REGIONAL BIODIVERSITY OF PLANT CROPS IN POLISH AGRICULTURE CHANGES DURING EU MEMBERSHIP

Abstract

The aim of the research was to assess regional changes in the biodiversity of the plant crops on farms. The subject of the study was the structure of crops and groups of crops consisting of 16 species. The spatial scope of the study is Poland in the system of 16 voivodeships, while the time range is the years 2004-2021. The basic method was the Shannon-Wiener index, which was calculated for individual years and regions. In addition, Pearsons linear correlation coefficient was used to identify the relationship between the level of biodiversity and selected agricultural characteristics; and linear regression to determine the trend. The results were presented using choropleth maps and line charts. It was shown that during the period of membership in the EU the evenness of the analyzed structure was characterized by relatively small changes. The regional analysis made it possible to divide Poland into the north-western-central part, where the structure of crops over the years under study became more and more even (d Voivodeship is the clear leader) and the south-eastern part, where the differences between individual crops/groups of crops became more and more even are getting bigger (in this case, this applies in particular to the Maopolskie and Podkarpackie voivodeships). A positive relationship was found between the diversity of the structure of crops and groups of crops and the level of global agricultural production, which indicates that biodiversity can create high-performance agriculture, which is the food base of the country.