Lukasz K
20 Jan 2008 / #31
Thamk you fr your opinion.
I think that the other fact that is worth mentioning is that Poland has a very little raifall which also affects horticulture. At average it is 600 mm per year but in most of the lowland part of the country it is at 500 mm and in neiberhoods of Poznan and Warsaw even lower. Only in the north-west the rainfall is about 700 m, and in the moutains it reaches 1000 mm.
I have seen that a part of the discussion was also about Polish forests.
Poland is unfortunately third less afforestated country in EU after Ireland and GB. Forests cover about 27% of the country, an as you recogniosed they are rather plantations of scots pine of the same age than real forests.
Originally the kind of forests that are potential vegatation in the most of the country (excluding moutains and north-wesern lakelands) on the fertile clay soils are broadleaf oak-hornbeam forests. In the north-east spruce is also a presernt in those forests. But from the early middle ages they were mostly cut down to create fields (even name Polska kame from the word "pole"=filed). Only very small pathes of these forests survived, biggest in Bialowieża forest on the eastern border (about 70 km from Białystok). Scots pine forests and mixed oak-pine forests were also natural forest types on poor acid sandy soils and thus only those areas were not turned into fields this type of forests dominate nowdays.
In the north-west lakelands in more humid climate bleech forests dominate and near the coast there are some forests that are more atlantic-like so oak-birch but wihout such plants as holly.
In the moutains also bleech forests dominate (in Carpathians are and in Sudety they should but they were replaced by Germans with spruce plantations that are now dying out) and they are mostly mixed stands with fir (which has in Poland northern limit so you can find it only in the south). Onl in very high moutains (above 1 200 m above sea level) we have natural spruce forests.
In Poland you can find also small areas of steppe-like termophilous oak forests, alder forests, willow and poplar forests by the rivers bogs and marches.
It was a briefly written characteristic but I hope it was useful.
Lukasz
I think that the other fact that is worth mentioning is that Poland has a very little raifall which also affects horticulture. At average it is 600 mm per year but in most of the lowland part of the country it is at 500 mm and in neiberhoods of Poznan and Warsaw even lower. Only in the north-west the rainfall is about 700 m, and in the moutains it reaches 1000 mm.
I have seen that a part of the discussion was also about Polish forests.
Poland is unfortunately third less afforestated country in EU after Ireland and GB. Forests cover about 27% of the country, an as you recogniosed they are rather plantations of scots pine of the same age than real forests.
Originally the kind of forests that are potential vegatation in the most of the country (excluding moutains and north-wesern lakelands) on the fertile clay soils are broadleaf oak-hornbeam forests. In the north-east spruce is also a presernt in those forests. But from the early middle ages they were mostly cut down to create fields (even name Polska kame from the word "pole"=filed). Only very small pathes of these forests survived, biggest in Bialowieża forest on the eastern border (about 70 km from Białystok). Scots pine forests and mixed oak-pine forests were also natural forest types on poor acid sandy soils and thus only those areas were not turned into fields this type of forests dominate nowdays.
In the north-west lakelands in more humid climate bleech forests dominate and near the coast there are some forests that are more atlantic-like so oak-birch but wihout such plants as holly.
In the moutains also bleech forests dominate (in Carpathians are and in Sudety they should but they were replaced by Germans with spruce plantations that are now dying out) and they are mostly mixed stands with fir (which has in Poland northern limit so you can find it only in the south). Onl in very high moutains (above 1 200 m above sea level) we have natural spruce forests.
In Poland you can find also small areas of steppe-like termophilous oak forests, alder forests, willow and poplar forests by the rivers bogs and marches.
It was a briefly written characteristic but I hope it was useful.
Lukasz