Vascular flora of urban forests in a medium-sized city in Poland: comparison with nature reserves in the city’s surrounding

ABSTRACT

Urban forests are basic elements in the ecological structure of cities. The dendroflora and herb species of oak-hornbeam forests in a medium-sized city type was studied and compared with nature reserves located outside the city, based on phytosociological analysis using the Braun-Blanquet percentage-of-cover scale. More inconsistent trees and shrubs occurred in the urban forests and some tree species showed poor renewal. The herb plant species have become more frequent in nature reserves, but we were not able to detect significant differences regarding species inconsistent with the habitat. Herb plants in urban forests preferred more light and fertile habitats. Myrmecochory was the most common seed dispersal. Nowadays, the conservation of urban biota is of great importance and more sustainable approaches towards management of nature are needed. To implement such approaches, results of studies focused on ecology of urban forests may serve as an important tool.

KEYWORDS:

• Plant species
• urban forests
• anthropogenic impact
• medium-sized city
• Poland

Acknowledgments

We thank Prof. Czesław Wysocki for valuable methodical remarks, Chris Petersen for improving the English and three anonymous reviewers for very helpful comments on an earlier version of the manuscript. This paper is communication no. 529 in the tradition of the Laboratory of Evaluation and Assessment of Natural Resources, Warsaw University of Life Sciences – SGGW.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Beata Fornal-Pieniak

Beata Fornal-Pieniak is a landscape architect and works in the Department of Environmental Protection and Dendrology of the Warsaw University of Life Sciences – SGGW (Poland). She specialises in urban and rural landscape analyses and ecology, biodiversity, and vegetation in manor parks, and urban forests, targeted towards landscape evaluation and management as well as recreation in protected areas in Poland. Her most recent publications are about diversity of vegetation in urban forests and landscape evaluation.

Marcin Ollik

Marcin Ollik is an ecologist working in the Department of Biometry, Institute of Agronomy, of the Warsaw University of Life Sciences – SGGW (Poland). He teaches statistics and computer science for students of agriculture, biology and environmental engineering. His research activity covers the application of statistics in ecology and agriculture, biodiversity, landscape diversity, agricultural landscape as well as farming systems.

Axel Schwerk

Axel Schwerk is currently a Professor at the Department of Landscape Art of the Warsaw University of Life Sciences – SGGW (Poland). He has a background as an ecologist with an interest in population dynamics and landscape ecology, especially regarding degraded areas and the ecology of ground beetles. His most recent publications deal with the ecology of urban forests and the potential of ground beetles and selected bird species to be indicators of human-induced changes in ecosystems and landscapes.