The study was performed to determine bioavailable amounts of cadmium, lead, and zinc in soils contaminated through the years of Zn-Pb ore mining and processing near Olkusz, Poland, and to identify the environmental risk (RAC) associated with the occurrence of the most mobile forms of these metals...

Analysis of Agronomic Categories in Different Soil Texture Classification Systems

This study analyzed design depths (t_o), post-subsidence depths (t), shallowing magnitudes (d = t_o − t) and ratio values (d/t) of 12 drainage ditches in a fragment of the drained Solec fen-peat (central Poland) over a period of 47 years between 1967 and 2014. A significant decrease of the designed depth of the ditches t_o was shown, from the average designed value of 0.97 m to their average depth after subsidence, t = 0.71 m. The ratio (d/t) of 0.41, which is associated with the degree of organic matter decomposition, indicated medium degree of peat decomposition. The average values of bank and bottom subsidence of the ditches during the analyzed period, 1967–2014, were 0.43 m and 0.17 m, respectively. The values of the average annual rate of land surface subsidence in the vicinity of the ditches were varied and within the range of 0.09 cm year⁻¹ to 1.70 cm year⁻¹, with an average of 0.92 cm year⁻¹. Two linear empirical equations were proposed to calculate the amount of subsidence and the average annual rate of subsidence of peat soil surface near the drainage ditch route, based on the knowledge of the initial thickness of the peat deposit. The results of calculations using the equations proposed by the authors were compared with calculations of the same parameters using 10 equations published in the literature. The results obtained using the proposed equations were mostly larger than those calculated with literature-published equations.

The study aims to identify and characterise the organisational and economic features of agriculture in Poland in areas (communes) with different saturation of agriculture from High Nature Value farmlands (HNVf areas) with exceptionally high natural value. It is also important to determine whether the potential changes in agriculture in communes with a particularly large share of them do not harm the natural environment and limit the possibility of providing society with public goods. The delimitation of the three scenarios of HNVf areas was designated in the country at the request of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in 2018. HNVf areas of moderate, high, and exceptionally high natural value were designated. To achieve the purpose of the study, data from the Agency for Restructuring and Modernization of Agriculture (ARMA) for 2016 and 2021 and data from the Polish Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) for 2018-2020 was obtained. It was established that in Poland, the share of HNVf areas currently ranges from 12.5 (exceptionally high natural value) to 27.1% (moderate-high nature value) of the total UAA. Compared to other areas, HNVf areas with exceptionally high natural value are characterised by agriculture with a high level of extensive production. Farms from these areas obtain, e.g. lower total costs incurred per 1 ha of UAA, often lower productivity of production factors and lower income per 1 ha of UAA.