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Introduction
TheUpperVistulaValleyisanareaofparticularinterestfromascientific
pointofview.Duetoitsfavourablelocation,arisingoutofthecourseandthe
roleoftheVistulaRiver,thisareawassubjecttosevereandlong-termanthropo-
pressure,whichledtoasignificanttransformationofthenaturalenvironment.
Thedevelopmentofagriculture,theformationoftownsandvillagesandthe
fishfarmingeconomy,whichplayanimportantroleinthehistoryofthere-
gion,havecontributedtoasignificantreductionoftheareathatisoccupiedby
forestcommunities,whichoriginallydominatedthelandscape.Suchlandscape
changeshavenotonlybroughtnegativeeffects.Theincreaseinsurfacewater
bodiesattheexpenseofforestsisnowseenasalmostanaturaladvantagethat
enablesarichnessoftheavifaunatoexistonthepresentterritory,including
manyrareandvaluablespecies.Thisbecamethebasisfortheestablishment
offourSpecialProtectionAreasintheUpperVistulaRiverValleywithinthe
scopeofNatura2000.Incontrast,theremainingforestfragmentsweregrad-
uallysubjectedtofurtherhumanpressure,themostimportantofwhichwere
theinfluencesthatresultedfromforestmanagement.Aninitialqueryofthe
cartographicmaterialsofthisareashowedabroadconvergenceofexisting
complexesandforestislandswiththeirhistoricaldistribution.Thisprovesthat
theybelongtothecategoryofancientwoodlands,includingsomeremnantsof
primevalforestsorthattheyhadbeencreatedbeforeacertaindate(Europe
adoptedadatefromthe18thand19thcenturies)(DZWONKO2007).Anextremely
interestingquestionremains:howstrongwastheinfluenceofhumansonthe
diversityandconservationstatusofforestandthicketcommunitiesthatare
typicalofthevalleysoflargerivers.
Polishresearchershadtakenaninterestinthenaturalnessanddegreeof
thetransformationsofplantcommunitiesfromaroundthesecondhalfofthe
20thcentury.Theoriginsofthislineofresearch,however,datebackmuch
further.Floristicstudies,whicheventuallyjoinedthestudyofsynanthropic
vegetation-segetalandruderal,dominatedinthefirstperiodofresearch.
Thesametransformationsofnaturalcommunities,ofboththeircharacterand
intensity,havedrawntheattentionofgeobotanistsrelativelyrecently(OLACZEK
1972).Thesynanthropisationanddegenerationofforestvegetationwasthe
subjectofinterestofsuchresearchersasFALIŃSkIetal.(1963),FALIŃSkI(1966a,
1966b,1966c,1972,1975),kOSTrOWICkI(1972),OLACZEK(1972,1974a,1974b),