Department of Ecology and Environmental Protection, University of Rzeszów, Poland.
Department of Ecology and Environmental Protection, University of Rzeszów, Poland.
Sci Total Environ. 2022 Apr 1;815:151974. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.151974. Epub 2021 Nov 24.
Urban expansion and the transformation of rural areas into suburban areas along with increasing human pressure can cause major changes in the environment. Typical effects of urbanization include degradation of aquatic ecosystems. However, urban expansion is often accompanied by an effort to provide residents with some contact with nature in the city. Natural waterbodies are the elements of the environment predestined to ensure appropriate conditions for recreation and other ecosystem services key to human well-being. In this study, the changes in the forms of development of a submontane stream catchment area (Carpathians, Poland) against the background of the gradual extension of city boundaries were analysed. In addition, the impact of urbanization on the ecological conditions of the urban stream, and therefore the potential ecosystem to provide ecosystem services, was assessed. Although the extension of the city entailed the development of settlements, it was accompanied by the expansion of the municipal sewage infrastructure, thus improving sewage management. The disappearance of arable lands from the stream catchment due to the decline in agricultural activities initiated the spontaneous process of buffer restoration along the stream. All the biotic indices such as Shannon diversity index, Margalef species richness index and BMWP-PL index, based on macroinvertebrate communities increased, and the fish were more numerous in the late stage of city development compared with the early (rural) stage. Surprisingly, the system has rehabilitated well with no revitalisation actions. It is necessary, however, to improve morphological in-stream conditions, and to make further efforts to improve water quality for the system to develop a semi-natural state. Only reaching full ecological potential can lead to an increase in the ecosystem capacity to provide ecosystem services. The studied ecosystem may provide many different services simultaneously, but their availability depends on the protection of the ecosystem's functioning as a whole.
城市扩张和农村地区向郊区的转变以及人类压力的增加会导致环境发生重大变化。城市化的典型影响包括水生生态系统的退化。然而，城市扩张通常伴随着为城市居民提供一些与自然接触的努力。自然水体是环境的要素，注定要为娱乐和其他对人类福祉至关重要的生态系统服务提供适当的条件。在这项研究中，分析了亚山区溪流集水区（波兰喀尔巴阡山脉）在城市边界逐渐延伸的背景下发展形式的变化。此外，还评估了城市化对城市溪流生态条件的影响，以及因此对提供生态系统服务的潜在生态系统的影响。尽管城市的扩展涉及到定居点的发展，但它伴随着市政污水处理基础设施的扩张，从而改善了污水处理管理。由于农业活动的减少，耕地从溪流集水区消失，从而启动了沿溪流的缓冲区自然恢复过程。基于大型无脊椎动物群落的所有生物指标，如香农多样性指数、Margalef 物种丰富度指数和 BMWP-PL 指数都有所增加，与早期（农村）阶段相比，鱼类在城市发展的后期更为丰富。令人惊讶的是，该系统在没有复兴行动的情况下已经很好地恢复了。然而，有必要改善河流中的形态条件，并进一步努力改善水质，以使该系统发展为半自然状态。只有达到完全的生态潜力，才能提高生态系统提供生态系统服务的能力。研究中的生态系统可能同时提供许多不同的服务，但它们的可用性取决于整个生态系统功能的保护。
