{"title":"The Impact of Overstory Species and Soil Properties on the Growth of Planted Silver Fir Abies alba in the Karkonosze Mountains, Poland","authors":"D. Dobrowolska, Bogdan Pawlak, G. Olszowska","doi":"10.3161/15052249PJE2021.69.1.002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3161/15052249PJE2021.69.1.002","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Silver fir Abies alba was once an abundant tree species in the Karkonosze Mts. in Poland but its population has decreased. The aim of our study was to assess 1) the impact of canopy trees on the growth dynamics of silver fir saplings and 2) the relationship between the growth rate of silver fir saplings and the soil properties, with special regard to the soil enzyme activity. The study was conducted in the Karkonoski National Park on five experimental plots. Silver fir seedlings were planted in Scots pine, European larch, Norway spruce, silver birch and European beech stands in 1999. In 2016, we measured the diameter at breast height (DBH) and height of the canopy trees and the height, DBH, height increments, needle width and length of 100 silver fir saplings. The dehydrogenase, urease, phosphatase and asparaginase activity was analysed in organic and humus soil horizons. The height, diameter and needle dimensions of young silver fir trees were significantly different under different canopies. The urease and asparaginase activity was the highest under the larch and spruce canopy in both soil horizons. Phosphatase activity was also the highest under larch canopy but only in organic soil horizon. Young silver fir (thicket) has grown under the canopy of all tested tree species but found best growth conditions under larch and pine canopies. The relative growth of silver fir is therefore a function of both stand canopy and soil properties.","PeriodicalId":49683,"journal":{"name":"Polish Journal of Ecology","volume":"69 1","pages":"14 - 24"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2021-05-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45858012","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Breeding Ecology of the Iberian Chiffchaff Phylloscopus ibericus: First Data from North Africa","authors":"A. Bougaham","doi":"10.3161/15052249PJE2021.69.1.005","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3161/15052249PJE2021.69.1.005","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Till now, the breeding biology of several North African bird populations has been little studied, particularly that of the southern populations of Iberian chiffchaff Phylloscopus ibericus. In the present study, total of 31 nests of Iberian chiffchaff were monitored in the northeastern Algeria during 2013–2017. The nesting period, clutch and brood sizes, and reproductive success of the species were determined. The first egg-laying dates of the first broods were spread over the first twenty days of April. There were significant among-year variations in nesting seasons. The Iberian chiffchaff clutch sizes averaged 4.51 eggs. The number of hatchlings and fledglings averaged 4.09 and 3.54 nestlings, respectively. There is no correlation between the nest height above the ground and the hatching and the breeding success of the species. Predation and nest abandonment were the main causes of the breeding failure of the Iberian chiffchaff in studied population, however, in general the breeding success was high – 80.7%. Breeding data for the Iberian chiffchaff at the southern edge of its breeding range in North Africa show smaller clutches and production of fewer young compared to the common chiffchaff Phylloscopus collybita in Europe.","PeriodicalId":49683,"journal":{"name":"Polish Journal of Ecology","volume":"69 1","pages":"51 - 56"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2021-05-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47799138","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Differences in Troglomorphism and Sexual Dimorphism in Two Sympatric Subtroglophile Crickets of Genus Troglophilus (Insecta: Orthoptera)","authors":"J. Jugovic, Nika Šumer","doi":"10.3161/15052249PJE2021.69.1.004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3161/15052249PJE2021.69.1.004","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT We investigated morphological variation and sexual dimorphism in two species of syntopic cave crickets (Troglophilus neglectus and T. cavicola) from Northern Balkans. T. cavicola is able to penetrate deeper in caves and stays there for longer periods than T. neglectus. Yet, it has not exhibited clearly stronger constructive (body size, elongation of appendages, increased spinulation) or reductive (eye reduction) traits than T. neglectus. Moreover, contrary to expectation, there is no clear association between more prolonged staying in a stable cave environment and overall lower morphological variability in T. cavicola. Only some of its morphological traits actually showed less while other showed more variation than in T. neglectus. While T. cavicola males are larger than females, there is no such difference in T. neglectus. This may help males of T. cavicola being more competitive towards overall larger T. neglectus. With the exception of the body size, overall sexual dimorphism was better expressed in larger T. neglectus. The morphospaces occupied by males and females overlap more strongly in T. cavicola than in T. neglectus, indicating that ecological niches of both sexes are better separated in the latter species.","PeriodicalId":49683,"journal":{"name":"Polish Journal of Ecology","volume":"69 1","pages":"35 - 50"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2021-05-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45641160","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Survival Strategies and Seasonal Size Variations of Feather Mites Proctophyllodes megaphyllus on their Host Alpine Accentor Prunella collaris","authors":"Natália Marčanová, M. Janiga","doi":"10.3161/15052249PJE2021.69.1.003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3161/15052249PJE2021.69.1.003","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Compared to chewing lice, symbiotic and studies on their biology, ecology and survival strategies are still rare. To describe the ecology and morphology of the mite species Proctophyllodes megaphyllus, a symbiont of the alpine accentor Prunella collaris, 150 accentors were captured in the West Carpathian Mountains of Slovakia. The mites extracted from the birds were sexed and their specific body structures were measured. In total 2144 individuals of P. megaphyllus were collected from 100 accentors. Male mites collected in autumn, after the bird's postnuptial moult, reached the largest size. At the same time, mite prevalence reached maximum while the mean intensity of infestation was at its lowest. Our results suggest that mites preferred newly coated feathers after a moult and radiated horizontally, infesting birds at shared roosting sites where alpine accentors tend to reoccur. This study is one of the few evaluations of seasonal variation in ecology and morphology of feather mites in alpine conditions.","PeriodicalId":49683,"journal":{"name":"Polish Journal of Ecology","volume":"69 1","pages":"25 - 34"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2021-05-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46911412","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Gabriela Bujalska-Grüm (1936–2020)","authors":"J. Gliwicz","doi":"10.3161/15052249pje2021.69.1.007","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3161/15052249pje2021.69.1.007","url":null,"abstract":"mal ecology, specialist in the population ecology of rodents, was an outstanding person in Polish science and well known worldwide. After accomplishing her studies on the University of Warsaw, Faculty of Biology, she began her scientific work in the Institute of Ecology of Polish Academy of Science in 1960 and she tied her entire professional career with this institution. Only after the Institute ceased to operate in 2003, she spent the last few years before retirement with the Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw. Her approach to the population ecology, as she herself admitted (Bujalska 2003), came from the tradition of the “Warsaw school of ecology” created in the late 50’ of 20 century by professors K. Tarwid and K. Petrusewicz, representing the holistic views on ecological systems. Population processes were considered to be a function of the population structures, such as sex ratio, age or spatial structures or social hierarchy, which limited and modified direct impact of the changing environment (Petrusewicz 1965). At the end of 70’ and in 80’, however, a reductionist approach became dominant in ecology, deriving the properties of a population from the properties of individuals that differ from each other genetically and in many other ways (Łomnicki 1978). This view has become evident in the later works of Gabriela. Her recognition in science, Gabriela owed to the results of studies on ecology of small forest rodent – the bank vole Clethrionomys glareolus (or Myodes glareolus), which she carried out for many years on a small island in the Masurian Lakeland, northern Poland. The Crabapple Island, 4 hectares in size, inhabited by the bank vole became a “live laboratory” with 37-year-long history of research. At first in 1965, the team of scientists from the Institute of Ecology began and had carried out for a decade their studies on population productivity and dynamics as a part of the worldwide research program, known as IBP. Then, Gabriela continued her own research in many aspects of ecology of this population for another three decades. Such long-term studies are extremely valuable in times of fast climate change, as they allow us to capture the effects of the change for different components of the Nature. The impressive effect of this research is one hundred and several dozen of papers published by Gabriela, of which 102 papers appeared in journals registered by the Web of Science (all databases) and were cited 1131 times (1062 without self citations) so far. Her other papers, usually overlooked by the international statistics, include published conference abstracts and many popular science and review articles, short notes, book reviews etc, written in Polish for domestic readers. In most of her published papers, she was the only author. Her greatest success was discovering the territoriality among mature female bank voles. (Earlier only males of some rodent species were considered to be territorial). Moreover, she concluded that","PeriodicalId":49683,"journal":{"name":"Polish Journal of Ecology","volume":"69 1","pages":"71 - 72"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2021-05-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44397189","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
P. Lv, X. Zuo, Shanshan Sun, Jing Zhang, Shenglong Zhao, Ya Hu
{"title":"Seasonal Changes of Soil Nitrogen Mineralization Along Restoration Gradient of Sandy Grassland, Northern China","authors":"P. Lv, X. Zuo, Shanshan Sun, Jing Zhang, Shenglong Zhao, Ya Hu","doi":"10.3161/15052249PJE2020.68.4.002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3161/15052249PJE2020.68.4.002","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Soil nitrogen mineralization strongly affects N availability, thus impacting the primary productivity in ecosystems. The seasonal environmental changes affect soil mineralization in restored sandy grasslands such as a studied mobile dune (MD), a semi-fixed dune (SFD), a fixed dune (FD) and a grassland (G). During the growing season, we examined the association of soil N mineralization rate with vegetation characteristics, soil properties and climatic factors through the multivariate stepwise regression model. The vegetation cover, species diversity, above- and belowground biomass, soil carbon, nitrogen, soil water content (SWC), pH, electrical conductivity, very fine sand, clay and silt fractions increased during sandy grassland restoration. The NH4+-N concentration in MD and SFD was higher than that in FD and G, while NO3--N and inorganic N concentration showed a reverse trend. The NH4+N, NO3--N and inorganic N concentrations in MD, SFD and FD reached to the highest values in June, while in G they were highest in May. The net mineralization and nitrification rates increased with sandy grassland restoration; both of these rates were much greater in June than in other months at all sites. Regression analysis showed that the NO3--N concentration, SWC, pH of the soil and precipitation could explain 75% of the total variation in net nitrification rate, and the NO3--N concentration and precipitation could explain 59% of the total variation in the net mineralization rate. These results illustrate that the sandy grassland restoration can enhance the soil N availability, with soil N mineralization mainly determined by the changes of the NO3--N concentration and precipitation.","PeriodicalId":49683,"journal":{"name":"Polish Journal of Ecology","volume":"68 1","pages":"283 - 295"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2021-02-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41427371","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Expansion of Cold-Adapted Orchid Goodyera repens (Orchidaceae) in Times of Global Warming – Report from Southern Poland","authors":"G. Łazarski","doi":"10.3161/15052249PJE2020.68.4.004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3161/15052249PJE2020.68.4.004","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT In Central Europe Goodyera repens (L.) R. Br. is considered as species vulnerable to extinction, critically threatened, or even extinct, depending on the region. In recent years, this rare orchid clearly increases the number of sites within its natural range. The aim of the study is to present new data on the abundant occurrence of circum-boreal species in southern Poland (position of localities, the estimated number of specimens, habitat data) that indicate its ecological expansion. The localities of G. repens were described using the topogram method and then its distribution was shown using cartogram method. The study was conducted in the years 2010–2018 in the south-western part of the Świętokrzyskie Mountains (S Poland) on the area of 337,5 km2. During the study the species was found for the first time on eleven localities. The largest populations were observed in secondary pine forests. The results of this study against the background of published data suggest the ecological expansion of the species in Poland, which is facilitated by the availability of suitable habitats. The expansion of this cold-adapted species is interesting in the context of the global warming.","PeriodicalId":49683,"journal":{"name":"Polish Journal of Ecology","volume":"68 1","pages":"313 - 322"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2021-02-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48594249","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Detectability of Elusive Reptiles under Artificial Cover Objects is Species- and Year-Specific","authors":"Aleksandra Kolanek, Stanisław Bury","doi":"10.3161/15052249PJE2020.68.4.007","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3161/15052249PJE2020.68.4.007","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Field surveys of rare and elusive reptiles often encounter the problem of low detectability. Therefore, several techniques have been invented to improve detection probability and artificial cover objects (ACOs) are among the most commonly used in reptile studies. However, the methodological effectiveness of ACOs has been rarely evaluated and focused mostly on spatial aspects. The temporal dimension of the ACOs effectiveness remains still understudied, despite well-known seasonal variation in reptile activity patterns. Here, we examined seasonal and between-year variation in the fraction of occupied ACOs, as a proxy for detectability, in two elusive reptile species, the slow worm Anguis fragilis and smooth snake Coronella austriaca. We found that the use of ACOs was species-specific and showed high temporal variation. In the case of smooth snakes, monthly usage varied between years; specifically within-year variation of the proportion in occupied ACOs was most pronounced in 2015, but seems vanishing in consecutive years. This loss of of seasonal pattern occurs only in the last year of survey in the case of slow worm and monthly use of ACOs seem not to vary between years. Considerably low detectability of the studied species by the ACO method in some years may not necessarily indicate their low population density, but rather results from shifts in their diurnal activity and/or microhabitat use dependent on ambient temperatures. Increasing between-year variation in weather conditions may reduce repeatability of seasonal patterns of ACO usage, making we suggest additional detection techniques that could bee incorporated.","PeriodicalId":49683,"journal":{"name":"Polish Journal of Ecology","volume":"68 1","pages":"342 - 347"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2021-02-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46028633","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Y. Tao, Maziyirea Nuerhailati, Yuanming Zhang, Jing Zhang, B. Yin, Xiaobing Zhou
{"title":"Influence of Branch Death on Leaf Nutrient Status and Stoichiometry of Wild Apple Trees (Malus sieversii) in the Western Tianshan Mountains, China","authors":"Y. Tao, Maziyirea Nuerhailati, Yuanming Zhang, Jing Zhang, B. Yin, Xiaobing Zhou","doi":"10.3161/15052249PJE2020.68.4.003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3161/15052249PJE2020.68.4.003","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT The wild apple tree Malus sieversii is a tertiary relict species and a key ancestor of the commonly cultivated apple trees today. In recent years, many M. sieversii individuals have died or have severe dead branches. Whether branch death would lead to the change in nutrient stoichiometry of M. sieversii remains unclear. In this study, the nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P), and potassium (K) stoichiometric traits of M. sieversii individual trees with different proportion of dead branches divided into three classes (Class I [< 20%], Class II [40–60%], and Class III [> 80%]) during annual growth period, elemental scaling relations, and the possible influencing factors were systematically analysed. Leaf N, P, and K decreased during growing season, and N and P did not show significant differences among the three classes; however, the Class III wild apple trees had the lowest K contents in both photosynthetic and reproductive organs. Flowers had higher P and K contents than leaves, whereas fruits had low N content. The growth of M. sieversii was always limited by N due to low N:P ratio and N resorption efficiency. The scaling exponents of leaf N–P, N–K, or P–K among the three classes did not show any significant differences, revealing an inherent property of M. sieversii. Most soil variables showed weak correlations with leaf nutrient parameters (except for K). Precipitation and relative humidity, rather than temperature, showed significantly positive effects on leaf nutrients. These findings suggest that increasing water input and plant K content may be conducive to enhance the resistance and recovery ability of diseased wild apple trees.","PeriodicalId":49683,"journal":{"name":"Polish Journal of Ecology","volume":"68 1","pages":"296 - 312"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2021-02-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42893429","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Effects of Forest Roads on Large Mammal Behaviour","authors":"Yilmaz Turk, Selcuk Cometen, A. Keten","doi":"10.3161/15052249PJE2020.68.4.006","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3161/15052249PJE2020.68.4.006","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Forest roads are the most important infrastructural facilities to exploit forests that are renewable natural resources. They are of great importance for all kinds of scientific and technical interventions to be made to the forest. Despite the benefits of forest roads, they have great potential to cause degradation and fragmentation of natural habitats. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of forest road technical features and intensity of use (traffic volume) on movements of mammals. From August 2017 to September 2017, a total of six forest roads and their surroundings were observed from fixed plots with wildlife camera traps. The study identified a total of twelve species of mammals. All together 589 individuals were counted from 461 wild animal images. Golden jackal, wild boar, and red fox are dominant species in the study area. The species composition of wild mammals was not strongly related to road characteristics. Drivers and wild animals use the same area but differ in time of use. It was also determined that wild animals adopted the road as a part of natural surroundings.","PeriodicalId":49683,"journal":{"name":"Polish Journal of Ecology","volume":"68 1","pages":"334 - 341"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2021-02-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42625842","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}