ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Grass Communities of Mid-Field Waterless
Depressions in Wełtyń Plain, Poland
R. Gamrat
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Department of Protection and Environmental Management, West Pomeranian University of Technology,
Słowackiego 17, 71-434 Szczecin, Poland
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2009;18(4):593-597
KEYWORDS
ABSTRACT
Mid-field waterless depressions are some of the most common and important elements of the agricultural
landscape on the Wełtyń Plain (NW Poland). In 1995–2000, in the northern part of the plain, research
was conducted in 68 small, mid-field depressions with the water table below the soil surface. The aims of this
study were: (1) to determine the floristic and phytosociological characteristics of this area, (2) to assess site
moisture content on the basis of species composition, (3) to identify major environmental threats, and (4) to
evaluate environmental diversity. The 10 recorded grass communities included mostly meadow and marsh
vegetation, while nitrophilous and shrub communities were sporadic. The most humid of the studied depressions
were covered by marsh communities, and their flora was the most valuable. The major threat to
hydrophilous grass communities was their devastation.