Wood pastures in Central Slovakia – collapse of a traditional land use form

Wood pastures with pollard trees have been a common land-use type across Europe. The trees, besides having positive environmental effects on livestock, served as important source of fodder and wood. Pollarded wood pastures were hence a multifunctional, state of the art, highly productive farming ecosystems. Despite relatively drastic treatment, the trees regenerated quite well, and grew to relatively high-age. When pollarding lapses for longer period the wood pasture may confusingly resemble an ancient forest. Using aerial photographs of Slovakia from 1949–1950 we have identified 950 individual wood pasture localities with total area of 265.5 km2 within the Self-Governing Region of Banská Bystrica. Majority of identified wood pasture habitats were actively managed in the first half of the 20th century. Nowadays, less than 2.5% has preserved its original structure, the rest has been abandoned (92.8%) or actively transformed into different land-use form. We conducted a field survey in order to identify historical pollarding within the Gavurky protected area, one of the last and best preserved wood pastures in Slovakia. By evaluating habitual features, we were able to confirm historical pollarding for more than 80% of present veteran trees. We provide framework for identification of pollarding in historical wood pasture localities, applicable in the conditions of long-term management cessation

Azimuthal anisotropy of charged jet production in root s(NN)=2.76 TeV Pb-Pb collisions

We present measurements of the azimuthal dependence of charged jet production in central and semi-central root s(NN) = 2.76 TeV Pb-Pb collisions with respect to the second harmonic event plane, quantified as nu(ch)(2) (jet). Jet finding is performed employing the anti-k(T) algorithm with a resolution parameter R = 0.2 using charged tracks from the ALICE tracking system. The contribution of the azimuthal anisotropy of the underlying event is taken into account event-by-event. The remaining (statistical) region-to-region fluctuations are removed on an ensemble basis by unfolding the jet spectra for different event plane orientations independently. Significant non-zero nu(ch)(2) (jet) is observed in semi-central collisions (30-50% centrality) for 20 <p(T)(ch) (jet) <90 GeV/c. The azimuthal dependence of the charged jet production is similar to the dependence observed for jets comprising both charged and neutral fragments, and compatible with measurements of the nu(2) of single charged particles at high p(T). Good agreement between the data and predictions from JEWEL, an event generator simulating parton shower evolution in the presence of a dense QCD medium, is found in semi-central collisions. (C) 2015 CERN for the benefit of the ALICE Collaboration. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).Peer reviewe

Production of He-4 and (4) in Pb-Pb collisions at root(NN)-N-S=2.76 TeV at the LHC

Results on the production of He-4 and (4) nuclei in Pb-Pb collisions at root(NN)-N-S = 2.76 TeV in the rapidity range vertical bar y vertical bar <1, using the ALICE detector, are presented in this paper. The rapidity densities corresponding to 0-10% central events are found to be dN/dy4(He) = (0.8 +/- 0.4 (stat) +/- 0.3 (syst)) x 10(-6) and dN/dy4 = (1.1 +/- 0.4 (stat) +/- 0.2 (syst)) x 10(-6), respectively. This is in agreement with the statistical thermal model expectation assuming the same chemical freeze-out temperature (T-chem = 156 MeV) as for light hadrons. The measured ratio of (4)/He-4 is 1.4 +/- 0.8 (stat) +/- 0.5 (syst). (C) 2018 Published by Elsevier B.V.Peer reviewe

Forward-central two-particle correlations in p-Pb collisions at root s(NN)=5.02 TeV

Two-particle angular correlations between trigger particles in the forward pseudorapidity range (2.5 2GeV/c. (C) 2015 CERN for the benefit of the ALICE Collaboration. Published by Elsevier B. V.Peer reviewe

Event-shape engineering for inclusive spectra and elliptic flow in Pb-Pb collisions at root(NN)-N-S=2.76 TeV

Peer reviewe

Pseudorapidity and transverse-momentum distributions of charged particles in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV

The pseudorapidity (eta) and transverse-momentum (p(T)) distributions of charged particles produced in proton-proton collisions are measured at the centre-of-mass energy root s = 13 TeV. The pseudorapidity distribution in vertical bar eta vertical bar <1.8 is reported for inelastic events and for events with at least one charged particle in vertical bar eta vertical bar <1. The pseudorapidity density of charged particles produced in the pseudorapidity region vertical bar eta vertical bar <0.5 is 5.31 +/- 0.18 and 6.46 +/- 0.19 for the two event classes, respectively. The transverse-momentum distribution of charged particles is measured in the range 0.15 <p(T) <20 GeV/c and vertical bar eta vertical bar <0.8 for events with at least one charged particle in vertical bar eta vertical bar <1. The evolution of the transverse momentum spectra of charged particles is also investigated as a function of event multiplicity. The results are compared with calculations from PYTHIA and EPOS Monte Carlo generators. (C) 2015 CERN for the benefit of the ALICE Collaboration. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).Peer reviewe

Elliptic flow of muons from heavy-flavour hadron decays at forward rapidity in Pb-Pb collisions at root s(NN)=2.76TeV

The elliptic flow, v(2), of muons from heavy-flavour hadron decays at forward rapidity (2.5 <y <4) is measured in Pb-Pb collisions at root s(NN)= 2.76TeVwith the ALICE detector at the LHC. The scalar product, two- and four-particle Q cumulants and Lee-Yang zeros methods are used. The dependence of the v(2) of muons from heavy-flavour hadron decays on the collision centrality, in the range 0-40%, and on transverse momentum, p(T), is studied in the interval 3 <p(T)<10 GeV/c. A positive v(2) is observed with the scalar product and two-particle Q cumulants in semi-central collisions (10-20% and 20-40% centrality classes) for the p(T) interval from 3 to about 5GeV/c with a significance larger than 3 sigma, based on the combination of statistical and systematic uncertainties. The v(2) magnitude tends to decrease towards more central collisions and with increasing pT. It becomes compatible with zero in the interval 6 <p(T)<10 GeV/c. The results are compared to models describing the interaction of heavy quarks and open heavy-flavour hadrons with the high-density medium formed in high-energy heavy-ion collisions. (C) 2015 CERN for the benefit of the ALICE Collaboration. Published by Elsevier B.V.Peer reviewe

Measurement of charged jet production cross sections and nuclear modification in p-Pb collisions at root s(NN)=5.02 TeV

Charged jet production cross sections in p-Pb collisions at root s(NN) = 5.02 TeV measured with the ALICE detector at the LHC are presented. Using the anti-k(T) algorithm, jets have been reconstructed in the central rapidity region from charged particles with resolution parameters R = 0.2 and R = 0.4. The reconstructed jets have been corrected for detector effects and the underlying event background. To calculate the nuclear modification factor, R-pPb, of charged jets in p-Pb collisions, a pp reference was constructed by scaling previously measured charged jet spectra at root s = 7 TeV. In the transverse momentum range 20Peer reviewe

Land use development in the central part of the Spiš region (Slovakia) since the 18th century

102

Mitigating Effect of Urban Green Spaces on Surface Urban Heat Island during Summer Period on an Example of a Medium Size Town of Zvolen, Slovakia

Climate change affects the urban population’s health and quality of life. Urban green spaces (UGS) underpin several essential ecosystem services, amongst them climate regulation. Urban vegetation mitigates high temperatures and, thus, reduces the heat stress for urban residents. The study aimed to verify whether the Surface Urban Heat Island (SUHI) effect manifests itself even in a medium size town (Zvolen, Slovakia) surrounded by agricultural and forested landscape and to quantify the temperature mitigating effect of urban green spaces. Land surface temperature (LST) and SUHI distribution were derived from the Landsat data during the summer months of 2010–2021. To statistically prove the cooling effect of the urban vegetation, we tested (by one-way ANOVA) LST within three urban zones of the Zvolen municipality defined by the Copernicus imperviousness density data: (a) dense urban area (31–100% impervious surfaces), (b) discontinuous urban area (1–30% impervious surfaces), (c) urban green spaces (0% impervious surfaces), and the open land surrounding the town (0% impervious surfaces). The results showed a statistical difference in temperatures between all urban areas (all zones) and the open land. Moreover, the UGS temperature was statistically different compared to the other urban zones. The mean temperature difference through the years 2010–2021 between urban green spaces and the dense urban area was 3.5 °C, with a maximum of 4.9 °C and a minimum 1.7 °C in favor of the urban spaces. Moreover, the temperature of urban green spaces and open land varied during the studied summer period. The warmer the weather, the higher the difference, while at the end of August, on a notably colder day, there was no significant difference between them. The results confirmed that UGS are significantly cooler during hot days, and they can mitigate the local climate