Multifunktionale Interpretation von Bodenschätzungsdaten als Basis für ein länderübergreifendes Konzept zum nachhaltigen Ressourcen-und Landschaftsschutz am Beispiel Polens und Deutschlands

Trans-as well as international resource protection and management get more and more important. The current paper presents a new option for a common Polish and German concept of multifunctional interpretation of soil appraisal data in order to use its results as a basis for increasing the environmental conditions of agricultural landscapes

Invasive alien plants in Poland - the state of research and the use of the results in practice

The participation of species of alien origin in the flora of individual regions of the world is increasing. A large proportion of these species pose a threat to biodiversity. Issues of the dynamics of changes in the flora and the scale and pace of the processes, with particular emphasis on the biology, ecology, chorology, and genetic variability of the populations of plants of alien origin, including those alien species which are invasive, have been the subject of many years of research in this field in Poland. The present study is an overview of the state of research on invasive plant species in Poland, including the main results of the basic and applied research which have provided the basis for (i) the preparation of a list of invasive plant species for Poland; (ii) assessing the degree of invasiveness of the species analysed, in accordance with the adoption of criteria and the development of methodological solutions. In this work, a new version of the list of invasive plant species has been prepared on the basis of earlier studies, combining theoretical and practical aspects of definition, and it is compared with the list of invasive alien plant species considered to constitute a threat to the EU and Poland as a member country. The categorization (risk assessment) of invasive alien species along with the identification of the most endangered types of natural habitats is often used in practice in the management of invasive plants in Poland. The results of our research have fed into the formulation of legal regulations at the global and regional levels

Invasive alien species as reservoirs for pathogens

Alien plant and animal hosts play an important role as vectors of dangerous pathogens. However, the knowledge on pathogens of many host species is still limited. To bridge this gap, we collated information on pathogens carried by 118 alien species in Europe in their native and secondary range. In Europe, these species are considered as invasive. Using the dataset we determined most prevailing pathogen groups and plant and animal hosts that carried the highest number of pathogens. The most numerous pathogens were bacteria Xylella fastidiosa (plants) and Rabies virus (animals). The principal pathogen groups among plant hosts were Arthropoda (phylum), Insecta (class) and Hemiptera (order), and among animal hosts – Platyhelminthes (phylum), Trematoda (class) and Plagiorchiida/Strongylida (order). In plants, the highest number of pathogens was recorded for Ambrosia artemisiifolia; in animals, Procyon lotor was the most infested species. Hosts introduced from North America carried the highest numbers of pathogen species; in addition, unintentionally introduced hosts carried more pathogens than those introduced intentionally. We revealed also that the level of infestation differs between the habitats in which the hosts occur. It should be also stressed that in all analyses the number of pathogens increased with the number of publications on the particular host’ infestation. The highest number of publications was available for species useful for human, such as Crassostrea gigas. The results demonstrated that there are still significant gaps in the knowledge on the role of other hosts, including invasive ones (e.g., Sciurus niger) in pathogen transmission

The Polish Vegetation Database: structure, resources and development

The phytosociological database Polish Vegetation Database collects relevés of all vegetation types in Poland. The database was established in 2007 and is located at Department of Biodiversity and Plant Cover Protection, University of Wrocław (http://synbiot.uni.wroc.pl). On March 2012, the database included 40000 relevés collected between 1927 and 2011. Most of relevés was taken from published papers and represents almost all types of habitats of Poland. Large groups of relevés represent meadows and pastures (Molinio-Arrhnehteretrea), broadleaf forests (Querco-Fagetea), arable land communities (Stellarietea), coniferous forests (Vaccinio-Piceetea) and eutrophic reed communities (Phragmitetea). In comparison to other countries in Central Europe, Polish Vegetation Database currently belongs to medium-sized databases, with full functionality and accessibility. The present article describes its development, basic operational information and how it can be used in analysis of vegetation in Poland

Biological flora of Central Europe: Cyperus esculentus L

This paper presents information on all aspects of the biology of Cyperus esculentus L. (yellow nutsedge) and deals with its taxonomy, morphology, genetic diversity, distribution, habitat requirements, ecology and life cycle, with special emphasis on uses and cultivation, history of introduction, impact and management in Europe. C. esculentus is a tuber geophyte and most likely originates from the Mediterranean and Southwest Asia. It is a variable plant and four wild-type varieties are presently recognized, in addition to a cultivated form. C. esculentus reproduces primarily by its underground tubers, although abundant seeds are produced. In temperate climates, tubers usually sprout in late spring and the plant withers at the beginning of the winter. C. esculentus is only cultivated in the València region in Spain. Invasion foci emerged across Europe at the beginning of the 1980s and at present, C. esculentus is most abundant on arable land and in ruderal habitats, followed by riverine vegetation. In heavily infested regions of Europe, C. esculentus causes substantial yield losses in field crops and although different management strategies are available, C. esculentus remains difficult to control.Follak, S.; Belz, R.; Bohren, C.; Castro, OD.; Guacchio, ED.; Pascual-Seva, N.; Schwarz, M.... (2016). Biological flora of Central Europe: Cyperus esculentus L. Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics. 23:33-51. doi:10.1016/j.ppees.2016.09.003S33512

Ecological variation between marginal and central populations of Potamogeton polygonifolius, a rare and endangered species in Central Europe

The present study is focused on Potamogeton polygonifolius – the species considered to be endangered in Germany, the Czech Republic, Poland and Switzerland. Field studies were carried out in Lower Silesia and Lusatia in southwestern Poland in order to verify the present state of the marginal populations of P. polygonifolius, to determine the habitat preferences of the species in the study area, to compare the ecological data between marginal and central populations and finally to recognise the factors constraining the easternmost limit of the P. polygonifolius. In total, 18 populations were examined, and 11 relevés were collected. The relevés gathered were compared with 95 relevés made in northwestern Germany, and with 10 relevés collected in the German part of Lusatia. There were no significant differences between the ecology of populations of P. polygonifolius on the eastern edge of its range and those in the central part. P. polygonifolius was found growing both in natural habitats like unspoiled peat bogs, and in anthropogenic habitats such as exploited peat bogs and drainage ditches. In both types of habitats its populations were abundant and competent in terms of generative propagation. The lack of geographical barriers as well as biology and fitness of P. polygonifolius individuals from the study area suggest that marginal populations are possibly a part of a large metapopulation, covering the whole (Polish and German) area of Lusatia, however, this hypothesis was not tested in detail. The main factor shaping the easternmost limit of the general range of P. polygonifolius is most likely climate, which prevents P. polygonifolius from spreading farther eastwards

The spread of Impatiens parviflora DC. in Central European oak forests – another stage of invasion?

In this study, we examine the pattern of occurrence of Impatiens parviflora in Central European oak forests over time and its ecological requirements within these types of communities. Research was based on phytosociological data collected in 3776 relevés. A modified TWINSPAN algorithm were used to distinguish the groups of oak forests. The ecological preferences of the I. parviflora and studied communities as well as differences between invaded and non-invaded vegetation plots were analyzed using mean weighted Ellenberg indicator values (EIVs). Finally, both the temporal pattern of I. parviflora participation and changes in its coverage in the studied communities were analyzed. Our study confirmed a high adaptability of this species with respect to temperature, moisture, soil reaction and nutrients and determined its broad ecological optimum in oak forests. However, it also revealed both a greater sensitivity of some communities within Central European oak forests to the invasion of I. parviflora and differences in habitat conditions between invaded and non-invaded vegetation plots. This suggests that the habitat niche of I. parviflora within oak forests is not accidental. The analysis of temporal changes in the frequency of I. parviflora confirmed a 20% increase in relevés over the last 50 years. However, we did not identify any statistically significant rise in the coverage of I. parviflora in oak forests specifically during the studied period