Abstract
The Łęczna-Włodawa Lake District is one of the most valuable natural regions in Europe. It is an area of numerous lakes, peat bogs, swamps and forests, which has been undergoing intensive transformation for decades. Among the largest projects were the creation of the Wieprz Krzna Canal system along with the drainage system and the transformation of natural lakes into retention reservoirs. Among the transformed lakes is Lake Wytyckie. The land was used for analyses near the lake, and floristic and habitat analyses were carried out within the boundaries of the contemporary embankment. The studies were carried out from the 1950s, when the lake functioned as a natural reservoir, through to the 1980s (the transformation of the lake), to the 2020s. Lake Wytyckie was transformed into a retention reservoir by increasing its size and flooding the areas inhabited mainly by peat bog, meadow and forest vegetation, which contributed to the impoverishment of both species and habitat diversity of the area, while it increased the nutrient richness of the water. This was reflected both in the decline in the value of individual diversity indices as well as in the ecological index numbers. In the first period of the research, the area was dominated by wetlands, not drained, with a large variety of species that preferred good lighting conditions. Additionally, the habitat was characterized by low reaction, temperature and trophic values. In the following period, there was an increase in the depth of the water of the reservoir, characterized by high water visibility values, which contributed to the presence of protected species, as did the low moisture content of the areas within the embankment and a neutral pH. The factors currently influencing the formation of the vegetation structure are the high humidity of the entire embankment area, the increase in pH, and the significant increase in the share of built-up areas in the immediate vicinity.
Highlights
Vegetation is the most visible element of the environment, reflecting the variety of geological, geomorphological, hydrological and soil conditions that influence the richness of habitats
Wetlands cover a wide range of different types of ecosystems distinguished by hydrological and biological features: peat bogs, marshes, shallow lakes, mangroves and salt marshes
Among the six lakes included in the Wieprz Krzna Canal system (WKC) system, there was Lake Wytyckie located in a depression between Krowie Bagno in the east and a chalk hill in the west, a retention reservoir in the Wieprz-Krzna canal system
Summary
Vegetation is the most visible element of the environment, reflecting the variety of geological, geomorphological, hydrological and soil conditions that influence the richness of habitats. There are places where low-intensity agriculture takes place in wetlands, under an extensive use regime without fertilizers and pesticides; the diversity of the wetlands can be large, the species composition and setting differ significantly from its original state. This ‘secondary biodiversity’ is often worth protecting as it includes many rare and characteristic species. Many parts of the world have wetlands where low-intensity agriculture is combined with non-food ecosystem services, including biodiversity and flood containment [12]. These studies will allow assessment of the impact of these activities on the phytocenotic diversity and habitat variability of the area subjected to intense anthropopressure and will allow indication of directions of further evolution
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