Biodiv. Res. Conserv. 41: 35-50, 2016 BRC www.brc.amu.edu.pl DOI 10.1515/biorc-2016-0005 Submitted 31.08.2015, Accepted 08.03.2016 Vegetation differentiation and secondary succession on abandoned agricultural large-areas in south-eastern Poland Beata Barabasz-Krasny Department of Botany, Institute of Biology, Pedagogical University, Podchorążych 2, 30-084 Kraków, Poland, e-mail:
[email protected] Abstract: In Poland, the largest stretches of abandoned agricultural areas were formed at the end of the 1980s, along western and eastern borders, among others, in Przemyśl Foothills (Pogórze Przemyskie). Therefore, the research on the diversity of plant communities from abandoned agricultural areas as well as main directions and the rate of succession after the cessation of management was undertaken in the vicinity of twelve municipalities in south-eastern Poland. This research revealed that the dominating direction of changes of the abandoned agricultural area vegetation was vanishing of plant groups with segetal and meadow species and spreading of shrub communities. A general increase in the forestation rate of the researched abandoned agricultural areas from 10-40% of the area in 1970-1971 to about 30-70% in 2003-2004 may be the evidence of the occurrence intensity of those phenomena. Key words: cessation of management, environmental conditions, fallows, fields, meadows, pastures, succession 1. Introduction environmental factors that affect vegetation succession processes (Kołos 1991; Kornaś & Dubiel 1990, 1991; At the beginning of 1970s, the largest number of Kotańska 1993a, 1993b; Barabasz 1997; Baryła & State Agricultural Farms (Polish: Państwowe Gospo- Urban 1999). However, research into the succession darstwo Rolne – PGR) operated in south-eastern Poland.