M. Ryczek’s research while affiliated with University of Agriculture in Krakow and other places

Water erosion intensity, measured on the basis of clastic rock material loss from soil, is related to land use. Spatial data using geoinformatics tools to the highest degree are suitable for showing the variability of surface runoff and the influence of ground roughness for hydrologic soil groups. Redundancy analysis showed that physico-water parameters (curve number, pF, effective precipitation, and maximum potential basin retention) and rain erosion activity had an influence on material undergoing water erosion, and consequently on delivery of weathering products from flysch slopes to stream channels. The results, concerning the influence of the soil resistance parameter on penetration and taking into account land use, which intensifies susceptibility of soil to surface runoff, can provide a basis for spatial modeling of actual soil erosion. These results can be useful for estimation of the processes determining the quantity of eroded material. Depending on the amount of soil deposited from each unit of the basin area, it can be possible to determine appropriate engineering counteractive measures to prevent erosion activity in a mountain area. Surface wash and land use must be taken into consideration in projects to protect and monitor threatened mountain streams

After peat extraction cut-over surface usually consists of moderately to highly humified peat which undergoes secondary transformation due to severely disturbed water conditions. The study was carried out within a mountain bog (Polish Carpathian) located in Orava-Nowy Targ Basin, southern Poland. The objectives of the study was to determine physical, hydrophysical and chemical properties of the upper layer of soil on two post-extracted areas of different age and to identify correlations between hydrophysical parameters and re-vegetation pattern. Vegetation was analysed in two groups: bog forming (Sphagnum, others) and non-bog forming (true mosses, trees, others). Secondary transformation of peat was quantitatively described by water-holding capacity index W1. It correlated with thickness of residual peat and a range of properties of cut-over peat (e.g. porosity, bulk density, soil moisture content, ash content). The Principal Component Analysis (PCA) demonstrated the key importance of water table depth, residual peat thickness and hydrophysical conditions of the cut-over peat, especially water-holding capacity index W1, soil moisture content and macropore volume on re-vegetation by typical bog species. Correlation of W1 index with soil properties and Sphagnum occurrence indicates that it can be a useful indicator in evaluation of secondary transformation of cut-over bogs and therefore the potential for spontaneous regeneration of typical bog vegetation.

If peatland is left without any restoration treatments after mechanical peat extraction ceases, the process of secondary transformation of peat continues. The resulting changes in peat properties severely impede the recovery of vegetation on cutover peatland. The aim of this study was to assess how secondary transformation of peat affects spontaneous revegetation, and the relative importance of different factors in controlling the re-establishment of raised bog species on previously cutover peat surfaces. The study was conducted on two sectors of a raised bog in southern Poland where peat extraction ended either 20 or 30 years ago. Where the residual peat layer was thin (~ 40 cm or less) and the water table often dropped into the mineral substratum, the development of vascular plants (including trees) was favoured, and this further promoted the secondary transformation of peat. In such locations the vegetation tended towards a pine and birch community. Revegetation by Sphagnum and other raised bog species (Eriophorum vaginatum, Vaccinium uliginosum, Ledum palustre, Oxycoccus palustris) was associated with thicker residual peat and higher water table level which, in turn, were strongly correlated with hydrophysical properties of the soil. A species-environmental factor redundancy analysis (RDA) showed that any single factor (of those considered) was not important in determining the revegetation pattern, because of their intercorrelations. However, water table level appeared to be the most important abiotic factor in determining the degree of soil aeration and, consequently, the stage of secondary transformation attained by the peat.