Vegetation succession and soil development in an area transformed by human impact – reclaimed ash landfills

Abstract

Areas affected by intensive human activity are often characterized by a great degree of naturalenvironment degradation. Every component of the environment undergoes remodeling. The complete destruction of primary vegetation and soil cover as a result of human activity leading to disturbances in the functioning a whole ecosystem is to be seen in southern Poland. Geobotanical- and ecological investigations pertinent to ecological restoration were undertaken. The results show the diversity of vegetation to be linked directly to a mosaic of habitats and micro-habitats and reveal the wide ecological requirement of species in an extreme environment. Geobotanical analysis documents species belonging to taxons in different syntaxonomical groups. The soil has an anthropogenic genesis and the parent rock consists of power-plant ash. The variety of successions reflects relief and the granulometric composition of the parent medium. The rate of vegetation development was conditioned by the properties of the soil.