A detailed assessment of the land cover development in a territory with dispersed settlement area (case study Hriňová – Snohy, Slovakia)

This study focuses on the development of the landscape during a period of significant social changes in Central Europe from the middle of the 20th century, and evaluates the impact of the selected natural factors on landscape dynamics in the Snohy dispersed settlement area (cadaster of Hriňová, Slovakia). During the periods of feudalism and the democratic Czechoslovak Republic after 1918, private ownership of land prevailed on the territory of Slovakia. After 1948, in the period of the socialist establishment, the municipality was one of the few localities without collectivisation. We focused on the state and changes to the landscape structure based on remote sensing data analysis (1949, 2003, and 2018), as well as field research and archive photographs inspection. The study area is a part of the proposed Special Area of Conservation SKUEV4026 Meadows of Poľana and is situated near the border between the transition and buffer zones of the Poľana Biosphere Reserve. The state of land cover and its changes have been evaluated using a CORINE Land Cover modification at the 5th level. Results showed that the influence of the slope on agricultural extensification, deforestation, and afforestation, was the most pronounced. Since 1949, more than half of the land cover has changed across the study area. The most extensive changes were recorded in the spatial structure and composition of forest communities

Effects of a Short-Term Trampling Experiment on Alpine Vegetation in the Tatras, Slovakia

Over the past decades, outdoor recreation in mountains has become progressively more important and as a result human induced potential damage has increased. Alpine communities are particularly susceptible to human recreational activities, such as tourist trampling. Although there are a number of studies that explicitly assess the effects of trampling on alpine communities, they do not reflect on terrains with a rich topography and the presence of more communities in very small areas. In this study, effects of short-term trampling on some alpine communities in the Tatras, the highest mountains of the Carpathians, were studied experimentally. Vulnerability to disturbance was compared among plant communities in terms of resistance and resilience, which are based on cover measurements. With proximity to trampling intensity, we found a significant decrease in plant cover and abundance of deciduous shrubs, lichens, and mosses. These results demonstrate that human trampling in alpine communities has major negative impacts on lichen and moss abundance and species richness. A short-term trampling experiment required several years of community regeneration. Therefore, management plans should discourage hiking activity off paths and restrict recreational activities

Impacts of Human Activities on the High Mountain Landscape of the Tatras (Example of the Border Area of the High and Belianske Tatras, Slovakia)

We summarize impacts of human activities on the alpine landscape at the border of the High and Belianske Tatras (Slovakia). The High Tatras, especially due to the glacial relief on the crystalline rocks and specific climatic conditions, represent the most attractive area of year-round tourism. The Belianske Tatras represent the limestone part of the mountain range, with rare communities, many endemics and glacial relics, and are among the rarest and most endangered mountains in Slovakia. In the past, this area was mainly affected by grazing, forest cutting and mining. Currently, the area is protected as the Tatra National Park, the Tatras Biosphere Reserve, by the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive, tourism is the only human activity in the area. Due to tourism, the ridge trail of the Belianske Tatras has been closed since 1978 and one of the trails has been open since 1993. The current hiking, as the only activity in the area, is bearable, which was confirmed by experimental research. But hiking trails are threatened by many morphodynamic processes

The Impact of Past Human Activities on the Current State of Vegetation in Historical Settlements of a Wine-Growing Cultural Landscape (Svätý Jur, Slovakia)

The aim of our study is to reconstruct the human influence on the current vegetation in selected parts of the cadastral territory of Svätý Jur. Svätý Jur is a town with more than 700 years of winemaking tradition, located on the oak-hornbeam-forested slopes of the Little Carpathians and surrounded by terraced vineyards. Human activity has changed the natural landscape of Svätý Jur since the Neolithic period. It is possible to trace the influence of past human activities on current vegetation by mapping vegetation onto historical landscape structures. For our research, we chose two study sites—Biely Kameň Castle and Hillfort Neštich. Our research has shown that there are significant differences in plant communities as well as in their environmental requirements between the investigated sites. Nitrophilous species indicative of human activities were recorded at both sites. At Hillfort Neštich, we recorded the occurrence of an interesting combination of species of Atropa, Phytolacca and Rubus. We have recorded their current occurrence and searched for its causes. In addition, we evaluate the current state of the vegetation of the castle and the hillfort in relation to the human past and today’s use

Resistance of Lichens and Mosses of Regenerated Alpine Communities to Repeated Experimental Trampling in the Belianske Tatras, Northern Slovakia

Due to the destruction of alpine ecosystems by extreme human trampling, some alpine areas are closed to tourists. After years of regeneration, a tendency toward reopening these areas for tourism is envisaged. Although numerous studies have documented vegetative responses to trampling disturbance, research that thoroughly examines the trampling impacts on the vegetation at different organizational levels is often limited. Most of the previous studies on the human disturbance of vegetation focused on the impacts on vascular plants, while the impacts on lichens or mosses are less well-documented. To understand how regenerated communities respond to further trampling disturbance, we repeated the experimental research on short-term trampling after 14 years in three high-altitude communities in the Tatras in northern Slovakia. According to Cole and Bayfield’s protocol, we evaluated the resistance of communities trampled in 2008 and 2022, with a focus on groups of lichens and mosses and their individual species. This research brings new knowledge regarding the different behaviors of regenerated vegetation, especially lichens and mosses, to trampling disturbance. The results show that human trampling in alpine communities has a large negative impact and, therefore, management plans should discourage off-trail hiking and limit recreational activities in sensitive or reopened alpine areas

Resistance of Lichens and Mosses of Regenerated Alpine Communities to Repeated Experimental Trampling in the Belianske Tatras, Northern Slovakia

Due to the destruction of alpine ecosystems by extreme human trampling, some alpine areas are closed to tourists. After years of regeneration, a tendency toward reopening these areas for tourism is envisaged. Although numerous studies have documented vegetative responses to trampling disturbance, research that thoroughly examines the trampling impacts on the vegetation at different organizational levels is often limited. Most of the previous studies on the human disturbance of vegetation focused on the impacts on vascular plants, while the impacts on lichens or mosses are less well-documented. To understand how regenerated communities respond to further trampling disturbance, we repeated the experimental research on short-term trampling after 14 years in three high-altitude communities in the Tatras in northern Slovakia. According to Cole and Bayfield’s protocol, we evaluated the resistance of communities trampled in 2008 and 2022, with a focus on groups of lichens and mosses and their individual species. This research brings new knowledge regarding the different behaviors of regenerated vegetation, especially lichens and mosses, to trampling disturbance. The results show that human trampling in alpine communities has a large negative impact and, therefore, management plans should discourage off-trail hiking and limit recreational activities in sensitive or reopened alpine areas

Linking plant litter microbial diversity to microhabitat conditions, environmental gradients and litter mass loss: Insights from a European study using standard litter bags

Plant litter decomposition is a key process for carbon dynamics and nutrient cycling in terrestrial ecosystems. The interaction between litter properties, climatic conditions and soil attributes, influences the activity of microorganisms responsible for litter mineralization. So far, studies using standardized litters to investigate the response of bacterial and fungal communities under different environmental conditions are scarce, especially along wide geographic ranges. We used a standardized protocol to investigate the diversity of bacteria and fungi in plant litter with the aim of: (i) comparing the microbial communities of native and exotic litters with the community of local soil along a European transect from northern Finland to southern Italy, (ii) defining whether and to what extent, litter types with different traits represent selective substrates for microbial communities, (iii) disentangling the abiotic drivers of microbial diversity, and (iv) correlating the microbial diversity and species co-occurrences patterns with litter mass loss. We buried native litter and three exotic standardized litters (Deschampsia cespitosa, rooibos tea and green tea) at 12 European study sites. We determined litter mass loss after 94 days. We used an automated molecular DNA-based fingerprinting (ARISA) to profile the bacterial and fungal communities of each litter type and soil (180 samples in total). Microbial communities in native and exotic litters differed from local soil assemblages. Green tea and D. cespitosa litter represented more selective substrates compared to native litter and rooibos. Soil moisture and soil temperature were the major drivers of microbial community structure at larger scales, though with varying patterns according to litter type. Soil attributes (i.e. moisture and C/N ratios) better explained the differences in microbial abundances than litter type. Green tea degraded faster than all other litter types and accounted for the largest number of positive co-occurrences among microbial taxa. Litter mass loss was positively correlated with fungal evenness and with the percentage of positive co-occurrences between fungi. Our findings suggest that the microbial community at larger scales reflects the complex interplay between litter type and soil attributes, with the latter exerting a major influence. Mass loss patterns are in part determined by inter- and intra-kingdom interactions and fungal diversity

Linking plant litter microbial diversity to microhabitat conditions, environmental gradients and litter mass loss: Insights from a European study using standard litter bags

Plant litter decomposition is a key process for carbon dynamics and nutrient cycling in terrestrial ecosystems. The interaction between litter properties, climatic conditions and soil attributes, influences the activity of microorganisms responsible for litter mineralization. So far, studies using standardized litters to investigate the response of bacterial and fungal communities under different environmental conditions are scarce, especially along wide geographic ranges. We used a standardized protocol to investigate the diversity of bacteria and fungi in plant litter with the aim of: (i) comparing the microbial communities of native and exotic litters with the community of local soil along a European transect from northern Finland to southern Italy, (ii) defining whether and to what extent, litter types with different traits represent selective substrates for microbial communities, (iii) disentangling the abiotic drivers of microbial diversity, and (iv) correlating the microbial diversity and species co-occurrences patterns with litter mass loss. We buried native litter and three exotic standardized litters (Deschampsia cespitosa, rooibos tea and green tea) at 12 European study sites. We determined litter mass loss after 94 days. We used an automated molecular DNA-based fingerprinting (ARISA) to profile the bacterial and fungal communities of each litter type and soil (180 samples in total). Microbial communities in native and exotic litters differed from local soil assemblages. Green tea and D. cespitosa litter represented more selective substrates compared to native litter and rooibos. Soil moisture and soil temperature were the major drivers of microbial community structure at larger scales, though with varying patterns according to litter type. Soil attributes (i.e. moisture and C/N ratios) better explained the differences in microbial abundances than litter type. Green tea degraded faster than all other litter types and accounted for the largest number of positive co-occurrences among microbial taxa. Litter mass loss was positively correlated with fungal evenness and with the percentage of positive co-occurrences between fungi. Our findings suggest that the microbial community at larger scales reflects the complex interplay between litter type and soil attributes, with the latter exerting a major influence. Mass loss patterns are in part determined by inter- and intra-kingdom interactions and fungal diversity

Accelerated increase in plant species richness on mountain summits is linked to warming

We thank D. Barolin, J. Birks, A. Björken, C. Björken, S. Dahle, U. Deppe, G. Dussassois, J. V. Ferrández, T. Gassner, S. Giovanettina, F. Giuntoli, Ø. Lunde Heggebø, K. Herz, A. Jost, K. Kallnik, W. Kapfer, T. Kronstad, H. Laukeland, S. Nießner, M. Olson, P. Roux-Fouillet, K. Schofield, M. Suen, D. Watson, J. Wells Abbott, J. Zaremba and numerous additional helpers for fieldwork support; P. Barancˇ ok, J. L. Benito Alonso, M. Camenisch, G. Coldea, J. Dick, M. Gottfried, G. Grabherr, J. I. Holten, J. Kollár, P. Larsson, M. Mallaun, O. Michelsen, U. Molau, M. Pus¸  cas¸ , T. Scheurer, P. Unterluggauer, L. Villar, G.-R. Walther, and numerous helpers for data originating from the GLORIA network13; C. Jenks for linguistic support; and the following institutions for funding. M.J.S.: Danish Carlsbergfondet (CF14-0148), EU Marie Sklodowska-Curie action (grant 707491). C.R., V.S., S.W.: Velux Foundation, Switzerland. C.R., V.S., S.W., J.-P.T., P.V.: Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN). A.K.: Swiss National Science Foundation (31003A_144011 to C.R.), Basler Stiftung für biologische Forschung, Switzerland. J.K.: Fram Centre, Norway (362202). J.K., J.-A.G., P.C., B.J.: Polish-Norwegian Research Programme of the Norwegian National Centre for Research and Development (Pol-Nor/196829/87/2013). O.F.-A., M.J.H., S.P.: Instituto de Estudios Altoaragoneses (Huesca, Spain). S.D.: Austrian Climate Research Programme (ACRP, project 368575: DISEQU-ALP). F.J.: Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland; Alpine Garden Society, UK. M.J.H.: Felix de Azara research grant (IBERSUMIT project, DPH, Spain). R.K.: Slovak Research and Development Agency (APVV 0866-12). S.N., D.G.: VILLUM Foundation’s Young Investigator Programme (VKR023456; Denmark). S.P.: Ramón y Cajal fellowship (RYC-2013-14164, Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, Spain). J.-C.S.: European Research Council (ERC-2012-StG-310886-HISTFUNC); VILLUM Investigator project (VILLUM FONDEN grant 16549; Denmark). S.W.: WSL internal grant (201307N0678, Switzerland); EU FP7 Interact Transnational Access (AlpFlor Europe). S.W., S.B., F.J., M.J.H.: Swiss Botanical Society Alpine Flower Fund. Time and effort was supported by sDiv, the Synthesis Centre of iDiv, Germany (DFG FZT 118, sUMMITDiv working group).Peer reviewedPostprin