Puszcza Piska Forest or the Pisz Forest (german: Johannisburger Heide) is the largest forest complex of the

Masuria Masuria (, german: Masuren, Masurian: ''Mazurÿ'') is a ethnographic and geographic region in northern and northeastern Poland, known for its 2,000 lakes. Masuria occupies much of the Masurian Lake District. Administratively, it is part of the ...

region in northern

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

, adjacent to the Masurian Landscape Park, and the Masurian Lowlands. Formerly known as the Jańsborska wilderness, Puszcza Piska bears the name of the Pisa river bordering the Forest along its west bank. The Pisz Forest consists of a unique combination of coniferous trees, lakes and rivers. Its total area is 100,000 ha. It covers the

communes An intentional community is a voluntary residential community which is designed to have a high degree of social cohesion and teamwork from the start. The members of an intentional community typically hold a common social, political, relig ...

of Mikołajki,

Mrągowo Mrągowo (until 1947 pl, Ządźbork ; ) is a resort town in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship of northeastern Poland, with 21,889 inhabitants (2019). It is the capital of Mrągowo County and the seat (though not part of) the Gmina Mrągowo. ...

, Piecki, Sorkwity, Biskupiec,

Biała Piska Biała Piska (former pl, Biała; german: Bialla, 1938-45: Gehlenburg, 1334: Gailen) is a town in Pisz County, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, Poland, with 3,986 inhabitants as of December 2021. Geography Biała Piska is a recreation area in th ...

Orzysz Orzysz (English pronunciation , german: Arys) is a town in northeastern Poland, in the Pisz County, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, with 7,512 inhabitants (2007). It is located on Orzysz Lake in the region of Masuria. A garrison of the Polish A ...

Pisz Pisz (pronounced , previously also ''Jańsbork'', german: Johannisburg) is a historic town in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship in northern Poland, with a population of 19,466 (2016). It is the seat of Pisz County. Pisz is situated at the junct ...

, Ruciane-Nida, Dźwierzuty, Rozogi, Szczytno, Świętajno, Kolno, Turośl and Łyse. Within its borders are a number of lakes, designated as nature reserves. Among them: Bełdany, Nidzkie, Jegocin, Warnołty nature reserve, Mokre, and the largest lake in Poland called

Śniardwy Śniardwy () is a lake in the Masurian Lake District of the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, Poland. At , Śniardwy is the largest lake in Poland. It was also the largest lake in Prussia, when Warmia-Masuria was under German rule. It is long and w ...

. Two principal rivers flow through the area – Krutynia and Pisa, as well as many smaller

tributaries A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainag ...

and streams.

Flora

The southern part of the forest grows on sands and lowland bogs. The soil is being drained by the Narew tributaries, including Pisa and Szkwa, as well as many lakes. The northern part of the complex borders on

Masurian Lake District The Masurian Lake District or Masurian Lakeland ( pl, Pojezierze Mazurskie; german: Masurische Seenplatte) is a lake district in northeastern Poland within the geographical region of Masuria, in the past inhabited by Masurians who spoke the Masu ...

known in Polish as Kraina Wielkich Jezior. The Piska Forest consists of

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accepts ...

and spruce groves with the mixture of

birch A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech- oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains ...

aspen Aspen is a common name for certain tree species; some, but not all, are classified by botanists in the section ''Populus'', of the '' Populus'' genus. Species These species are called aspens: *'' Populus adenopoda'' – Chinese aspen (Chin ...

maple ''Acer'' () is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the family Sapindaceae.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less continuously updated since http ...

alder Alders are trees comprising the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus comprises about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few sp ...

and

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

growing on sandy soil mainly at the southern end of the forest. The best known among the local trees is the "Masurian pine" covering eastern edges of the Mokre lake. It reaches the height of 40 m and the age of 200 years.

Fauna

Puszcza Piska is a

bird sanctuary An animal sanctuary is a facility where animals are brought to live and to be protected for the rest of their lives. Pattrice Jones, co-founder of VINE Sanctuary defines an animal sanctuary as "a safe-enough place or relationship within the cont ...

on a European scale, featuring eleven nature reserves within its own Masurian Landscape Park (Mazurski Park Krajobrazowy) established in 1977 with the total area of 53,600 ha. The most valuable reserve is located at the Łuknajno Lake near the town of Mikołajki – a

Ramsar Ramsar may refer to: * Places so named: ** Ramsar, Mazandaran, city in Iran ** Ramsar, Rajasthan, village in India * Eponyms of the Iranian city: ** Ramsar Convention concerning wetlands, signed in Ramsar, Iran ** Ramsar site, wetland listed in ...

site designated by

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

as a

biosphere reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

. It is the home of the mute swan (''pictured''), native to

temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout ...

regions of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

and western

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

, in time of

moult In biology, moulting (British English), or molting (American English), also known as sloughing, shedding, or in many invertebrates, ecdysis, is the manner in which an animal routinely casts off a part of its body (often, but not always, an outer ...

arriving in numbers reaching up to 2,000 birds. Many species of wild animals live in the forest, among them:

deer Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the re ...

, elk,

moose The moose (in North America) or elk (in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is a member of the New World deer subfamily and is the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is the largest and heaviest extant species in the deer family. Most adult ma ...

wild boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is ...

, hare,

fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

and recently reintroduced lynx. On wetlands, most saturated with water, beaver lodges can be found. The symbol of the park is a

white stork The white stork (''Ciconia ciconia'') is a large bird in the stork family, Ciconiidae. Its plumage is mainly white, with black on the bird's wings. Adults have long red legs and long pointed red beaks, and measure on average from beak tip to e ...

with nests scattered over many local villages.

Gallery

Puszcza Piska - Stare Kiełbonki, 2021 01.jpg, Forest near Stare Kiełbonki Poland. Gmina Ruciane-Nida. Niedźwiedzi Róg 008.JPG,

Lake at the Pisz Forest near Ruciane-Nida Gmina Piecki, Poland - panoramio (75).jpg, Nature reserve Królewska Sosna Majcz4.jpg, Nature reserve Strzałowo Zdróżno.JPG, Zdróżno Lake

References

* Paulina Garbalińska, Jarosław Skłodowski
"Body size differentiation in selected carabid species inhabiting Puszcza Piska forest stands disturbed by the hurricane."
Department of Forest Protection and Ecology,

Warsaw University of Life Sciences The Warsaw University of Life Sciences ( pl, Szkoła Główna Gospodarstwa Wiejskiego, lit=Main School of Rural Homestead, SGGW) is the largest agricultural university in Poland, established in 1816 in Warsaw. It employs over 2,600 staff including ...

*
"Kraina Mazursko – Podlaska Charakterystyka przyrodniczo-leśna,"
''Regionalna Dyrekcja Lasów Państwowych,'' Białystok

External links

{{Authority control Forests of Poland Geography of Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship Parks in Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship Natura 2000 in Poland Special Protection Areas Nature conservation in Poland

Flora

Fauna

Gallery

See also

References

External links