From the steppes to the Alps : Ukrainian vegetation scientist Olha Chusova reflects on her time as a postdoc at the IUNR

At the end of her 13-month research stay at the Vegetation Ecology Research Group, Dr. Olha Chusova sat down with us to discuss her time in Switzerland, where she worked on two projects under the title «Ecological niches of plants revised from a local experimental and continental database view». Olha returns to her beloved city of Kyiv, where she will continue her work as a researcher in geobotany and ecology at the National Academy of Sciences

Diagnostic markers and scale of differential diagnosis of socially-disadaptative post-combat syndrome

Mental disorders resulting from combat actions can affect up a considerable percentage of servicemen. Specific disorders have been observed in combatants and veterans of different wars, highlighting the influence of combat conditions on mental health. Social maladjustment among it can be highly prevalent, impacting combat readiness and post-war adaptation. The above emphasizes the significance of differential diagnosis in identifying specific mental conditions like Socially-Disadaptive Post-Combat Syndrome and distinguishing them from other disorders. Socially-Disadaptive Post-Combat Syndrome is a condition that develops after the return of a combatant from a combat zone and is characterized by a maladaptive, conflictual response to a wide range of insignificant social situations. The study aims to develop a diagnostic tool for identifying Socially-Disadaptive Post-Combat syndrome. This study focuses on combat-related mental disorders among Ukrainian combatants and veterans who participated in the Anti-Terrorist Operation / Joint Forces Operation (ATO/JFO) from 2014 to 2021. The research involves 395 participants, with 39 combatants exhibiting symptoms of Socially-Disadaptive Post-Combat Syndrome forming the main research group, and 21 individuals with PTSD forming the comparison group. As a result of the study, we systematized diagnostic markers and develop a Diagnostic Scale of Socially-Disadaptive Post-Combat syndrome. Our devised diagnostic scale consists of two sections: a list of criteria related to specific circumstances (comprising 4 criteria - 2 obligatory criteria and 2 optional criteria) and a list of symptoms (comprising 16 symptoms). We also believe that conducting research on combatants and veterans of other wars is expedient

Ukrainian Plant Trait Database: UkrTrait v. 1.0

Background Considering the growing demand for plant trait data and taking into account the lack of trait data from Eastern Europe, especially from its steppic region, we launched a new Ukrainian Plant Trait Database (UkrTrait v. 1.0) aiming at collecting all the available plant trait data from Ukraine. To facilitate further use of this database, we linked the trait terminology to the TRY Plant Trait Database, Thesaurus of Plant Characteristics (TOP) and Plant Trait Ontology (TO). For taxa names, we provide the crosswalks between the Ukrainian checklist and international sources, i.e. GBIF Backbone Taxonomy, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (World Checklist of Vascular Plants (World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP), World Flora Online (WFO) and Euro+Med PlantBase. We aim to integrate our data into the relevant global (TRY Plant Trait Database) and pan-European (FloraVeg.EU) databases. The current version of the database is freely available at the Zenodo repository and will be updated in the future. New information Until now, plant traits for the Ukrainian flora were scattered across literature, often focusing on single species and written mainly in Ukrainian. Additionally, many traits were in grey literature or remained non-digitised, which rendered them inaccessible to the global scientific community. Addressing this gap, our Ukrainian Plant Trait Database (UkrTrait v. 1.0) represents a significant step forward. We compiled and digitised plant traits from local Ukrainian literature sources. Furthermore, we performed our own field and laboratory measurements of various plant traits that were not previously available in literature. In the current version of the UkrTrait, we focus on vascular plant species that are absent from the other European trait databases, with emphasis on species that are representative for the steppe vegetation. Traits assembled from literature include life span (annuals, biennials, perennials), plant height, flowering period (flowering months), life form (by Raunkiaer), plant growth form and others. Our own measured traits include seed mass, seed shape, leaf area, leaf nitrogen concentration and leaf phosphorus concentration. The current version, i.e. UkrTrait v. 1.0, comprises digitised literature data of 287,948 records of 75 traits for 6,198 taxa and our own trait measurements of 2,390 records of 12 traits for 388 taxa

Biodiversity, science, and cultural exchange : interview with students of the Summer School Biodiversity Monitoring 2023

At the annual Summer School organized by the IUNR, the University of Warsaw (Poland) and the Kherson State University (Ukraine), an international group of students can explore advanced methods for surveying and monitoring biodiversity, alternating between two permanent study sites in Switzerland and Poland. In 2023, the Summer School returned to Parc Ela in Grisons, where a motivated group of 18 Swiss, Polish, and Ukrainian students surveyed the biodiversity of vascular plants, small mammals, and orthopterans in an unspoiled alpine landscape in the Albula valley. Here, four of them talk about their experiences and scientific aspirations

Grasslands and coastal habitats of Southern Ukraine : first results from the 15th EDGG Field Workshop

The 15th EDGG Field Workshop took place from 24 May to 3 June 2021 in Southern Ukraine (Kherson and Mykolaiv adminis-trative regions). Over 10 days, we sampled different types of grasslands, mainly focusing on dry grasslands of the classes Festuco-Brometea, Koelerio-Corynephoretea canescentis, and Festuco-Puccinellietea (steppic, sandy and saline, respectively) but also taking into account other open habitats, such as mesic grasslands and dunes. In total, we sampled 50 nested-plot series with 7–8 grain sizes from 1 cm2 to 100 m2 and, in some cases, up to 1000 m2 (“EDGG Biodiversity Plots”), plus 74 additional normal plots of 10 m2 . We comprehen-sively sampled vascular plants as well as terricolous bryophytes and lichens, and, for the first time also Sciaridae (Diptera, Insecta). One vascular plant species (Torilis pseudonodosa), as well as two lichen species (Cladonia conista and Endocarpon loscosii), were recorded for the first time from Ukraine. Two species of moss (Rhynchostegium megapolitanum and Ptychostomum torquescens) and three species of lichen (Cladonia cervicornis, C. symphycarpa, and Involucropyrenium breussi) were reported for the first time for the Kherson region. We summarize the scale-dependent richness values and compare them with those from other studies. The report concludes with a photo diary with impressions from the Field Workshop

Eastern European Steppe Database

The Eastern European Steppe Database (GIVD ID EU-00-030) includes 6961 vegetation plots of dry grassland vegetation from Eastern Europe (Steppe and Forest-Steppe zones, mountain regions), mainly from Ukraine (4579 relevés), Russia (2403 relevés) and Moldova (203 relevés). 3912 vegetation plots are from different literature sources (66 sources), 219 are from the phytosociological card-index of the M.G. Kholodny Institute of Botany, NAS of Ukraine, 2830 relevés are authors’ relevés. They were established in 1935-2019 years. The database comprises mainly the vegetation of the class Festuco-Brometea (around 95% of the dataset), and a small proportion of Koelerio-Corynephoretea canescentis, Artemisietea vulgaris, Crataego-Prunetea. The taxonomy of vascular species is given according to Cherepanov (1995) for vascular plants, Ignatov and Afonina (1992) for bryophytes and identification guides of the USSR (1971–1978) and Russia (1996, 1998) for lichens. The database is part of the European Vegetation Archive

Ukrainian Plant Trait Database: UkrTrait v. 1.0

Considering the growing demand for plant trait data and taking into account the lack of trait data from Eastern Europe, especially from its steppic region, we launched a new Ukrainian Plant Trait Database (UkrTrait v. 1.0) aiming at collecting all the available plant trait data from Ukraine.To facilitate further use of this database, we linked the trait terminology to the TRY Plant Trait Database, Thesaurus of Plant Characteristics (TOP) and Plant Trait Ontology (TO). For taxa names, we provide the crosswalks between the Ukrainian checklist and international sources, i.e. GBIF Backbone Taxonomy, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (World Checklist of Vascular Plants (World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP), World Flora Online (WFO) and Euro+Med PlantBase. We aim to integrate our data into the relevant global (TRY Plant Trait Database) and pan-European (FloraVeg.EU) databases. The current version of the database is freely available at the Zenodo repository and will be updated in the future.Until now, plant traits for the Ukrainian flora were scattered across literature, often focusing on single species and written mainly in Ukrainian. Additionally, many traits were in grey literature or remained non-digitised, which rendered them inaccessible to the global scientific community. Addressing this gap, our Ukrainian Plant Trait Database (UkrTrait v. 1.0) represents a significant step forward. We compiled and digitised plant traits from local Ukrainian literature sources. Furthermore, we performed our own field and laboratory measurements of various plant traits that were not previously available in literature. In the current version of the UkrTrait, we focus on vascular plant species that are absent from the other European trait databases, with emphasis on species that are representative for the steppe vegetation. Traits assembled from literature include life span (annuals, biennials, perennials), plant height, flowering period (flowering months), life form (by Raunkiaer), plant growth form and others. Our own measured traits include seed mass, seed shape, leaf area, leaf nitrogen concentration and leaf phosphorus concentration. The current version, i.e. UkrTrait v. 1.0, comprises digitised literature data of 287,948 records of 75 traits for 6,198 taxa and our own trait measurements of 2,390 records of 12 traits for 388 taxa

Biodiversity surveys of grassland and coastal habitats in 2021 as a documentation of pre-war status in southern Ukraine

This paper presents two sampling-event datasets with occurrences of vascular plants, bryophytes and lichens collected in May-June 2021 in southern Ukraine. We aimed to collect high-quality biodiversity data in an understudied region and contribute it to international databases and networks. The study was carried out during the 15th Eurasian Dry Grassland Group (EDGG) Field Workshop in southern Ukraine and the Dark Diversity Network (DarkDivNet) sampling in the Kamianska Sich National Nature Park. By chance, these datasets were collected shortly before the major escalation of the Russian invasion in Ukraine. Surveyed areas in Kherson and Mykolaiv Regions, including established monitoring plots, were severely affected by military actions in 2022. Therefore, collected data are of significant value in the context of biodiversity documentation. The knowledge about the biodiversity of this area will help to assess the environmental impact of the war and plan restoration of the damaged or destroyed habitats. The first preliminary analysis of collected data demonstrates the biodiversity richness and conservation value of studied grassland habitats.We provide sampling-event datasets with 7467 occurrences, which represent 708 taxa (vascular plants, bryophytes and lichens) collected in 275 vegetation relevés. Amongst them, vascular plants are represented by 6665 occurrences (610 taxa), lichens - 420 (46) and bryophytes - 381 (51). Several new species were reported for the first time at the national or regional level. In particular, one vascular plant species (Torilis pseudonodosa) and two lichen species (Cladonia conista, Endocarpon loscosii) were new to Ukraine. One vascular plant (Stipa tirsa), two species of bryophytes (Rhynchostegium megapolitanum, Ptychostomum torquescens) and three species of lichens (Cladonia cervicornis, C. symphycarpa, Involucropyrenium breussi) were recorded for the first time for the Kherson Region. Additionally, these datasets contain occurrences of taxa with narrow distribution, specialists of rare habitat types and, therefore, represented by a low number of occurrences in relevant biodiversity databases and particularly in GBIF. This publication highlights the diversity of natural vegetation and its flora in southern Ukraine and raises conservation concerns

Ecological Indicator Values for Europe (EIVE) 1.0

Aims: To develop a consistent ecological indicator value system for Europe for five of the main plant niche dimensions: soil moisture (M), soil nitrogen (N), soil reaction (R), light (L) and temperature (T). Study area: Europe (and closely adjacent regions). Methods: We identified 31 indicator value systems for vascular plants in Europe that contained assessments on at least one of the five aforementioned niche dimensions. We rescaled the indicator values of each dimension to a continuous scale, in which 0 represents the minimum and 10 the maximum value present in Europe. Taxon names were harmonised to the Euro+Med Plantbase. For each of the five dimensions, we calculated European values for niche position and niche width by combining the values from the individual EIV systems. Using T values as an example, we externally validated our European indicator values against the median of bioclimatic conditions for global occurrence data of the taxa. Results: In total, we derived European indicator values of niche position and niche width for 14,835 taxa (14,714 for M, 13,748 for N, 14,254 for R, 14,054 for L, 14,496 for T). Relating the obtained values for temperature niche position to the bioclimatic data of species yielded a higher correlation than any of the original EIV systems (r = 0.859). The database: The newly developed Ecological Indicator Values for Europe (EIVE) 1.0, together with all source systems, is available in a flexible, harmonised open access database. Conclusions: EIVE is the most comprehensive ecological indicator value system for European vascular plants to date. The uniform interval scales for niche position and niche width provide new possibilities for ecological and macroecological analyses of vegetation patterns. The developed workflow and documentation will facilitate the future release of updated and expanded versions of EIVE, which may for example include the addition of further taxonomic groups, additional niche dimensions, external validation or regionalisation. Abbreviations: EIV = Ecological indicator value; EIVE = Ecological Indicator Values for Europe; EVA = European Vegetation Archive; GBIF = Global Biodiversity Information Facility; i = index for taxa; j = index for EIV systems; L = ecological indicator for light; M = ecological indicator for moisture; N = ecological indicator for nitrogen availability; R = ecological indicator for reaction; T = ecological indicator for temperature

Ecological Indicator Values for Europe (EIVE) 1.0

Aims: To develop a consistent ecological indicator value system for Europe for five of the main plant niche dimensions: soil moisture (M), soil nitrogen (N), soil reaction (R), light (L) and temperature (T). Study area: Europe (and closely adjacent regions). Methods: We identified 31 indicator value systems for vascular plants in Europe that contained assessments on at least one of the five aforementioned niche dimensions. We rescaled the indicator values of each dimension to a continuous scale, in which 0 represents the minimum and 10 the maximum value present in Europe. Taxon names were harmonised to the Euro+Med Plantbase. For each of the five dimensions, we calculated European values for niche position and niche width by combining the values from the individual EIV systems. Using T values as an example, we externally validated our European indicator values against the median of bioclimatic conditions for global occurrence data of the taxa. Results: In total, we derived European indicator values of niche position and niche width for 14,835 taxa (14,714 for M, 13,748 for N, 14,254 for R, 14,054 for L, 14,496 for T). Relating the obtained values for temperature niche position to the bioclimatic data of species yielded a higher correlation than any of the original EIV systems (r = 0.859). The database: The newly developed Ecological Indicator Values for Europe (EIVE) 1.0, together with all source systems, is available in a flexible, harmonised open access database. Conclusions: EIVE is the most comprehensive ecological indicator value system for European vascular plants to date. The uniform interval scales for niche position and niche width provide new possibilities for ecological and macroecological analyses of vegetation patterns. The developed workflow and documentation will facilitate the future release of updated and expanded versions of EIVE, which may for example include the addition of further taxonomic groups, additional niche dimensions, external validation or regionalisation. Abbreviations: EIV = Ecological indicator value; EIVE = Ecological Indicator Values for Europe; EVA = European Vegetation Archive; GBIF = Global Biodiversity Information Facility; i = index for taxa; j = index for EIV systems; L = ecological indicator for light; M = ecological indicator for moisture; N = ecological indicator for nitrogen availability; R = ecological indicator for reaction; T = ecological indicator for temperature