A kis apollólepke (Parnassius mnemosyne (LINNAEUS,1758)) nektárnövényfajok közti választása

A lepkék jó modelljei lehetnek a táplálékforrás-választás tanulmányozásának, mert akifej-lett egyedek válogatnak a nektárforrás-kínálatból és képesek alkalmazkodni időben változó táplálék-forrásaikhoz.Célunk a kis apollólepke (Parnassius mnemosyne(LINNAEUS, 1758)) nektárnövényfaj-választását befolyásoló virágtulajdonságok megismerése volt.A vizsgált populációk egyedeit jelölés-visszalátás módszerrel mintavételeztük 5, majd 2 éven keresztül két egymáshoz közeli réten a Viseg-rádi-hegységben. A virággyakoriságot bejárásos módszerrel becsültük. A virágtulajdonságokat aBiolflor adatbázisból gyűjtöttük.Az évenkénti viráglátogatási arány változott a növényfajok között. Nagy változatosságot találtunk az elérhető növények tulajdonságaiban és a virágkínálatban azegyes évek és a két rét között. A lepkék választását a virágok gyakorisága, színe és típusa, valamint a rovar-beporzás szerepe befolyásolta az egyik, míg csupán a virággyakoriság és a virágszín amásik réten.Anövények beporzóik választását befolyásoló tulajdonságai egymástól valószínűleg nem függetle-nek. A viráglátogatási mintázat mindkét élőhelyen arra utal, hogy a kis apollólepkék választanak elér-hető forrásaik közül. A két rét populációi közötti különbség azt sugallja, hogy a választás környezet-függő. Valószínű, hogy az energiabefektetés-arányosan kinyerhető legtöbb és/vagy legjobb nektárt nyújtó fajokat látogatják a leggyakrabban. Ahhoz, hogy egy élőhely megfelelő legyen egy adott lep-kefaj számára, elsődleges szempont a lárvális tápnövény jelenléte, ám az imágók táplálékát biztosító nektárnövények kellő mennyiségű előfordulása is nélkülözhetetlen lehet

How values and perceptions shape farmers' biodiversity management: insights from ten European countries

Farmers play a pivotal role in addressing biodiversity loss whilst maintaining food production. To rethink conservation in agricultural landscapes, it is crucial to understand their decisions regarding biodiversity and its management on the farms. In this study, we conducted 48 semi-structured interviews across ten European countries in 2021/22 to explore how farmers’ perceptions and valuations relate to their biodiversity management. Employing reflexive thematic analysis, we identified recurring patterns of shared meanings. Our findings underscore the profound influence of farmers’ biodiversity perceptions on their biodiversity management practices: 1) Narrow and targeted interventions were closely tied to instrumental values of biodiversity, whereas holistic management strategies were linked with recognising an inherent value of nature. 2) Targeted approaches were related to farmers’ interpretations of biodiversity as specific taxa and functions, relying on easily assessable and emotionally connoted indicators. 3) Holistic approaches aligned with a broader biodiversity concept and an emphasis on intricate functional relationships within ecosystems. 4) Actual decisions to implement measures were significantly constrained by perceived dependencies, namely production pathways, social dependencies, and landscape conditions. These findings raise a critical question about the prioritisation of ecocentric intrinsic versus anthropocentric instrumental values in conservation strategies. We propose an approach of ethical pluralism, acknowledging that instrumental values may provide practical solutions for certain challenges, while intrinsic values hold ethical significance, particularly in the context of complex or large-scale biodiversity conservation initiatives. Engaging in dialogue that accounts for diverse values will be essential for shaping effective and socially meaningful biodiversity conservation

Seminatural areas act as reservoirs of genetic diversity for crop pollinators and natural enemies across Europe

Despite increasing recognition of the importance of the multiple dimensions of biodiversity, including functional or genetic diversity as well as species diversity, most conservation studies on ecosystem service-providing insects focus on simple diversity measures such as species richness and abundance. In contrast, relatively little is known about the genetic diversity and resilience of pollinators or natural enemies of crop pests to population fragmentation and local extinction. The genetic diversity and demographic dynamics of remnant populations of beneficial insects in agricultural areas can be a useful indicator proving additional insights into their conservation status, but this is rarely evaluated. Although gene flow between agricultural and seminatural areas is key to maintaining genetic diversity, its extent and directionality remain largely unexplored. Here, we apply a pan-European sampling protocol to quantify genetic diversity and structure and assess gene flow between agricultural and nearby seminatural landscapes in populations of two key ecosystem service-providing insect species, the lady beetle Coccinella septempunctata, an important predator of aphids and other crop pests, and the bee pollinator Andrena flavipes. We show that A. flavipes populations are genetically structured at the European level, whereas populations of C. septempunctata experience widespread gene flow across the continent and lack any defined genetic structure. In both species, we found that there is high genetic connectivity between populations established in croplands and nearby seminatural areas and, as a consequence, they harbor similar levels of genetic diversity. Interestingly, demographic models for some regions support asymmetric gene flow from seminatural areas to nearby agricultural landscapes. Collectively, our study demonstrates how seminatural areas can serve as genetic reservoirs of both pollinators and natural enemies for nearby agricultural landscapes, acting as sources for recurrent recolonization and, potentially, contributing to enhancing ecosystem service and crop production resilience in the longer term

Using a perception matrix to elicit farmers‘ perceptions towards stakeholders in the context of biodiversity-friendly farming

Farmers' pro-environmental action is substantially influenced by various stakeholders from their business and social environment. Recent studies recommend actively involving influential stakeholders in agri-environmental initiatives, information or media campaigns. While it has been argued that farmers' perceptions towards these stakeholders can help inform effective involvement, comprehensive assessments of these perceptions remain scarce, particularly in the context of biodiversity-friendly farming. To understand and compare farmers’ perceptions of these stakeholder quantitatively, we developed and applied a perception matrix. In an exploratory survey with 49 farmers across ten European countries, farmers rated twelve groups of stakeholders (e.g. government bodies, farm advisors and input suppliers) against eight perception constructs (e.g. trustworthiness, interest in protecting biodiversity). We found that perceptions differed significantly both between groups of stakeholders and between constructs. Whereas several stakeholders were, on average, perceived positively regarding their general characteristics, such as trustworthiness, reliability, understanding and support for farming, perceptions regarding their biodiversity-related behavior were significantly more negative. Our findings indicate potential to improve policy development and implementation of agri-environmental initiatives through the involvement of multiple, non-governmental, agricultural and non-agricultural stakeholders in biodiversity-friendly farming initiatives across the entire agri-food value chain. Such multi-stakeholder initiatives could help to not only reinforce biodiversity conservation action among the farming community, but across society as a whole as emphasized by the Convention on Biological Diversity. Further research is needed to confirm the observed trends on a larger, representative sample, for which the presented perception matrix is well suited

Tapping into non-English-language science for the conservation of global biodiversity.

The widely held assumption that any important scientific information would be available in English underlies the underuse of non-English-language science across disciplines. However, non-English-language science is expected to bring unique and valuable scientific information, especially in disciplines where the evidence is patchy, and for emergent issues where synthesising available evidence is an urgent challenge. Yet such contribution of non-English-language science to scientific communities and the application of science is rarely quantified. Here, we show that non-English-language studies provide crucial evidence for informing global biodiversity conservation. By screening 419,679 peer-reviewed papers in 16 languages, we identified 1,234 non-English-language studies providing evidence on the effectiveness of biodiversity conservation interventions, compared to 4,412 English-language studies identified with the same criteria. Relevant non-English-language studies are being published at an increasing rate in 6 out of the 12 languages where there were a sufficient number of relevant studies. Incorporating non-English-language studies can expand the geographical coverage (i.e., the number of 2° × 2° grid cells with relevant studies) of English-language evidence by 12% to 25%, especially in biodiverse regions, and taxonomic coverage (i.e., the number of species covered by the relevant studies) by 5% to 32%, although they do tend to be based on less robust study designs. Our results show that synthesising non-English-language studies is key to overcoming the widespread lack of local, context-dependent evidence and facilitating evidence-based conservation globally. We urge wider disciplines to rigorously reassess the untapped potential of non-English-language science in informing decisions to address other global challenges. Please see the Supporting information files for Alternative Language Abstracts

Az Al hatása a zárvatermő növények növekedésére, fejlődésére - modellkísérletek alapján

Az Al a földkérget alkotó elemek között a harmadik leggyakoribb. Oldhatósága csekély, viszont a pH csökkenésével növekszik, emiatt ez az elem bejuthat a talajból a növények szervezetébe. A növényekben számos más elem anyagcseréjét megzavarja, produkció (termés) csökkenéshez vezet. A talaj kémhatása a savas esők következtében csökken, ezáltal a kioldódó Al valószínűleg szerepet játszik az erdőpusztulásokban. A Föld megművelhető talajainak 40%-a savas karakterű, főleg a trópusi területeken. Időszerű tehát megismernünk minél több növényfajt az Al toleranciájuk szempontjából. A munka folyamán négy növényfajjal kísérleteztem: a kölessel (Panicum miliaceum L.) a rozzsal (Secale cereale L.), a lennel (Linum usitatissimum L.) és a fehér mustárral (Sinapis alba L.). A célom annak megállapítása volt, hogy az egyes koncentrációk hogyan hatnak a csírázási hányadra, erélyre, a csíranövények tömeg-, ill. hossznövekedésére, valamint az Al-ot is tartalmazó tápoldattal kezelt csíránövények hajtásának és gyökerének hosszára, ill. tömegére

Virágmélység és pödörnyelvhossz kapcsolata a kis Apolló-lelkéknél

A nappali lepkék jelentős részénél a lárvális és a felnőttkori táplálkozás egyaránt fontos a rátermettség növelésében. Az imágók virágok nektárjait fogyasztják, válogatnak a növényfajok között, amit befolyásolhat a virág színe, morfológiája, illata, a nektár összetétele és elérhetősége. A különböző fajok virágmélysége és a beporzók nyelvhossza taxononként változik, ennek következménye a testméreten alapuló forrásfelosztás. A kis Apolló-lepke néhány növényfajt gyakrabban látogat másokkal szemben. A fogyasztási arányok évek között és a repülési időszakon belül változnak. Elővizsgálatunk alapján vizsgálati területünkön az enyves szegfű (Silene viscaria) az egyik legbővebb nektárforrás, amit a kis Apollók fogyasztanak, és fogyasztásának aránya évek között változik. Virágmélysége hasonló, vagy hosszabb a kis Apollók nyelvénél. Célunk megtudni, hogy a kis Apolló-lepke pödörnyelvének hossza meghatározza-e a növényválasztását. Van-e különbség populációk, évek, ivarok és egyedek között a kis Apolló-lepke nyelvhosszában? Van-e különbség az enyves szegű virágmélységében populációk, évek között? Van-e összefüggés a nyelvhossz és más testméretek között

Mate‐guarding success depends on male investment in a butterfly

Abstract Males of many insects, including butterflies, produce mate‐guarding devices, such as mating plugs, to prolong guarding and prevent future female matings in the male's absence. In a few butterflies, large external mate‐guarding devices, that is, sphragides, occur. Gór et al. (Behaviour, 160, 2023 and 515−557) found conspicuously large size and morphological variation of mate‐guarding devices within a single population of the potentially polyandrous Clouded Apollo (Parnassius mnemosyne, L.) butterfly. They termed the externally visible male‐produced devices as Copulatory opening APpendices (CAP) consisting of small devices, termed small CAPs and the much larger shield (i.e. sphragis). Our aim was to reveal CAP replacement dynamics within females during their lifetime and to understand how male investment into small CAPs or shields was (i) related to CAP persistence on the female, that is securing paternity, (ii) associated with female quality, measured as size and (iii) with actual adult sex ratio. We investigated a univoltine Clouded Apollo population to estimate CAP replacement risks, using multistate survival models, in an extensive observational study through 6 years based on mark‐recapture. Shields were the most frequent mate‐guarding devices and were more persistent than small CAPs, often lasting for life, excluding future matings. Thus, most females bearing a shield were deprived of postcopulatory female choice, and the genetic variance in their offspring could be reduced compared to those bearing small CAPs, thus mating more often. The ratio of shields to all CAPs gradually decreased towards the end of the flight period. Males were more prone to produce a shield when mating females with wider thoraces and when the ratio of males (i.e. competition) was higher in the population. To our best knowledge, this is the first quantitative study to investigate potential factors on which male investment in mate‐guarding devices may depend, and how the variation in these devices impacts CAP persistence on females

Taxonomical and chorological notes 18 (184–194).

Floristical records of one fungus and ten flowering plants are presented from Hunga- ry. We report a new occurrence of Calvatia candida in a valuable Pannonian sandy steppe hab- itat. Some of our floristical data present new occurrences of species that are rare in Hungary, but in the case of Orobanche minor, Minuartia viscosa, due to the low number of recent floristi- cal data, we also try to clarify the distribution pattern of the species with data from specimens documented in the BP herbarium. The first occurrences of the rare, red-listed species Papaver hybridum was detected from the Duna-sík region. We report the first data of Orobanche mi- nor from the Hungarian Middle Mountain Ranges, Minuartia viscosa is new for the south- ern part of the Mezőföld. A new record of Dactylorhiza sambucina from the Vértes Mts, which is in decline in our low-middle mountain areas, is published, an important observation from a conservation point of view. The data of Potentilla patula reported here is a new observa- tion for the area of Cserhát-vidék. Our other data are from ruderal habitats, where we report observations of taxa that are mainly expanding but with few records in Hungary. The second Hungarian record of Senecio × helwingii is from the district of Zugló in Budapest. Erigeron su- matrensis has been found in several regions of Hungary, Euphorbia glyptosperma, Gypsophila per- foliata new occurrences were found in the border of Kecskemét. The recently suggested spread- ing of Medicago orbicularis is confirmed by new occurrence data from the Tihany Peninsula

The role of non-English-language science in informing national biodiversity assessments

Consulting the best available evidence is key to successful conservation decision-making. While much scientific evidence on conservation continues to be published in non-English languages, a poor understanding of how non-English-language science contributes to conservation decision-making is causing global assessments and studies to practically ignore non-English-language literature. By investigating the use of scientific literature in biodiversity assessment reports across 37 countries/territories, we have uncovered the established role of non-English-language literature as a major source of information locally. On average, non-English-language literature constituted 65% of the references cited, and these were recognized as relevant knowledge sources by 75% of report authors. This means that by ignoring non-English-language science, international assessments may overlook important information on local and/or regional biodiversity. Furthermore, a quarter of the authors acknowledged the struggles of understanding English-language literature. This points to the need to aid the use of English-language literature in domestic decision-making, for example, by providing non-English-language abstracts or improving and/or implementing machine translation