Impact of pipelines on the natural environment. The example of Jamal - Western Europe gas pipeline

Budowa gazociągu Jamał - Europa Zachodnia wywołała znaczne zaburzenie środowiska przyrodniczego jedynie na obszarze pasa montażowego. Szczególnie silnie przekształcone zostały gleby oraz roślinność. Analiza pokrycia terenu w strefie zaburzonej i w jej bezpośrednim otoczeniu wskazała na współwystępowanie zmian pokrycia terenu z określonymi cechami środowiska przyrodniczego.The relationships between human activity and the natural environment were discussed on the example of the Polish section of the Yamal - Western Europe gas pipeline. Its implementation had a considerable impact on the natural environment. Most of its effects were of local and temporary nature. At the building stage, the soil and the vegetation were disturbed in the highest degree. After several years, most of the sections along the installation zone were hardly distinguishable from the surrounding land; there were sections, however, showing distinctly the borderline of the zone. Differences in environmental changes did not depend on the methods used in the installation works (the construction technology was uniform throughout the process), but rather on the character of the transected ecosystems. Land cover changes were observed along most of the sections running across marshlands and wooded and bushy areas