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Badger Meles meles as Ecosystem Engineer and Its Legal Status in Europe
The European badger plays an important role as a natural factor shaping species diversity in forests. Its extensive setts can be used by many other animals as shelters. Soil perturbations in their setts support plant communities that differ from the matrix landscape. The badger is also an effective seed disperser. We investigated its role as an ecosystem engineer in preserving species diversity and discussed its legal status across Europe. In most European countries (69.3% of the continent), the badger is hunted, sometimes year-round. The hunting season lasting through winter until early spring may have a negative effect on badger populations, especially when cubs are born in February. Although this species is Red Listed in 19 European countries (with categories ranging from LC to EN), the badger is strictly protected by law in 30.7% of its European range. A reduction in badger populations may limit its ecosystem services (seed dispersal, topsoil disturbances, microhabitat creation). Much new data on the importance of badgers in ecosystem engineering has allowed us to reconsider how we manage badger populations.
Low Rate of Pre-Dispersal Acorn Predation by Eurasian Jays Garrulus glandarius during Non-Mast Years
Nowe stanowiska roślin naczyniowych Polski, 5
W pracy przedstawiono nowe stanowiska 18 rzadkich (lub regionalnie rzadkich) roślin naczyniowych w Polsce, tj. <i>Abutilon theophrasti, Aquilegia vulgaris, Carex bohemica, C. tomentosa, Crocus speciosus, Erechtites hieraciifolia, Lathyrus nissolia, Lunaria annua subsp. annua, Lycopodiella inundata, Myricaria germanica, Nymphaea candida, Ophioglossum vulgatum, Potentilla indica, Pulicaria dysenterica, Rubus kaznowskii, Scilla sardensis, Solidago ×niederederi</i> oraz <i>Veratrum lobelianum</i>.
Linear scaling – negative effects of invasive Spiraea tomentosa (Rosaceae) on wetland plants and pollinator communities
Invasive plants directly and indirectly disrupt the ecosystem functioning, of which indirect effects, for example, through trophic cascades, are particularly difficult to predict. It is frequently assumed that the impact of an invading species on the ecosystem is proportional (linearly related) to its density or abundance in a habitat, but this assumption has rarely been tested. We hypothesised that abundance and richness of plants and potentially pollinators of wet meadows change as a result of invasion of steeplebush Spiraea tomentosa and that these changes are proportional to the density of the shrub. We selected 27 sites amongst wet meadows habitats invaded by S. tomentosa with coverage ranging from 0% to 100% and examined the diversity of plants, as well as the abundance and diversity of flower visitors (bees, butterflies with moths and flies). Our results showed that the richness of plants, as well as the richness and number of individuals of flower visitors, decrease significantly and linearly with an increase of the S. tomentosa cover. This finding supports the hypothesis that the impact of an invasive species can be proportional to their population density, especially if this species is limiting the available resources without supplying others. Our study is the first to show such an unequivocal negative, linear effect of an invasive shrub on the abundance and richness of potential pollinators. It proves that the negative impact of S. tomentosa on the wetland ecosystem appears even with a minor coverage of the invader, which should be taken into account when planning activities aimed at controlling the population of this transformer species. The simultaneously detected linear dependence allows us to assume that the benefits of controlling secondary populations of the shrub can be proportional to the incurred effort.
Genetic and biometric patterns of rangewide divergence of iconic, Neogene relic broadleaved shrub species Staphylea pinnata L.– post-glacial expansion and human impact
Abstract Integrative phylogeographic studies supported by morphometric analysis and genetic data provide significant insights into the postglacial recolonization history and other factors shaping current distributions of plant species, including major forest-forming trees in Europe. However, genomic resources and phylogeographic knowledge of shrub species remain limited. Staphylea pinnata L. (European bladdernut) is a shrub native to thermophilous broadleaf forests and is the only representative of the Staphyleaceae in Central Europe. Given its historical associations with human and religious beliefs dating back to pre-Christian cultures, the current distribution of this iconic, Neogene relic species has been hypothesized to be influenced by human-assisted migration. This study aims to address this hypothesis by uncovering the genetic and morphometric relationships among S. pinnata populations across its wide distribution range in Europe, Caucasus and the Anatolian Peninsula, linking these findings with existing archaeobotanical and ethnobotanical data. We sampled 87 populations (979 individuals), genotyped them with the applications of newly developed genetic markers, and conducted morphological leafs’ measurements to estimate the postglacial expansion and human impact on the current distribution of S. pinnata. Both genetic and morphometric results indicate primarily natural post-glacial recolonization from two Pleistocene glacial refugia in the Apennines and Balkans. Additionally, we identified “suture zones” of increased genetic diversity in middle latitudes, resulting from secondary contact due to postglacial recolonization from different sources. Significant human contributions were observed towards the northernmost edge of the species’ range, including regions such as Eastern France, Lower Silesia in Poland, and Northern Podolia in Ukraine.
Nowe stanowisko Goodyera repens (Orchidaceae) w borze sosnowym na Wyżynie Częstochowskiej
Goodyera repens inhabits mainly Scots pine-dominated and mixed forests. It also occurs in young monocultures of Scots pine with poorly developed undergrowth dominated by moss. Two localities of this species are currently described in the Częstochowa Upland, from the vicinity of Bystrzanowice (Fojcik 2005) and from Podlesice near Kroczyce (this study). At the described locality (Fig. 1), Goodyera repens occurs in Pinus sylvestris forest aged 85–110 years with an admixture of Populus tremula and Betula pendula. There is also patchy distributed renewal of Fagus sylvatica which in some places forms the lower floor of the canopy. There is also a rich undergrowth with rare flora elements typical for Scots pine forests: Orthilia secunda, Moneses uniflora, Pyrola chlorantha, Chimaphila umbellata, Monotropa hypopitys, as well as Lycopodium annotinum, L. clavatum and Diphasiastrum complanatum. The Scots pine forests common to the Częstochowa Upland suggest that there may be other locations of G. repens in this area, although this species has not been reported in studies of the flora of this region.