Einige Bemerkungen über neue Pflanzenarten in der Flora Eestis : Vortrag, gehalten am 3. IV 1924

https://www.ester.ee/record=b4187916*es

Mõõtemääramatuse allikad ja analüüsimeetodid SI õhuniiskuse ühikute realiseerimisel Eestis

Väitekirja elektrooniline versioon ei sisalda publikatsioone.Õhuniiskus on oluline füüsikaline suurus, mis mõjutab kliimat, inimeste soojusmugavust ja materjalide omadusi. Õhuniiskuse sisaldust peab mõõtma ja kontrollima näiteks muuseumides, raamatukogudes, pooljuhtmaterjalide tootmisel ja mujal. Õhuniiskuse mõõturite näite on vaja perioodiliselt võrrelda etaloni näitudega, et saada teada kui hea on näitude kooskõla nn „tõeliste“ väärtustega. Kuna iga mõõtmisega kaasneb mõõtemääramatus, siis pole tõelised väärtused rangelt võttes määratavad. Seetõttu kasutatakse tõeliste väärtuste hinnangutena nn tugiväärtusi, mis realiseeritakse tugietalonide abil. Käesolevas doktoritöös on edasi arendatud Eesti õhuniiskuse tugietaloni. Tugietaloni näitude mõõtemääramatust on hinnatud kolmel erineval meetodil, mille tulemused langevad hästi kokku. Õhuniiskuse tugietaloni kohapeal kontrollimiseks on konstrueeritud lihtsustatud niiskus-generaator, mis tekitab soovitud niiskusega õhku kitsas õhuniiskuse väärtuste vahemikus. Doktoritöös leiti, et erinevate ioonide loomulikul viisil sattumine niiskus-generaatorisse põhjustab niiskuse tekitamise vea, mida võib lugeda tühiseks. Samuti leiti nii mõõtmise teel kui ka arvutuslikult, et mõõdukas ülerõhk niiskusgeneratorist väljuvas torus, milles voolab väga kuiv õhk, praktiliselt peatab niiskuse sattumise torusse läbi selle seinas olevate väikeste avade. Niiskuse sattumine torusse läbi pisut vabastatud toruliitmike leiti olevat võimalik ka siis, kui torus oli mõõdukas ülerõhk. Käesoleva doktoritöö tulemused on arvesse võetud Eesti õhuniiskuse tugietaloni usaldusväärsuse tõstmisel ja võimaldavad tulevikus etaloni edasi arendada.Air humidity is a physical quantity that affects climate, human thermal comfort and properties of materials. Air humidity should be measured and controlled in museums, libraries, for manufacturing semiconductor materials, etc. It is necessary to periodically compare the readings of air humidity measuring devices to the readings of standard (etalon) in order to get to know how well the readings agree with the so-called “true” values of air humidity. No physical measurement is entirely accurate. Each measurement is accompanied by some uncertainty. Therefore true values are experimentally inaccessible and reference values of measurement standards are used instead. This dissertation is dedicated to developing Estonian air humidity reference measurement standard further. The measurement uncertainty of the reference values of the reference standard has been assessed using three different methods. The results agree well to each other. In order to check the readings of the reference standard on site, a simplified humidity generator has been constructed. It generates air with wished humidity in a narrow range of air humidity values. It was found that the natural presence of different ions in the humidity generator causes humidity generation error that can be considered insignificant. It was also found experimentally and theoretically that moderate overpressure in the tubing of a humidity generator practically stops escaping of humid air into the tubing through small holes inside the wall of the tubing even if very dry air is flowing in it. However, the escaping of humid air into the tubing through slightly loosened connectors is possible if there is moderate overpressure in the tubing. The results of the current dissertation have been taken into account for enhancing the reliability of Estonian air humidity reference standard and enable to develop the standard further in future

Quality assurance of diatom counts in Europe: towards harmonized datasets

Investigations on organism ecology, biodiversity and biogeography often use large compiled datasets to extract information on species ecological preferences, which then can be used in environmental assessment. Freshwater benthic diatoms are commonly used in this context. However, it is important that the taxonomic information of the separate diatom datasets is compatible. At present, inconsistencies between diatom datasets, mainly due to differences and uncertainties in diatom identification, may misinform diatom taxon-specific ecological preferences, geographical distribution and water quality assessment. It is our opinion that these inconsistencies in diatom datasets can be reduced with quality assurance (QA), such as identification exercises. However, the results of these exercises must be well documented and well communicated; otherwise, gained knowledge may not spread inter-regionally or internationally. As a first step to reach greater consistency in QA/harmonization studies, this article (1) presents and compares information of existing diatom identification and counting QA from published and grey (non-peer reviewed) European literature to identify advantages and drawbacks of each approach; (2) summarizes taxa that can easily be misidentified according to European identification exercises; and (3) suggests a consistent design of identification exercises for diatom dataset QA

A comparison of national approaches to setting ecological status boundaries in phytobenthos assessment for the European Water Framework Directive: results of an intercalibration exercise

The European Union (EU)'s Water Framework Directive (WFD) requires that all Member States participate in intercalibration exercises in order to ensure that ecological status concepts and assessment levels are consistent across the EU. This paper describes one such exercise, performed by the countries in the Central/Baltic Geographical Intercalibration Group stretching from Ireland in the west to Estonia in the east and from the southern parts of Scandinavia to the northern regions of Spain and Italy (but excluding alpine regions, which were intercalibrated separately). In this exercise, methods used to measure ecological status of rivers using benthic diatoms were compared. Ecological status is estimated as the ratio between the observed value of a biological element and the value expected in the absence of significant human impact. Approaches to defining the 'reference sites', from which these 'expected' values were derived, varied from country to country. Minimum criteria were established as part of the exercise but there was still considerable variation between national reference values, reflecting typological differences that could not be resolved during the exercise. A simple multimetric index was developed to compare boundary values using two widely used diatom metrics. Boundary values for high/good status and good/moderate status set by each participant were converted to their equivalent values of this intercalibration metric using linear regression. Variation of ±0.05 EQR units around the median value was considered to be acceptable and the exercise provided a means for those Member States who fell significantly above or below this line to review their approaches and, if necessary, adjust their boundaries

Comparative cytogenetics of Auchenorrhyncha (Hemiptera, Homoptera): a review

A comprehensive review of cytogenetic features is provided for the large hemipteran suborder Auche norrhyncha, which currently contains approximately 42,000 valid species. This review is based on the analysis of 819 species, 483 genera, and 31 families representing all presently recognized Auchenorrhyn cha superfamilies, e.i. Cicadoidea (cicadas), Cercopoidea (spittle bugs), Membracoidea (leafhoppers and treehoppers), Myerslopioidea (ground-dwelling leafhoppers), and Fulgoroidea (planthoppers). History and present status of chromosome studies are described, as well as the structure of chromosomes, chro mosome counts, trends and mechanisms of evolution of karyotypes and sex determining systems, their variation at different taxonomic levels and most characteristic (modal) states, occurrence of partheno genesis, polyploidy, B-chromosomes and chromosome rearrangements, and methods used for cytoge netic analysis of Auchenorrhyncha.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Siseveekogud : õpik kõrgkoolidele

Inimeste kõige tavalisemad seosed siseveekogudega on matkamine, kalapüük, suplemine, janu kustutamine ja taimede kastmine. Et veekogude ääres viibimine mõjub paljudele rahustavalt, on jõgedel-järvedel miljonivaadete kaudu kindel koht ka kinnisvaraäris. Veekogudeta ei saa läbi sportlased (purjetajad, sõudjad ja motohuvilised). Leidub selliseidki indiviide, keda meelitavad mittesöödavad või koguni palja silmaga nähtamatud vee-elanikud. Eesti on väike madal maa, millel on pikk mererand, aga kus leidub ka palju siseveekogusid. Eriline on kahe suure järve – Peipsi ja Võrtsjärve – asumine lähestikku. Seisuvete pindala osakaalu järgi kogu riigi pindalast on Eesti Euroopas pärast Soomet ja Rootsit koos Norraga kolmandal-neljandal kohal. Eesti ja tema ümbrus on puhta veega seni niisiis hästi varustatud, kuid see rikkus ühtlasi kohustab veekogusid heaperemehelikult ja jätkusuutlikult majandama. Ka Eestis on muresid nii veevarude, veekogude kui nende seisundiga. Sisevete uurimine on Eestis kestnud juba üle 100 aasta. Seda on süstemaatiliselt korraldanud nii Looduseuurijate Selts, Tartu Riiklik Ülikool, Teaduste Akadeemia kui Maaülikool. Suurte järvede kõrval pole unustatud väikesi järvi ega vooluveekogusid. Uurida vee ja veekogude omadusi, arendada ja kasvatada nende spetsialiste ongi mõistlik seal, kus on, mida tundma õppida. Üha enam leitakse seoseid looduslike ja inimtekkeliste mõjurite ning ökosüsteemide vastuste vahel. Ühtlasi ühendatakse neid seoseid sotsiaalmajanduslike küsimuste ja looduskaitsega. Eesti siseveekogude kohta on peale arvukate ja enamasti võõrkeelsete teadusartiklite ilmunud ka eestikeelseid raamatuid. Siin neist väike loetelu: väikejärved (Eesti järved, 1968; Mäemets, 1977; Laarmaa jt 2019); Võrtsjärv (1973, 2003); Peipsi (1999, 2008), vooluveed (Järvekülg jt 2001; Timm jt 2019). Kalaraamatuid esindavad Mikelsaar (1984) ning Hunt (2019), veetaimi „Eesti taimede määraja“ (2010). Silmaga nähtavate veeselgrootute ülevaate pakub Timm (2015). Ülevaatlikku eestikeelset õpikut siseveekogude ning nende talitlemise kohta seni polnud. Eesti ülikoolides on kõigil kolmel õppetasandil (bakalaureuse-, magistri- ja doktoriõpe) õppekavasid, kus vajatakse teadmisi siseveekogudest. Võõrkeelseid eeskujusid leidub päris mitu, kuid need käsitlevad enamasti kas ainult hüdrobioloogiat või limnoloogiat. Esimene on elustiku-, teine keskkonna-alase suunitlusega. Uus õpik sisaldab mõlemaid ning sobib loodetavasti paljudele loodusteaduslikele ja looduskaitselistele kursustele, eriti bakalaureusetasemel. Õpik koosneb kolmest suurest alajaotusest: (1) siseveekogude füüsikalis-keemiline iseloomustus, levik ja teke; (2) elupaigad veekogudes, olulised elustikurühmad ning nendevahelised suhted; (3) siseveekogude majandamine, kaitse ja tervendamine. Peamiselt vaadeldakse Eesti siseveekogusid, aga seda kogu maailma taustal. Koostajad loodavad, et raamat annab lugejatele nii vastuseid küsimustele kui ka süvendab huvi sisevete kui kaunite, põnevate ning inimestele eluliselt oluliste loodusobjektide suhtes.Õpik on valminud riikliku programmi „Eestikeelsete kõrgkooliõpikute koostamine ja väljaandmine (2008–2012)“ raames ning Eesti Maaülikooli ja Sihtasutuse Archimedes osalisel toel

Inventing a herbal tradition: The complex roots of the current popularity of Epilobium angustifolium in Eastern Europe

Ethnopharmacological relevance: Currently various scientific and popular sources provide a wide spectrum of ethnopharmacological information on many plants, yet the sources of that information, as well as the information itself, are often not clear, potentially resulting in the erroneous use of plants among lay people or even in official medicine. Our field studies in seven countries on the Eastern edge of Europe have revealed an unusual increase in the medicinal use of Epilobium angustifolium L., especially in Estonia, where the majority of uses were specifically related to “men's problems”. The aim of the current work is: to understand the recent and sudden increase in the interest in the use of E. angustifolium in Estonia; to evaluate the extent of documented traditional use of E. angustifolium among sources of knowledge considered traditional; to track different sources describing (or attributed as describing) the benefits of E. angustifolium; and to detect direct and indirect influences of the written sources on the currently documented local uses of E. angustifolium on the Eastern edge of Europe. Materials and methods: In this study we used a variety of methods: semi-structured interviews with 599 people in 7 countries, historical data analysis and historical ethnopharmacological source analysis. We researched historical and archival sources, and academic and popular literature published on the medicinal use of E. angustifolium in the regions of our field sites as well as internationally, paying close attention to the literature that might have directly or indirectly contributed to the popularity of E. angustifolium at different times in history. Results: Our results show that the sudden and recent popularity in the medical use of E. angustifolium in Estonia has been caused by local popular authors with academic medical backgrounds, relying simultaneously on “western” and Russian sources. While Russian sources have propagated (partially unpublished) results from the 1930s, “western” sources are scientific insights derived from the popularization of other Epilobium species by Austrian herbalist Maria Treben. The information Treben disseminated could have been originated from a previous peak in popularity of E. angustifolium in USA in the second half of the 19th century, caused in turn by misinterpretation of ancient herbals. The traditional uses of E. angustifolium were related to wounds and skin diseases, fever, pain (headache, sore throat, childbirth), and abdominal-related problems (constipation, stomach ache) and intestinal bleeding. Few more uses were based on the similarity principle. The main theme, however, is the fragmentation of use and its lack of consistency apart from wounds and skin diseases. Conclusions: Historical ethnobotanical investigations could help to avoid creating repeating waves of popularity of plants that have already been tried for certain diseases and later abandoned as not fully effective. There is, of course, a chance that E. angustifolium could also finally be proven to be clinically safe and cost-effective for treating benign prostatic hyperplasia, but this has not yet happened despite recent intensive research. Documented traditional use would suggest investigating the dermatological, intestinal anti-hemorrhagic and pain inhibiting properties of this plant, if any

Global Patterns and Controls of Nutrient Immobilization On Decomposing Cellulose In Riverine Ecosystems

Microbes play a critical role in plant litter decomposition and influence the fate of carbon in rivers and riparian zones. When decomposing low-nutrient plant litter, microbes acquire nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) from the environment (i.e., nutrient immobilization), and this process is potentially sensitive to nutrient loading and changing climate. Nonetheless, environmental controls on immobilization are poorly understood because rates are also influenced by plant litter chemistry, which is coupled to the same environmental factors. Here we used a standardized, low-nutrient organic matter substrate (cotton strips) to quantify nutrient immobilization at 100 paired stream and riparian sites representing 11 biomes worldwide. Immobilization rates varied by three orders of magnitude, were greater in rivers than riparian zones, and were strongly correlated to decomposition rates. In rivers, P immobilization rates were controlled by surface water phosphate concentrations, but N immobilization rates were not related to inorganic N. The N:P of immobilized nutrients was tightly constrained to a molar ratio of 10:1 despite wide variation in surface water N:P. Immobilization rates were temperature-dependent in riparian zones but not related to temperature in rivers. However, in rivers nutrient supply ultimately controlled whether microbes could achieve the maximum expected decomposition rate at a given temperature