Between Pocket Forest Wilderness and Restored Rural Arcadia: Optimizing the Use of a Feral Woodland Enclave in Urban Environment

Andrzej Bobiec,Agata Gajdek,Maria Ziaja,Tomasz Wójcik,Agata Ćwik

doi:10.3390/f12091173

Abstract

An eight-hectare forest reserve in the centre of the metropolitan area in SE Poland was investigated for the effects of its management in relation to its purpose—protection of old Quercus robur L. trees. This local issue corresponds to a wider debate on the role of urban forests in contemporary societies. The study embraced (1) oak stand history—stand mapping and dendrochronology, historical maps’ analysis; (2) vegetation trends—undergrowth and ground layer analysis; and (3) visitors’ opinions on the reserve’s use—interview. The dendroecological analysis corroborates the landscape’s history emerging from the 1700s–1900s maps. The reserve is a feral park established in the early 1900s on the abandoned agricultural, partly wooded landscape. Under the current regime, shade-tolerant trees continue gaining advantage over older oaks, preventing their regeneration, whilst the herb layer, due to the reserve’s isolation remains poor and polluted by alien species. The non-intervention approach does not allow the reserve’s objective to be met. We recommend the restoration of features of semi-open silvopastoral landscape. This would correspond with both local eco-history and the dominating preference of the interviewed visitors. Such “bio-cultural refugia” should become key knowledge centres of the natural, cultural, and economic importance of the “working rural landscape”, fostering urban care for the countryside.

Highlights

With the world-wide growth of urban population [1], there is an increasing interest of societies in urban forests [2,3]
Due to the specific characteristics of the urban environment, urban forests are expected to mitigate the environmental downsides of urban life
Emphasized that historic woodlands of Europe substantially differed from the contemporary woodlands—whether economically used or preserved in nature reserves

Summary

Introduction

With the world-wide growth of urban population [1], there is an increasing interest of societies in urban forests [2,3]. Most of the British woods, being integral parts of larger agricultural (agri-silvopastoral) landscapes, were either regularly grazed by livestock or managed as coppice woods (often with standards). Many ancient woodlands, such as Windsor in England or Le Bois de Boulogne in France have a very long history of recreational use. A very important woodland category was “deer parks”, vast, partly wooded, fenced areas sustaining dense game populations [5]

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion