ kg-1d.m. for Cu and 91.90 mg ∙ kg-1d.m. for Zn, and lowest total average content of nickel was present in Bay Bolete – 1.05 mg ∙ kg-1d.m.

No excessive accumulation of examined heavy metals was stated in the analysed mushrooms species.

The article focuses on the presentation of database “Protected areas in Poland,” complete with information resources and available options for data collecting, storing, sharing, and searching. Possibilities for using the database as a tool for ecological education of young people were presented. Utility of the database was discussed as a comprehensive source of information for other social groups and representatives of professions that deal with environmental resources and their management.

The paper presents the results of research on the content of mercury in snow samples with the use of isotachophoresis. Snow samples were collected in December 2017 as well as in January and February 2018. Samples were collected in Siedlce in places where the individual heating of houses, mainly by hard coal, was visible. The highest mean content of mercury amounting to 0.36 μg/dm³ of water was determined in the snow samples collected in January 2018 in the Żwirowa housing development, and the lowest – 0.25 μg/dm³ in two housing developments: Nowe Siedlce and Topolowa, also collected in January. The snow samples collected in the Żwirowa housing development were characterised by the highest contamination with mercury compared to all the other samples collected for the analysis. The research is a continuation of pollution monitoring in the town of Siedlce in connection with the European Union recommendations on environmental protection and the ‘clean air’ programme implemented in Poland.