Flora naczyniowa południowej części Równiny Nowogardzkiej – studium fitogeograficzne
Authors: Konopska Karolina , Łysko Andrzej , Popiela Agnieszka 
Published: December 2024

Vascular flora of the southern part of the Nowogard Plain &ndash; a phytogeographic study
The area of north-western Poland in terms of phytogeography is characterized selectively and locally, which is mainly a consequence of the late establishment of the university in this part of the country. This indicates the need to continue phytogeographic research and strive for full floristic exploration of north-western Poland. The area of the southern part of the Nowogard Plain has not yet been explored in floristic and phytogeographic terms, hence the main reason for undertaking this research topic. The main aim of the research was to learn about the phytogeographic relations of the southern part of the Nowogard Plain by examining the species composition and distribution of vascular flora, defined as all plant taxa occurring in a specific territory, the species richness of which is expressed by the number of species occurring spontaneously in a given area; namely to provide a list of vascular flora and a complete list of floristic dates for individual units of the cartogram; preparing distribution maps for the listed species, conducting phytogeographic analyses, as well as presenting the share of rare, protected and endangered species to assess the diversity of the studied area and determine its floristic value.
The flora of vascular plants in the southern part of the Nowogard Plain numbers 900 species, which constitutes 20.2% of the national flora. 79.0% of the flora are native taxa and 21.0% are alien species. The presence of 143 species was not confirmed, and 77 new taxa were found. The listed species belong to 115 families grouped in 388 genera.
The dominant element of the analyzed flora is a group of rare species (26.8% of the flora). In the study area, the species of the Connectional (43.5%), Circumboreal (18.5%), Euro-Siberian (18.4) and Central European-Temperate (16.9%) elements predominate. The synanthropic flora constitutes 21.0% of the total flora and consists of 20 species of apophytes and 169 anthropophytes. The group of archaeophytes includes 14 species on the list of endangered archaeophytes in Poland. The presence of 22 invasive species was found in the kenophyte group. Rare species constitute 26.8% of the native flora of the described area. The largest share here includes taxa belonging to the group of forest species (16%) and calcareous xerothermic grasslands (18%). The flora of the southern part of the Nowogard Plain contains 44 species listed in the Polish Red List of ferns and flowering plants (75% not confirmed) and 52 species under legal protection in Poland (57.6% not confirmed). The reason for this state of affairs can be seen in the extremely agricultural character of the southern part of the Nowogard Plain. The consequence of intensive agricultural development is the disappearance of peat bogs and wet meadows. Diverse forests are transformed into monocultures and poor commercial forests with the participation of alien species. The preservation of biological diversity is not supported by the observed progressive fragmentation of habitats and the cultivation of large-scale fields while limiting the diversity of crops.