Tomasz Gnatowski

Petroleum contamination significantly impacts soil microbial communities and vegetation; however, the long-term effectiveness of phytoremediation remains poorly understood. This study evaluated soil microbiological activity, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) concentrations, and physiological responses five years after the remediation of a petroleum spill site in central Poland. Following a pipeline failure in June 2020 that released diesel fuel and gasoline into the riparian habitat, the contaminated area underwent remediation using Urtica dioica L. as the primary phytoremediator. Soil samples from five plots along a contamination gradient were analyzed for microbial abundance (total bacteria, fungi, fluorescent Pseudomonas sp.), PAH fractions (C6–C12, C13–C16, C17–C35), and physicochemical properties. Chlorophyll fluorescence (JIP test) on two species was used to assess plant photosynthetic efficiency. Results revealed that successful PAH degradation required high fungal abundance rather than optimal soil fertility. Plots with 8–9-fold higher fungal populations achieved 69–81% reduction in heavy PAHs (C17–C35), while the Control plot, despite superior physicochemical properties, maintained high contamination due to low fungal colonization. Urtica dioica exhibited exceptional tolerance (stable maximum quantum yield of PSII (Fv/Fm) and elevated photosynthetic performance index (PIabs)) across all contamination levels, whereas Poa trivialis L. showed significant stress responses. The principal component analysis confirmed that soil texture influences fungal establishment, with sandy soils favoring aerobic degradation despite lower nutrient retention. These findings demonstrate that phytoremediation success depends critically on fungal-mediated biodegradation rather than baseline soil quality alone.

Znajomość właściwości hydraulicznych gleby jest niezbędna do opisu i prognozowania procesów transportu wody i substancji rozpuszczonych w glebie. Celem pracy było określenie funkcji przewodności hydraulicznej oraz retencyjności wodnej dla różnych warstw gleby zaklasyfikowanej w Systematyce gleb Polski (2019) jako opadowo-glejowa typowa (odwodniona), a w ramach klasyfikacji WRB (2022) jako Mollic Gleysol, metodą ewaporacyjną. Pomiary właściwości retencyjnych i hydraulicznych wykonano dla czterech charakterystycznych warstw profilu glebowego położonego na Równinie Sępopolskiej w okolicach Lidzbarka Warmińskiego. Na podstawie danych uzyskanych w trakcie pomiaru wyznaczono krzywe retencyjności wodnej oraz przewodnictwa hydraulicznego w stanie niepełnego nasycenia. Parametry funkcji van Genuchtena i van Genuchtena-Mualema wyznaczono za pomocą programu Microsoft Excel. Wiązało się to z jednoczesną optymalizacją parametrów dotyczących właściwości retencyjnych (θr, α, n) i przewodności hydraulicznej (α, n, Ks i L). Opracowane na podstawie pomiaru metodą ewaporacyjną parametry równania van Genuchtena prawidłowo opisują pomierzone krzywe retencyjności wodnej gleby. Zoptymalizowane charakterystyki przewodnictwa hydraulicznego również wykazują efektywność równania van Genuchtena-Mualema w opisywaniu nienasyconej przewodności wodnej. Przedstawiona metodyka jest odpowiednia do określania parametrów funkcji van Genuchtena i van Genuchtena-Mualema do matematycznego modelowania transportu wody i substancji rozpuszczonych w glebach ciężkich i bardzo ciężkich (Mollic Gleysols).

One of the most controversial issues concerning wind turbines and photovoltaic farms is their negative impact on bird populations. The basic problem is the cumulative effect whereby birds, attracted by the water-like appearance of photovoltaic panels, may collide with the rotating blades of wind turbines. The paper analysed bird populations during four periods of their activity. The density of bird species of high, medium and low collision risk (HCR, MCR, LCR) at six photovoltaic farms was determined, including buffers of 200 and 1,000 metres from the installations. The results show that the structure of the avifauna occurring within and in the immediate vicinity of photovoltaic farms is variable and depends on both the nature of the specific installation and the phenological period. No bird mortality was observed during the 2-year study period. However, the potential expansion of photovoltaic farms to include wind farms may have the effect of increasing collision hazards, particularly during spring and autumn migration periods, as significantly higher densities of HCR birds were found during these times than during other periods. The study also indicated that LCR birds were abundant during the breeding period and post-breeding dispersion. They were significantly more densely distributed within a buffer of 200 m than 1,000 m from the installation. This confirms the attractiveness of photovoltaic farms for this group of birds, which may influence the possibility of not only cumulative impacts, but also synergistic impacts when photovoltaic farms are extended with wind farms.

Significant efforts have been made to develop environmentally friendly remediation methods to restore petroleum-damaged ecosystems. One such approach is cultivating plant species that exhibit high resistance to contamination. This study aimed to assess the impact of petroleum-derived soil pollutants on the photosynthetic performance of selected plant species used in green infrastructure development. A pot experiment was conducted using both contaminated and uncontaminated soils to grow six plant species under controlled conditions. Biometric parameters and chlorophyll a fluorescence measurements were taken, followed by statistical analyses to compare plant responses under stress and control conditions. This study is the first to simultaneously analyze PF, DF, and MR₈₂₀ signals in plant species exposed to petroleum contamination stress. The results demonstrated that petroleum exposure reduced the activity of both PSII and PSI, likely due to increased nonradiative energy dissipation in PSII antenna chlorophylls, decreased antenna size, and/or damage to the photosynthetic apparatus. Additionally, petroleum contamination affected the electron transport chain efficiency, limiting electron flow between PSII and PSI. The most resistant species to petroleum-induced stress were Lolium perenne, Poa pratensis, and Trifolium repens.

Peatlands play an essential role in the environment and their conservation requires knowledge of water-related processes. Their hydrophobicity is an important factor influencing the flow of water in soils. Drainage of fens and adapting them for agricultural production have contributed to the degradation of peat soils. The main goal of this study was to evaluate the effect of vegetation cover (meadows, alder swamp and birch forest) of drained peat soils on the persistence of their water repellency as a function of their moisture content. Soil samples (Rheic Fibric Histosol and Rheic Murshic Hemic Histosol) were collected from four sites in the Biebrza Wetlands (Poland). The sites include extensive meadows, intensive meadows, alder swamp forest, and secondary birch forest. The study used the Water Drop Penetration Time (WDPT) to assess the persistence of soil water repellency during the drying of soil samples in laboratory conditions. The study proposed a three-straight lines model to describe the relationship between WDPT and soil moisture content. Results revealed that the peat soils in intensive meadows showed the highest WDPT, followed by the secondary birch and alder swamp forest. and then by semi-natural meadows, which has the lowest WDPT.

Surface soil moisture (SSM) is one of the factors affecting plant growth. Methods involving direct soil moisture measurement in the field or requiring laboratory tests are commonly used. These methods, however, are laborious and time-consuming and often give only point-by-point results. In contrast, SSM can vary across a field due to uneven precipitation, soil variability, etc. An alternative is using satellite data, for example, optical data from Sentinel-2 (S2). The main objective of this study was to assess the accuracy of SSM determination based on S2 data versus standard measurement techniques in three different agricultural areas (with irrigation and drainage systems). In the field, we measured SSM manually using non-destructive techniques. Based on S2 data, we estimated SSM using the optical trapezoid model (OPTRAM) and calculated eighteen vegetation indices. Using the OPTRAM model gave a high SSM estimating accuracy (R² = 0.67, RMSE = 0.06). The use of soil porosity in the OPTRAM model significantly improved the results. Among the vegetation indices, at the NDVI ≤ 0.2, the highest value of R² was obtained for the STR to OPTRAM index, while at the NDVI > 0.2, the shadow index had the highest R² comparable with OPTRAM.

The reintroduction and introduction of native plant species is becoming more and more important in the restoration of plant communities. The study aimed to determine the possibility of predicting the effectiveness of the introduction of dicotyledonous species into impoverished patches of meadows in the landscape nature reserve in the proglacial valley of the Vistula River (Poland). Fourteen species planted into the soil from seedlings, after growing them from seeds in pots, in pure stands were assessed. Field studies were carried out in 2015–2017 on post-bog soil. Parameters of plant development and growth that were analysed included, among others, range, condition and height of shoots (vegetative and generative). Based on the biometric parameters, a statistical analysis (PCA, analysis of variance, decision tree) was performed. It was found that the range, i.e., the spread of the population, did not determine the classification of species into groups with a different nature of development after introduction. This classification was mainly determined by the plant condition in the following years after the introduction (over 3.4 on a 5-point scale), and the occurrence of generative shoots in the second year after planting. The group with the highest potential efficiency of introduction included three species: Achillea millefolium, Hypericum perforatum, Veronica longifolia. The failure of the introduction of other species resulted from their life form (two years old) and unfavourable weather conditions in the third year of study (2017), due to the high level of groundwater.

The aim of the research was to determine the factors defining the growth and development of Lolium perenne and Trifolium repens upon petroleum contamination. The top layer of clay soil contaminated with petroleum products resulting from an oil pipeline failure was collected for the tests. The control was the same type of uncontaminated soil with the addition of, under laboratory conditions, tissue paper. The research was conducted in two stages. The first concerned the germination process and seedlings parameters (Petri dishes). The germination energy ( GE) and the germination capacity ( GC) of seeds were determined. The seedling’s development was also evaluated based on ‘WinRhizo PRO 2009’ software. Then, in the second stage, pot tests were carried out, where the growth and development of species in the first year after sowing were temporarily measured. The parameters studied were the number, height, green and dry masses of the plants. A Gompertz regression model describing seed species germination and number species as time dependent dynamic was applied. The data were analysed statistically using variance analysis (ANOVA) and the PCA (principal component analysis) method. The results of our study indicated that admixture of petroleum into the soil does not seriously affect the development dynamics of Lolium perenne seedlings. The diesel oil contamination mostly affects the germination of the Trifolium repens by a statistically significant increase of the maximum value of germination and increasing the maximum growth rate.

Soil moisture monitoring is crucial for a variety of activities involving soil water regime estimation. Different phenomena such as drought, exhibit impacts of a variable extent in the soil profile, requiring moisture content monitoring as well as reliable analyses of the soil properties. In the village of Solec, located in central Poland, monitoring of the moisture content was attempted for a sandy soil in order to estimate soil moisture distributions for two dry years (2015, 2016) and a wet one (2017). Simple and easily obtainable drought indices, such as dry spells, climatic water balance, groundwater table depth, soil water content and potential were estimated and related with spatiotemporal evolution of soil water conditions. Soil layers subject to drought were found to be different either from a moisture (15–45 cm) or soil water potential (10–25 cm), showing diverse physical properties and relations with the ground water table. The coherence of the analysed drought indices was proven for a light, sandy soil, which has national significance for the state, drought monitoring network. Knowledge obtained during previous studies, which omitted soil water conditions for this type of the soil was supplemented. Based on its own water content, the profile of the analysed soil (Stagnic Folic Gleysols–Arenic) exhibits a negative climatic water balance and requires irrigation practices to mitigate drought effects.

Soil-specific heat capacity (c_p) and volumetric heat capacity (C_v) are recognized as a fundamental soil property essential for the accurate prediction of soil temperature and heat flow. This study presents the analysis of these thermal properties for drained peat soils in Poland. The objectives of this study were to (i) measure and develop a method for determining c_p, (ii) analyze the (C_v) data for undisturbed soil samples from surface layers, and (iii) test the applicability of the c_p value for calculating C_v of drained peat soils using the mixing model concept. The c_p value was measured under laboratory conditions using a modulated differential scanning calorimetry (MDSC) for 18 soil layers sampled in six degraded peat soil profiles. The C_v was estimated for undisturbed triplicate soil samples from the 22 depths (66 samples) by using a dual-needle probe. The c_p data for the organic soils were linearly temperature-dependent (MDSC) for the temperature range considered (−20–30 °C). The overall average c_p value was equal to 1.202 J g⁻¹ K⁻¹ at a temperature of 0 °C. An increment in temperature of 1 °C corresponded to an increase in c_p of 0.0043 J g⁻¹ K⁻¹ on average. Nevertheless, the lowest c_p value was obtained for moss samples whereas the highest value represents alder peats. The C_v data measured using the heat thermal probe (HTP) method changed linearly with changes in the soil moisture content (θ_v) of the moorsh soils. The volumetric heat capacity calculated using the mixing model was comparable to the mean of measured values obtained on the triplicate samples.