Stanisław Batys Gorski’s botanical research in the Białowieża Primeval Forest during the 1820s

Abstract

The first scientific description of the flora of the Białowieża Primeval Forest (Puszcza Białowieska) was published in 1829 in Stanisław Batys Gorski’s paper “O roślinach żubrom upodobanych, jakoteż innych w puszczy Białowiezkiey [About preferred plants of the European bison and other plants from the Białowieża Primeval Forest]”. This publication comprised the first critical evaluation of the plant species present in the forest based on several field surveys during 1822, 1823 and 1826 by Gorski, and it dismissed the popular hypothesis that the European bison ( Bison bonasus) survived there because some of its preferred forage plants were exclusively found in the forest. To assess the importance of Gorski’s contribution to studies on the flora of the Białowieża Primeval Forest, we critically evaluated all his materials on the topic, including manuscripts, plant specimens collected by Gorski now preserved in Vilnius University Herbarium and his published works, and also traced all mentions and references to Gorski’s studies in later botanical works devoted to the Białowieża Primeval Forest.