The article presents a new optimization tool supporting supply chain management in the multi-criteria aspect. This tool was implemented in the EPLOS system (European Logistics Services Portal system). The EPLOS system is an integrated IT system supporting the process of creating a supply and distribution network in supply chains. This system consists of many modules e.g. optimization module which are responsible for data processing, generating results. The main objective of the research was to develop a system to determine the parameters of the supply chain, which affect its efficiency in the process of managing the goods flow between individual links in the chain. These parameters were taken into account in the mathematical model as decision variables in order to determine them in the optimization process. The assessment of supply chain management effectiveness was carried out on the basis of the global function of the criterion consisting of partial functions of the criteria described in the mathematical model. The starting point for the study was the assumption that the effectiveness of chain management is determined by two important decision-making problems that are important for managers in the supply chain management process, i.e. the problem of assigning vehicles to tasks and the problem of locating logistics facilities in the supply chain. In order to solve the problem, an innovative approach to the genetic algorithm was proposed, which was adapted to the developed mathematical model. The correctness of the genetic algorithm has been confirmed in the process of its verification.

The study was aimed at analyzing patterns of abundance and diversity of macrozoobenthic communities along a depth gradient in the Admiralty Bay, a semi-enclosed basin located in a rapidly changing region of the western Antarctic Peninsula. The study concerns primarily the Polychaeta and Amphipoda, the taxonomic richness and diversity of both groups being analyzed at different taxonomic levels (species, genus and family). Such an analysis, which uses a basic surrogacy measure (low taxonomic resolution) can be very useful in future monitoring programs of the Admiralty Bay. The analysis was based on 35 samples collected in the summer seasons of 1984/85 and 1985/86, with a Tvärminne sampler (within the 7–30 m depth range) and an 0.1 m2 van Veen grab (deeper areas) along a transect with the depth changing from 7 to 502 m. The total macrozoobenthos abundance was found to decrease with depth, from 1581 ± 730 ind./0.1 m2 within the 7–30 m to as few as 384 ± 145 ind./0.1 m2 at 400–500 m. The number of phyla per sample was observed to increase along the depth gradient of 7–30 to 200–300 m but was substantially reduced in the deepest sublittoral (400–500 m). The results showed large differences between amphipods and polychaetes in their respective depth-related biodiversity changes. On the other hand, the diversity metrics used (Pielou’s evenness, Shannon-Wiener index, number of species per sample, number of genera per sample, number of families per sample) at different taxonomic levels within each group produced similar patterns, demonstrating the usefulness of surrogacy in studies of Antarctic fjords.