Spatial diversity of ecological stability in different types of spatial units: Case study of Poland

Abstract

The study estimates and compares the spatial distribution of ecological stability within administrative units in Poland. Its method permitted the value of the coefficient of ecological importance parameter to be determined, and enabled the design of a spatial unit typology. The units originally analyzed were municipalities (Pol. gminy). In this variant, areas with low and average ecological stability were evidently dominant. Verifying the results obtained involved extending the study, and using of a square with sides of 1 km as the basic unit of assessment. This approach yielded dominance of areas extreme in terms of ecological stability. The spatial analyses also allowed for the spatial dependence of the phenomenon to be identified and illustrated spatially.