EVALUATION OF CONTROL METHODS FOR SOSNOWSKY'S HOGWEED HERACLEUM SOSNOWSKYI IN REZEKNE MUNICIPALITY: THE RESULTS OF A SURVEY OF EXPERTS

An increasing number of scientists as well as the public discuss the spread of invasive alien species that replace local species. One of such species is Sosnowsky’s hogweed that creates problems to land owners and managers as well as local residents in Rezekne municipality.The aim of the paper is to assess expert opinions on the application of control methods for Sosnowsky’s hogweed in Rezekne municipality. To achieve the aim, the following specific research tasks were set: 1) to describe the situation with the spread of Sosnowsky’s hogweed in Rezekne municipality; 2) to identify the most effective methods of control for Sosnowsky's hogweed and their application in Rezekne municipality by employing the expert method.Research methods used: monographic, descriptive, analysis, synthesis, data grouping and a sociological method – an expert survey/interview. Kendall’s W was employed to analyse the extent of agreement among the experts.The research results showed that in general the experts were quite unanimous (W=0.59) and regarded the combined method, chemical control (application of herbicides) and soil tillage as the most effective methods to control Sosnowsky's hogweed. Also, the experts supposed that land owners and managers in Rezekne municipality did not choose the most effective and efficient control methods for Sosnowsky's hogweed.The paper has been elaborated with the financial support of Rezekne Academy of Technologies provided through a research grant

New national and regional bryophyte records, 36

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A miniature world in decline: European Red List of Mosses, Liverworts and Hornworts

This publication has been prepared by IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) as a deliverable of the LIFE European Red Lists project (LIFE14 PRE BE 001). A miniature world in decline: The European Red List of Mosses, Liverworts and Hornworts is, therefore, a part of a series of publications released since 2015, when the project began, that also include: • European Red List of Lycopods and Ferns, 2017 • European Red List of Saproxylic Beetles, 2018 • European Red list of Terrestrial Molluscs: slugs, snails, and semi-slugs, 2019 • European Red list of Trees, 2019 • European Red list of Selected Endemic Shrubs, 2019 Based on other European Red List assessments, 59% of freshwater molluscs, 40% of freshwater fishes, 28% of grasshoppers, crickets and bush-crickets, 23% of amphibians, 20% of reptiles, 20% of ferns and lycopods, 17% of mammals, 16% of dragonflies, 13% of birds, 9% of butterflies and bees, 8% of aquatic plants and 2% of medicinal plants are threatened at the European level (Allen et al., 2014; IUCN, 2015; Hochkirch et al., 2016; García Criado et al., 2017). Additional European Red Lists assessing a selection of species showed that 22% of terrestrial molluscs, 16% of crop wild relatives and 18% of saproxylic beetles are also threatened (Cuttelod et al., 2011; Bilz et al., 2011; Cálix et al., 2018). The findings of this work suggest that 23% of bryophytes are threatened species in Europe, representing the fifth most threatened group of plants assessed so far

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