Coenological data on temperate semidesert sandy grasslands in Hungary

A neighbourding -quadrate transect study was conducted in order to examine the possibile relationship between small scale topography and coenotaxa occurrence and cover in subassociations of Festucetum vaginataeRapaics ex Soó 1929 sandy grassland plant community near Fülöpháza. These investigations served as a starting point in later soil seed bank studies. Cover of species was recorded in three transects of different exposition starting on the top of different dunes and ending in the depressions. Subassociations and facies forming species of the community occurred in all investigated transects. Parts of the transects could not have been classified unambiguously into any of the coenotaxa mentioned in the literature. In these zones the charactersitic species of the different subbasociations and facies were occurding together. These patches are propbably also the ones where changes in dominance relations and simultaneous spread of a species can relatively easily happen, as it is the case with Cleistogenes serotina. Annual vegetation of the open sandy grassland, ond the other hand, has occured only in the transition zones, between the subassociations or facies. In these transects moss-lichen synusia were peresent usually in the subassociation Festucetum vaginatae pennatae Kerner 1863

Farmland biodiversity and agricultural management on 237 farms in 13 European and two African regions

Farmland is a major land cover type in Europe and Africa and provides habitat for numerous species. The severe decline in farmland biodiversity of the last decades has been attributed to changes in farming practices, and organic and low-input farming are assumed to mitigate detrimental effects of agricultural intensification on biodiversity. Since the farm enterprise is the primary unit of agricultural decision making, management-related effects at the field scale need to be assessed at the farm level. Therefore, in this study, data were collected on habitat characteristics, vascular plant, earthworm, spider, and bee communities and on the corresponding agricultural management in 237 farms in 13 European and two African regions. In 15 environmental and agricultural homogeneous regions, 6–20 farms with the same farm type (e.g., arable crops, grassland, or specific permanent crops) were selected. If available, an equal number of organic and non-organic farms were randomly selected. Alternatively, farms were sampled along a gradient of management intensity. For all selected farms, the entire farmed area was mapped, which resulted in total in the mapping of 11 338 units attributed to 194 standardized habitat types, provided together with additional descriptors. On each farm, one site per available habitat type was randomly selected for species diversity investigations. Species were sampled on 2115 sites and identified to the species level by expert taxonomists. Species lists and abundance estimates are provided for each site and sampling date (one date for plants and earthworms, three dates for spiders and bees). In addition, farmers provided information about their management practices in face-to-face interviews following a standardized questionnaire. Farm management indicators for each farm are available (e.g., nitrogen input, pesticide applications, or energy input). Analyses revealed a positive effect of unproductive areas and a negative effect of intensive management on biodiversity. Communities of the four taxonomic groups strongly differed in their response to habitat characteristics, agricultural management, and regional circumstances. The data has potential for further insights into interactions of farmland biodiversity and agricultural management at site, farm, and regional scale

Festuca pseudovaginata, a new species from sandy areas of the Carpathian Basin

A new species of Festuca (F. pseudovaginata Penksza) is described in the present study. It occurs on open sandy grasslands of the Carpathian Basin, in Hungary. The plant is 20-35 cm high, its inflorescence is short and lemmas carry long awn (1.2-1.8 mm). Matured basal leaves have continuous sclerenchyma. This taxon flowers as early as the end of April. The locus classicus of this species, where it was first found, is Kis-tece legelő (Kis-tece pasture) situated near Vácrátót, Hungary. Chromosome number of the specimens is 2n = 14. Specimens of taxa (altogether 6 specimens, 3 from the locus classicus, 1 of which is the holotype, and 3 from near Örkény) were placed in the Botanical Collection of the Hungarian Natural History Museum (BP)

Festuca vojtkoi, a new Festuca species from Hungary

Festuca specimens were collected on several spots in the Bükk mountains (Northern Hungarian Mountain Range, NE Hungary) in May 2002. On the area called “Galya-kopasza”, within the occurrence spot of Armeria elongata - made up by gabbro as basal rock -, interesting Festuca specimens belonging to the Festuca rupicola group of Festuca ovina agg. were also observed. On the basis of histological parameters of the leaves, namely long hairs, several among them differed from the typical Festuca rupicola specimens. Each specimen, and the different aged leaves within the specimens have the same structure. Describing the taxon as a separate species is confirmed, besides the unique structure of the leaves, also by deviations in the morphology of the panicle. Identification in the field in vegetative state is helped by the extremely long hairs on the abaxial epidermis of the leaves. The chromosome number of the specimens is 6n = 42. The plant was named after András Vojtkó, excellent botanist, great researcher of the flora and vegetation of the Bükk mountains. Locus classicus of the taxon is “Galya-kopasza” (Bükk Mts, NE Hungary). Type specimens were deposited in the Hungarian Natural History Museum (BP)

Low variability of Internal Transcribed Spacer rDNA and trnL (UAA) intron sequences of several taxa in the Festuca ovina aggregate (Poaceae)

Identification and classification of numerous Festucaspecies is still a difficult problem due to the close morphological resemblance. The most difficult fine fescues to identify belong to the Festucaovinaaggregate, which is the largest group in the genus Festuca. Many taxons are considered to be separate species based on quantitative taxonomic characters, differences in ploidy level or the structure of sclerenchyma cells. In order to evaluate the taxonomic value of DNA-based markers, sequence analysis of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS1-5.8S-ITS2) region and the chloroplast trnL (UAA) intron was performed in the ten most problematic fine fescues belonging to the Festuca ovinaaggregate. Intraspecific ITS variants were found in a single case while in other cases only intragenomic ITS polymorphisms were detected with 1-2 ambiguous positions. Among the sequences of the trnL (UAA) intron even intragenomic polymorphisms were not detected in any of the Festucaspecies studied. Thus, the results do not support the species status of these ten taxa