MODERN MAPS OF Białowieża Forest
The map of non-forest vegetation of the Białowieża National Park shows the advancement of secondary succession in river valleys until 2010, in habitats formerly used for agriculture. The map was developed for the purposes of the protection plan for this area.
Spatial patterns of human activity in Białowieża Forest derived from the publicly available world-wide data provided by STRAVA (https://www.strava.com/heatmap) combined with (A) predicted use of the landscape by the wolf, (B) predicted use of the landscape by the lynx, (C) predicted use of landscape by the red deer (both sexes) and (D) distance to major settlements used in the models for both large carnivores. The dark-red thick lines indicate high human activity and the light-blue thin lines indicate low human activity. For (A), (B) and (C) the color gradient from blue to red corresponds to the gradient from low to high use of the landscape by the presented species. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.44937.025
Maps of the study area (left) and camera trapping sampling design (right). On the study area map we marked the major settlements connected by public roads open for cars. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.44937.003
The Białowieża Forest World Heritage site, on the border between Poland and Belarus, is an immense range of primary forest including both conifers and broadleaved trees covering a total area of 141,885 hectares. Situated on the watershed of the Baltic Sea and Black Sea, this transboundary property is exceptional for the opportunities it offers for biodiversity conservation. It is home to the largest population of the property’s iconic species, the European bison.