GEO-6 assessment for the pan-European region

Through this assessment, the authors and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) secretariat are providing an objective evaluation and analysis of the pan-European environment designed to support environmental decision-making at multiple scales. In this assessment, the judgement of experts is applied to existing knowledge to provide scientifically credible answers to policy-relevant questions. These questions include, but are not limited to the following:• What is happening to the environment in the pan-European region and why?• What are the consequences for the environment and the human population in the pan-European region?• What is being done and how effective is it?• What are the prospects for the environment in the future?• What actions could be taken to achieve a more sustainable future?<br/

Érase una vez en el este: retos de conservación de la biodiversidad en el amanecer económico de un país poscomunista

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Vpliv bakterije Klebsiella oxytoca na privzem cinka in svinca pri sončnici (Helianthus annuus)

Ugotoviti vpliv bakterije Klebsiella oxytoca na privzem težkih kovin, predvsem cinka in svinca, pri sončnici (Helianthus annuus). Kalitev sončnice in spremljanje rasti korenin ter poganjkov v treh serijah (kontrola (K), živa bakterija (ŽB), avtoklavirana bakterija (AB)), primerjava sveže in suhe mase poganjkov in korenin, analiza koncentracije kovin v koreninah in poganjkih, merjenje vsebnosti fotosinteznih pigmentov poganjkov, merjenje transpiracije, merjenje učinkovitosti fotosistema II. Statistična obdelava v R studiu, z enosmerno analizo variance (ANOVA), post-hoc s Tukyevim testom ter obdelava podatkov iz rentgenske fluorescenčne spektroskopije s programom Microsoft Office Excel z dodatkom XL Toolbox z metodo Dunnetovega testa. Vidne so nekroze listov pri vseh testiranih serijah, pri seriji z dodatkom živih bakterij opazimo povišane koncentracije izmerjenih elementov (osredotočili smo se na koncentracijo cinka in svinca), v seriji ŽB sta opazni zmanjšana transpiracija in dejanska fotosintezna učinkovitost fotosistema II. Statističnih razlik pri vsebnosti fotosinteznih barvil nismo opazili. Prisotnost bakterije Klebsiella oxytoca poveča privzem snovi v rastlino, kar je v našem primeru predvsem negativno vplivalo na nekatere merljive fiziološke parametre. Za zanesljivejše zaključke bi morali izvesti več ponovitev

Fish diversity in freshwater and brackish water ecosystems of Russia and adjacent waters

In the present paper, the history of fish faunistic and taxonomic knowledge is analyzed, and the freshwater and brackish water fish diversity in the territory of the Russian Federation and adjacent areas is examined. An overview of higher taxa and species is presented (3 classes, 26 orders, 100 families, and 317 genera), including a total of 719 native fish species (plus 36 introduced species, and also 16 species not yet recoded for Russian waters, but expected in the future, and 20 species that were previously removed from the ichthyofauna of Russia due to taxonomic changes; total number in all categories 791 taxa). The Russian water includes freshwater 353, brackish 329, diadromous 82, and amphidromous 27 species. A total of 103 endemic species in the native ichthyofauna adds to an endemism rate of 14, 3%. This study significantly increases the total number of fishes ecologically related to fresh and brackish waters of Russia. The native freshwater and brackish water ichthyofauna of the Russian Federation consists of approximately 4% of the global fish species. The fish diversity in selected river systems and lakes is also discussed, with respect to ecoregions, latitude and longitude, and compared with the fish faunas of Europe and North America (north of 50o N)

Nitrogen deposition effects on ecosystem services and interactions with other pollutants and climate change

Ecosystem services are defined as the ecological and socio-economic value of goods and services provided by natural and semi-natural ecosystems. Ecosystem services are being impacted by many human induced stresses, one of them being nitrogen (N) deposition and its interactions with other pollutants and climate change. It is concluded that N directly or indirectly affects a wide range of provisioning, regulating, supporting and cultural ecosystem services, many of which are interrelated. When considering the effects of N on ecosystem services, it is important to distinguish between different types of ecosystems/species and the protection against N impacts should include other aspects related to N, in addition to biodiversity. The Working Group considered the following priorities of ecosystem services in relation to N: biodiversity; air quality/atmosphere; ecosystem changes; NO3 leaching; climate regulation and cultural issues. These are the services for which the best evidence is available in the literature. There is a conflicting interest between greenhouse gas ecosystem services and biodiversity protection; up to some point of increasing N inputs, net greenhouse gas uptake is improved, while biodiversity is already adversely affected