Dendrological Garden of University of Life Sciences in Poznań

Status:
a didactic unit in the Forestry Faculty of Agricultural University in Poznań.

Area:
exhibition grounds 4.05 ha, nursery 0,12 ha.

Number of taxa:
about 900 species, varieties and forms of arboraceous plants.

Opening time:
all the year round, workdays, from 8.00 a.m. to 3.00 p.m.

Geographical location:
Poznań, latitude 52⁰25^'37^'' north, longitude 16⁰53^'48^'' west, altitude from 70 to 80 m a.s.l.

Climatic conditions:
mean rainfall 536 mm, minimum temperature -28.0^oC, maximum temperature 38.2^oC.

Historical outline:
In 1920 a small garden of ornamental trees and shrubs was set up in the Sołacz district of Poznań. On the initiative of the Forestry Faculty Council, in 1925 a Dendrological Garden was founded covering an area of 6 ha and including a former manor park. Its long-time curator was Prof. Konstanty Stecki. By 1939 more than 900 taxa of arboraceous plants were collected. The war left the Garden in ruin - there were a mere 200 taxa in 1945. The Garden returned to the University in 1958. For at least 30 years it has been in the care of the Chair of Forest Botany. Since 1996 the Garden has been separated as a didactic unit of the Forestry Faculty of Agricultural University in Poznań. After successive limit corrections, its area dwindled from 6 to 4 ha.

Ecological characteristics:
The Dendrological Garden is situated on the slightly inclining south-facing slopes of the Bogdanka stream valley. It has a largely urban mezoclimate typical of an area with scattered villas. Mean diurnal temperatures are slightly lower than in the central districts of Poznań, but slightly higher than on its peripheries. Also its rainfall is a mean value between areas with the highest and the lowest figures. The southern part of the Garden is the coldest (a pool of cold air in the valley), while its northern part (the warm zone of the slope) is one most beneficial for plant growth. What contributes to the local microclimate are numerous patches of old-growth stands of trees functioning mainly as shelter belts. The relief is diversified, from flat terrain in the south-east to a knoll rising 10 metres above a nearby water-filled depression in the north-west. In the Garden there are rusty soils, brown soils proper, black earths, as well as muck and mud soils in various stages of development.

Sections and collection characteristics:
Major collections: genera - Abies, Picea, Pinus, Alnus, Quercus, Amelanchier, Euonymus, Acer, Cornus, Lonicera, and families - Cupressaceae, Juglandaceae, Ulmaceae, Berberidaceae, Rosaceae, Fabaceae, Rutaceae. Among the 930 tree and shrub taxa there are 165 species, varieties and forms of gymnospermous plants. The collections embrace almost all species of the Polish dendroflora and those major woody plants of foreign origin that are best suited to the didactic purposes of the naturalist courses of study offered by the Agricultural University. Most taxa are grown in groups arranged according to the systematic criteria (genera and families). The most numerous group includes over 70 Polish species of blackberries (Rubus). Relatively numerous collection is formed by pines (30 taxa), with such rare species in Poland as Pinus armandii, P. leucodermis, P. tabulaeformis, P. wallichiana, Pinus x schwerini, and P. x rhaetica. Important didactic functions are played by the patches of the oak-hornbeam forest and spontaneous thicket communities on their margins.

Activity.
First of all the Garden serves as an didactic object for the students of the natural specializations of Agricultural University in Poznań (Forestry, Horticulture, Enviromental Protection, Agrotourism and Biology). In accordance with the natural education it is also regularly visited by the classes of the primary and secondary schools. Besides, pernament science investigations are realized. They mainly refer to the following subjects:

• factors of acclimatization of introduced trees and shrubs,
• morphological variability of domestic tree and shrub species,
• developmental rhythms of trees and shrubs,
• ways of cultivation of endangered and dying-out species of the Polish dendroflora,
• use of woody species in horticulture,
• importance of the Garden as a refuge of animal wildlife in the Poznań agglomeration.

Educational activity for the general public:
Plant collections of the Garden are very important for the people not subject to the collective education. Owing to the labels and boards, with the basic information of cultivated species, every visitor is able to observe collected plants and study individually. Additionally, there is a possibility of sightseeing with a guide (after previous adjustment) and the main information (history of Dendrological Garden, environment conditions, plant collections) is published in the folder.

Publications:
The bibliography of the Dendrological Garden embraces over 70 published works and manuscripts of master's and engineering dissertations. Most of them are studies of tree and shrub collections the Garden has housed in various periods of time, and other issues connected with its natural environment.

Direction:
Curator - Wladyslaw Danielewicz (danw@au.poznan.pl)
Manager - Tomasz Maliński (e-mail: tomekm@au.poznan.pl)