IMPORTANCE OF FUNGAL COLLECTIONS FOR MYCOLOGY

The paper presents the importance of fungal collections for mycology, for systematical studies upon fungi taxa, for preservation of fungi species, for information transfer of the taxonomical data from a generation to another generation or elaboration of scientifical papers etc. A list of the most important collections from entire world and from our country is also presented

SOME ASPECTS REGARDING THE CULTIVATION OF SPECIES WITH DECORATIVE VALUE ACONITUM DEGENII Gáyer

Ex situ conservation is the most important way through a Botanic Garden contributes to biodiversity conservation. One of the multiple directions of ex situ conservation is the diversification of the collections with spontaneous cormophytes presenting decorative value. Aconitum degenii Gáyer is an herbaceous, perennial and toxic species with the areal in Alps and Carpathian Mountains, sporadically met at forest’s margins. This species has been studied in 2009-2011 period in order to observe its behavior in the environmental conditions characteristic to the Botanic Garden of Iasi. To accomplish this aim seeds, rhizomes and individuals have been collected from the wild and introduced in experimental fields. Comparisons between flowering periods, qualitative (color of the flowers) and quantitative (number of the flowers, leaves and ramifications, plants height, rhizomes length) decorative characters of both cultivated and spontaneous individuals have been realized. It was observed that Aconitum degenii Gáyer individuals are keeping (almost the same quantitative characteristics) and even improve (longer flowering period) their decorative characteristics without being deteriorated or diminished. From the morpho – anatomical perspective none significant differences have been observed

Novi i značajni podaci o biljkama, algama i gljivama iz JI Evrope i susednih regiona, 9

This paper presents new records and noteworthy data on the following taxa in SE Europe and adjacent regions: red algae Lemanea fucina and Paralemanea annulata, parasitic fungus Anthracoidea pratensis, saprotrophic fungi Cyathus olla, Massaria campestris, and Xylaria sicula, stonewort Chara canescens, liverworts Gymnomitrion commutatum and Porella baueri, moss Acaulon triquetrum, monocots Anacamptis laxiflora, Cephalanthera damasonium, and Himantoglossum robertianum and dicot Jacobaea othonnae are given within SE Europe and adjacent regions.U radu su prikazani novi i značajni podaci sa područja JI Evrope i susednih regiona o sledećim taksonima: crvenim algama Lemanea fucina i Paralemanea annulata, parazitskoj gljivi Anthracoidea pratensis, saprofitskim gljivama Cyathus olla, Massaria campestris i Xylaria sicula, pršljenčici Chara canescens, jetrenjačama Gymnomitrion commutatum i Porella baueri, mahovini Acaulon triquetrum, monokotilama Anacamptis laxiflora, Cephalanthera damasonium i Himantoglossum robertianum i dikotili Jacobaea othonnae

New records and noteworthy data of plants, algae and fungi in SE Europe and adjacent regions, 12

This paper presents new records and noteworthy data on the following taxa in SE Europe and adjacent regions: red algae Hildenbrandia rivularis, saprotrophic fungus Cryptomarasmius corbariensis, lichenised fungi Lecanora stenotropa, Micarea misella and Sticta sylvatica, liverworts Fossombronia caespitiformis and Peltolepis quadrata, mosses Dicranoweisia cirrata and Fissidens exilis, horsetail Equisetum × moorei, gymnosperm Juniperus virginiana, monocots Galanthus reginae-olgae subsp. vernalis and Spiranthes spiralis and dicots Linaria pelisseriana, Parthenocissus quinquefolia, Pilosella rhodopea and Taraxacum erythrospermum are given within SE Europe and adjacent regions

Lignicolous fungal assemblages and relationships with environment in broadleaved and mixed forests from the North-East Region of Romania

Background and aims – Lignicolous fungal assemblages perform numerous functions in forest ecosystems, one of the most important being their capacity to decay wood. As a consequence of their belonging to different ecological niches, the forest ecosystem influences the fungal assemblages in terms of species richness and composition. Methods – In this study we analyzed the main lignicolous macrofungal assemblages in some deciduous and mixed deciduous-coniferous forests in the North-East Region of Romania. We searched to find fungal indicator species for a certain forest type and which are the main drivers and their effects on the composition of the lignicolous macrofungal assemblages. Fungal assemblages were identified using a hierarchical agglomerative clustering procedure, while diagnostic species for each cluster were identified based on the indicator value index. Relationships between fungal composition of plots and environmental variables were performed using detrended and canonical correspondence analyses.Key results – A total of 377 fungal taxa in approximately 4600 records (in 59 plots) were identified. Six distinct clusters of lignicolous fungal assemblages were defined and separated three groups: 1) species-rich lignicolous fungal assemblages in beech forests (1 cluster), 2) well defined fungal assemblages in the mixed broadleaved-coniferous forests (2 clusters), and 3) fungal assemblages typical to oak forests (3 clusters). Ordination methods highlighted the forest type as the most important factor influencing the fungal composition of plots. Forestry Aridity Index, tree diversity and large trees basal area were also important factors for fungal assemblages but with a lower contribution. Conclusion – In the studied region, fungal assemblages changed from oak to beech and to mixed, broadleaved-coniferous forests mainly as a consequence of different tree composition. Climate also shaped fungal composition but to a lesser extent

DIVERSITY AND ECOLOGICAL DETERMINANTS OF DEAD WOOD FUNGI IN TREE NATURAL RESERVES OF BROAD LEAVED FORESTS FROM SUCEAVA COUNTY

Dead wood fungi have a major importance for forests biodiversity as they produce wood degradation in forest habitats. In this paper are presented some aspects related to the diversity of dead wood fungi in tree deciduous forest types from tree natural reserves (Crujana, Dragomirna and Zamostea) from Suceava County and the effect of some ecological factors (host tree, diameter and decomposition degree of the dead wood and some microclimatic characteristics of sites) on their occurrence and diversity. Investigations carried out in 2013 resulted in the identification of 44 lignicolous fungi species. Analysis of similarities between lingnicolous fungi species from the investigated natural reserves (by hierarchical clustering) shows a separation of three fungi groups, depending on the host-trees species. The effect of the tree host species was highlighted also by detrended correspondence analysis, which, in addition presented the existence of an altitudinal gradient and a weaker effect of site conditions (slope and aspect) and microclimatic variables (solar radiation) on dead wood fungi occurrence. The effect of diameter and decomposition degree of fallen trunks and branches on dead wood fungi species was investigated using the redundancy analysis showing that wood debris with large surfaces are more easily colonized by the fungi species developing large sporocarps compared to small branches with low diameters colonized only by few or a single fungus species

Towards Sustainable European Agriculture? Assessing the EU’s Progress in Limiting the Negative Ecological Effects of Agriculture on Aquatic Environments

The degradation of terrestrial and aquatic environments has significant adverse effects on biodiversity and environmental sustainability. The ever-increasing population and constant economic growth strain various ecosystems’ resistance and resilience. An important factor that negatively influences terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems is the use of products used in crop management. In this article, we analyze the pesticide-related European Directives and the Nationals Action Plans (NAP) regarding the sustainable use of pesticides and other documents evaluating the NAPs implementation. We assess the first and second-generation NAPs of nine EU Member States (MS)’ to evaluate if we can identify a significant shift in managing the adverse effects of pesticide use on aquatic environments. Furthermore, we evaluate the degree to which these NAPs are synergic with the EU’s strategic approach to soil protection, aquatic environments, and biodiversity

PLANT COMMUNITIES WITH ARNICA MONTANA IN NATURAL HABITATS FROM THE CENTRAL REGION OF ROMANIAN EASTERN CARPATHIANS

Arnica montana is a species of European Union interest, whose harvest from the wild and exploitation should be made under certain management measures. In Romania it is a vulnerable species due to excessive collection. It is a species with European areal occuring in pastures, meadows, forest glades, shrubs communities of mountain to the subalpine regions and, isolated, up to the alpine belt. Most of the plant communities with Arnica montana are semi-natural, with a floristic composition in which there are numerous rare or threatened species also supporting the need of their conservation. Our study was focused on a numerical classification (hierarchical, using Flexible ß algorithm and Bray-Curtis dissimilarity) based on 48 plots, of the plant communities with Arnica montana from the central region of Romanian Eastern Carpathians and on the investigation of the effect of some environmental variables (Ellenberg indicator values, altitude, heat load index) on their floristic composition (100 m2 scale). Vegetation – environment relationship was assessed via detrended correspondence analysis and canonical correspondence analysis with Monte Carlo test. Six plant communities with Arnica montana were identified (communities of Festuca rubra with Agrostis capillaris, Festuca nigrescens, Vaccinium myrtillus, Nardus stricta, Vaccinium gaultherioides and Juniperus sibirica) with a floristic composition mainly shaped by altitude, temperature and soil nitrogen content. Details related to location and sites characteristics, diagnostic species, floristic composition, presence of other rare or threatened species and Arnica montana abundance were presented for all these plant communities

Climatic predictors influences VFWD macromycetes diversity through dominant tree' ecology in beech forests in the North-Eastern Romania

Lignicolous macromycetes plays are a vital part of forest ecosystems in Europe. They are involved in Carbon cycle, through decay processes of woody debris. Very fine woody debris (VFWD) forms an important component of this dead wood, being found in any forest in the World. Among European and Romanian forests, Fagus spp. dominating forests are the most important broadleaved ecosystems, of great biotic and abiotic complexity. The present distribution of lignicolous fungi is mainly linked to trees distribution. In the context of climate change, European beech forests will also shift in distribution, structure and composition, triggering changes in lignicolous fungal communities and diversity as well. Considering this background, VFWD lignicolous diversity might be a future beech forests climate change indicator. This will bring the necessity of assessing the main climatic factors that are influencing the lignicolous fungal diversity distribution across European beech forests in Romanian's North-East Region. In the present study, our findings confirms the fact that macroclimate have a great influence on lignicolous mycodiversity in beech forests. It seems that minimum temperature and Gams Continentality Index explains approximately 48% of the mycodiversity variation. While dropping minimum temperatures and increasing Gams CI values, the lignicolous fungal richness will rise. While minimum temperature of January might be linked to a complex ecological and phonological framework, Gams CI is a known ecological indicator for optimum habitat of beech forests, which in turn influence lignicolous diversity distribution. Those climatic variables might characterize the relation between plants-fungi-climate in the near future, as increasing atmospheric temperatures will manifest at different scales. Thereafter, VFWD mycodiversity might function as a valuable macroclimatic changing indicator