Using remote sensing materials to assess the effects of peat extraction on the morphology and vegetation cover of a raised bog (Ludźmierz near Nowy Targ, Southern Poland)

Abstract

The Orawa - Nowy Targ Basin is one of only a few areas in the Polish Carpathians with high relative cover of peatlands (12 %). This fraction is declining progressively due to several centuries of peat exploitation for fuel, gardening and balneology. The peatland at Ludźmierz near Nowy Targ is regionally important for its high biodiversity but has been scarred by historical and contemporary peat extraction. The current area and fragmentation of peat domes on Ludźmierz Bog were assessed, along with the characteristics and condition of the vegetation. Also, topographical changes across areas of peat extraction were analysed using a combination of remote sensing and field study methods in order to identify the locations of modern peat extraction and natural mass movements. The condition of the raised bog and changes in its boundaries were thus deduced, paying attention to the bog’s exceptional environmental and landscape values. The area covered by the bog is currently 39 ha and it is divided into three separate domes which are drained by a network of ditches and through discontinuities of the water table at peat extraction areas. The vegetation on extraction areas currently has a higher biomass growth rate than the plant cover on the domes, and is in better condition on the basis of NDVI assessment.

Keywords

• human impact
• ludźmierz bog
• ndvi
• plant cover
• western carpathians