Accelerated peatland disappearance in the vicinity of the Konin brown coal strip mine

Abstract

In the Powidzki Landscape Park, there are 150 peatlands of a total area of 1,250.2 ha. On its edge, brown coal strip mines are in operation, causing deep land drainage that resulted in a drastic (up to 5 m) lowering of the water table in lakes and accelerated peatland disappearance. To determine the extent of the process, a comparison was made of the types of surface soil layers and their ash content in 20 peatlands determined in 1957–1965 and in 2017. They are located in the farmland lying the closest to the strip mine, Jóźwin IIB, and in woodland lying further away. The results were compared with those for a peatland in Skulsk, which was not affected by the negative impact of the strip mine. Fen peat, occurring there about 55 years ago has largely turned into grainy moorsh. In the 20–50 cm layer, an ash content has grown almost twofold, while in part of the peatlands organic soils have changed into mineral and organic-mineral ones. The greatest changes have occurred in the farmland. In all Park peatlands, grasslands have contracted threefold, while the area of forests and woodlands has grown fivefold. Today, about 10% of the peatland area is taken up by arable land of which there was none before.

Keywords

• brown coal mining
• lakes degradation
• landscape park
• peatland utilization change
• peatlands disappearance