Variability of green biomass content in plant communities along selected traffic routes in Białystok

Variability of green biomass quantity in plant communities found in study transects established along selected traffic routes in Białystok was studied. The study was conducted in a total of four transects including three in non-forest plant communities and one in a forest community located in the vicinity of Białystok’s main outbound roads. The effect of different distance of the study fields from the traffic routes (4-5 m, 14-15 m and 24-25 m) was taken into account. Results obtained for biomass variability in city transects were then compared to the biomass values recorded in both forest and non-forest communities in two standard transects in the centre of Knyszynska Forest, located away from traffic routes. The study demonstrates that total green biomass of plants collected from the study fields depends primarily on the floristic composition of the plant communities under study rather than on the distance of the study fields from traffic routes. As for the city transects, greater total green biomass was recorded in non-forest plant communities (1457.33 g – 3161.65 g) than in the forest community analysed (255.39 g), which is mainly attributable to high green biomass content identified in the floristically richest group of meadow species from the class Molinio-Arrhenatheretea. Total green biomass in non-forest and forest plant communities in the city is greater than outside the municipal area (233.43 g and 134.69 g, respectively), which is predominantly a consequence of higher diversity of plants.