Although conservation of percolation mires is very important for the European biodiversity, our understanding of their functioning is still insufficient, as most of the studied sites are to some extent degraded. We present a study on the relationship between vegetation patterns, hydrochemical gradients and water level fluctuations carried out in the Rospuda valley (NE Poland), which was recently discovered for science as a uniquely preserved fully functioning percolation mire. Vegetation composition, mire water chemistry and water level dynamics were studied along five transects perpendicular to the valley. Eight major vegetation types were identified: brown moss-small and slender sedge fens, Sphagnum-small sedge fens, brown moss-tall sedge fens, tall sedge-reed fens, pine-birch fen woodlands and shrublands, spruce fen woodlands, inundated alder woodlands, alder spring fen woodlands. The seasonal dynamics of water table was revealed as the major factor explaining vegetation patterns. The studied chemical parameters were relatively homogeneous in the whole mire—there is a rather uniform type of mineral-rich nutrient-poor subsurface water all across the fen.

The aim of this study was to determine and compare the floristic value of kurgans distributed over an area of approximately 32,100 km² spreading in four climatic-vegetation zones (steppes and forest steppe) in southern Ukraine. Among the 450 kurgans visited during the growing seasons 2004–2010, 106 best preserved kurgans were investigated. Of 721 species identified, 69 were sozophytes (species of special concern), threatened with extinction. They were usually recorded on the slopes of kurgans and were mostly associated with communities from the classes Festuco-Brometea and Festucetea vaginatae. The distributional patterns of the most frequent sozophytes within kurgans coming from four different climatic-vegetation zones were analyzed. Our study confirmed that kurgans could play a role as refugia of the steppe flora. However, the spatial isolation (about 82–90% of the Ukrainian steppe was turned in agricultural land) and relatively small populations of sozophytes do not contribute to their survival. Other threats to kurgan flora include the following: a direct destruction of the kurgans by frequent fires, excessive grazing, cultivation practices, human activities, e.g. archeological excavations, or illegal activities of archeological looters. The active conservation of kurgans as archeological sites, as well as areas of high floristic value is recommended.

Large-scale re-establishment of wetland buffer zones (WBZ) along rivers is regarded as an effective measure in order to reduce non-point source nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) pollution in agricultural catchments. We estimated efficiency and costs of a hypothetical establishment of WBZs along all watercourses in an agricultural landscape of the lower Narew River catchment (north-eastern Poland, 16,444 km², amounting to 5% of Poland) by upscaling results obtained in five sub-catchments (1087 km²). Two scenarios were analysed, with either rewetting selected wetland polygons that collect water from larger areas (polygonal WBZs) or reshaping and rewetting banks of rivers (linear WBZs), both considered in all ecologically suitable locations along rivers. Cost calculation included engineering works necessary in order to establish WBZs, costs of land purchase where relevant, and compensation costs of income forgone to farmers (needed only for polygonal WBZs). Polygonal WBZs were estimated in order to remove 11%–30% N and 14%–42% P load from the catchment, whereas linear WBZs were even higher with 33%–82% N and 41%–87% P. Upscaled costs of WBZ establishment for the study area were found to be 8.9 M EUR plus 26.4 M EUR per year (polygonal WBZ scenario) or 170.8 M EUR (linear WBZ scenario). The latter value compares to costs of building about 20 km of an express road. Implementation of buffer zones on a larger scale is thus a question of setting policy priorities rather than financial impossibility.

Fertiliser use in agriculture increases the non-point pollution of waters with nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P). Wetland buffer zones (WBZs) are wetland ecosystems between agricultural lands and water bodies that protect surface waters from non-point source pollution. We assessed how vegetation harvesting within WBZs impacts their N and P removal efficiency, nutrient uptake by plants and their biomass quality. We surveyed vegetation of a spontaneously rewetted fen along a small river in Poland, and analysed plant biomass, its nutrient contents and nutrient-leaching potential and the water chemistry. Total N removal reached 34–92% and total P removal 17–63%. N removal was positively related to the initial N concentration, regardless of mowing status. We found a high N removal efficiency (92%) in the harvested site. Vegetation of mown sites differed from that of unmown sites by a higher water-leached carbon and P contents in the biomass. We found that vegetation harvesting may stimulate the overall N removal, but may increase potential biomass decomposability, which eases the recycling of plant-incorporated nutrients back to WBZ. Thus, mowing should always be followed by the removal of biomass. Neglecting already mown WBZs may temporarily lower their nutrient removal efficiency due to potentially faster decomposition of plant biomass.