Impact of Railway Facility Operation on Floral Growth in a Powodowo, the Region of Wielkopolska

Our paper presents research on flora, its characteristics and differences, at two adjacent railway stations in Powodowo, western Poland. One of stations has been shut down while the other continues to serve as a site of cement and lime handling. The presence or absence of such operations has been found to affect flora. At the operating station we have observed a larger number of species and families, as well as a relatively greater share of annual and non-indigenous (foreign) plants. At the non-operating station we have observed a relatively greater proportion of indigenous (native) species, particularly those common in meadow areas and a large share of perennial species. These observations indicate that a process of spontaneous flora naturalization has been underway at the non-operating station. Both of the stations are home to species that are otherwise rare in the region of Wielkopolska such as Carex ligerica, Epilobium adnatum and Medicago minima.