Influence of functional environmental processes on selected coastal ecosystems of the Gdańsk seashore

The paper discusses the diversity of the main functional processes that determine the formation of specific types of ecosystems in two types of coastal areas: cliffs and lowlands. The survey was conducted in selected areas of the Gdansk Coast. In the case of low coasts, the objective was to identify the effects of the sea on the formation of the surface water properties that determine the presence of halophytes. The studies conducted indicate that these properties in brackish areas differ significantly in respect of electrolytic conductivity and chloride content from waters occurring in areas not occupied by halophyte communities. Based on the results obtained, it was found that in the studied coastal zone the occurrence of salt grassland ecosystems is associated with water conductivity above 2,000 S∙cm-1 and chloride content above 600 mg∙dm-3. These values are many times higher than average values for typical inland waters in the Pomerania area, which clearly indicates the dominant role of the brackish water inflow from the Baltic Sea in shaping the environmental conditions for the occurrence of such ecosystems. At the same time, it was found that high water conductivity and salinity conditions were maintained at a distance of about 100-250 m (Wladyslawowo) to more than 600 m from the seacoast (Beka). This differentiation depends both on the local conditions of seawater intrusion inland and on the intensity of inland surface and ground water inflows. In the case of cliff shores, the results of soil and habitat identification and their relationships with the dynamics of morphodynamic processes (abrasion, slope processes) were summarised. On this basis, the characteristics of the main types of cliff ecosystems (initial grassland communities, scrub with sea buckthorns, low stemmed scrub and sycamore forests) were presented. The results indicate that the varying intensity of the slope processes significantly affects the diversity of soil types and soil properties, including the presence of calcium carbonate and the high pH values in active cliffs. These features, among others, discriminate the cliff ecosystems commonly found in the Pomerania region.