Saprotrophic filamentous microfungi were isolated by means of the soil dilution method from soil samples collected from four locations in the Bellsund region of Spitsbergen (77°33’N, 14°31’E) representing the following forms of surface micro-relief: an old stormbank, a sorted circle, a frost fissure between tundra polygons, and the central part of a tundra polygon. The fungal isolates were identified and screened for their ability to grow at low temperatures. The oligotrophy of psychrophilic and psychrotrophic strains was then determined as the ability of growth on silica gel without a C source added. Differences in some physico-chemical properties were found between the soils sampled from the four sites. A total of 89 taxa from 17 genera were isolated. Most of the isolates were species of Mortierella, Penicillium, Chrysosporium and Phialophora, and half of them were psychrophiles. Fungal communities isolated from a frost fissure between tundra polygons (site 3) and from the central part of a tundra polygon (site 4) were dominated by psychrophiles but those isolated from an old stormbank (site 1) and a sorted circle (site 2) were predominantly psychrotrophic. Oligopsychrophilic taxa accounted for 27% and oligopsychrotrophic for 20% of all the isolated taxa but only from 0.7% to 11.7% and from 1.2% to 6.3% of the total number of cfu (colony forming unit) isolated from an individual site, respectively. The results of the present study suggest that the abundance of fungi in Arctic soil is mostly affected by the content of organic matter in the A horizon and the plant cover, but other factors, such as the stage of soil development and the micro-relief of the surface, are more important for species richness of fungal communities.

In 1998 microbiological investigation of water on eleven sample points, of the greatest antropogenie reservoir in the West-part of Upper Silesian Region was carried out. Total numbers of psychrophiles, mesophiles, Coliform bacteria was determined. In the estuary of Kłodnica river Coli-coefficient was 0.00004, coefficient of Coli-faecal type was 0.0009. These values indicate severe water pollution with faecal matter over the standards for waters and sewage waters. With the distance from estuary of Kłodnica river microbiological pollution factors decrease was observed. After 1 km Coli-coefficient was 100-product decrease. In the sample point at the end of longitude profile, near the dam vicinity, values of those indicators successfully decreased to 0.1 of the Coli-form and 1 for Coli-faecal type. In the 4 sample points along the length of left bank of second part of reservoir (West-part) the differentiation of water quality was observed between I and III quality classes. Decrease of numbers of faecal streptococci by flow-line from 6000 in the estuary of the Kłodnica river to 15 in the pelagic point and 4 in the end of reservoir was determined. Decrease in microbiological factor is the greatest on the first 1000 meters of longitude profile of the reservoir. Very important in decrease of bacteria numbers is sedimentation process of alochtonie suspended solids.

The current article is an attempt at demonstrating the sacred in Tychyna’s poems translated into Polish by Czechowicz. The sphere of the sacred in the works of the Ukrainian poet mainly derives from Christianity and focuses around Biblical motifs and symbols. Pavlo Tychyna (1891‐1967) was one of those Ukrainian writers whose works attracted a lot of attention in the interwar period amongst representatives of Lublin’s literary circles, including Józef Czechowicz, who translated over twenty of his poems from the collections Clarinets of the Sun 1918, The Plow 1920 and Instead of Sonnets and Octaves 1920. The volume Clarinets of the Sun is dominated by man’s harmony with God and the Universe, while in the two subsequent ones religious motifs appear in apocalyptic visions.