"Save wetlands" Association  
 

The protection of the "Kalinowa Ł±ka" reserve in the Bemowski Forest



Natural values, threats and assessment of active protection measures taken in the Warsaw reserve "Kalinowa Ł±ka"

The Kazimierz Łapczyński "Kalinowa Ł±ka" reserve is one of the many reserves within the borders of Warsaw and one of the two (together with "Łosiowe Błota") in the Bemowski Forest. It is a wet forest
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Gentiana pneumonanthe
fot. P. Pawlikowski
meadow with a big colony of water elder Viburnum opulus and such rare in Warsaw and legally protected plants as globe flower Trollius europaeus, gladiolus Gladiolus imbricatus, superb pink Dianthus superbus, marsh orchid Dactylorhiza majalis. The main aim of the reserve is to protect the sites of those plants. It is made difficult by natural succession, which used to be prevented by the low - intensity management of meadows, recently given up. (...)
The osier-bed Salicetum pentandro-cinereae, which has come into being within over 11 years is a transitional stage between the fen and alder forest. Alder forest communities are frequent in the Bemowski Forest, so one can presume that if not for the long - lasting low - intensity management of this land as hay meadows, the fen would have become transformed into an alder forest. To preserve rare meadow species requires stemming natural succession by means of active protection.
The most aggressive and fast-spreading species here is reed Phragmites australis. The considerably large area it already occupies in the western part of the reserve has been increasing fast, posing a threat not only to the centrally - located sedge - bed, but also to the other precious places situated at the southern edge covered with photophilous vegetation. To halt this overgrowth of reed it is usually recommended that meadows are mown in late summer/early autumn (beginning of September) and at the time reed inflorescence is formed (June). (...)

Paulina Dzierża



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