Abstract: This study of periphyton (periphyton in separator pipes, epilithon and epiphyton) and phytoplankton (pelagial) assemblage differentiation was conducted in Lake Jeziorak Mały within an anthropogenically transformed littoral zone. Analysis was conducted on the differences in abundance and biomass of these assemblages in relationship to the physico-chemical water parameters, species’ similarity, diversity and environmental requirements of these assemblages, from April to October of 1997-2003 and in 2005. The periphyton in the pipes and epilithon were found to be the most similar assemblages. Despite similar substratum characteristics, changes in the physico-chemical water parameters, and especially those in PO4, Si and Cl, were found to affect these assemblages’ development. This was supported by correlations between the characteristic species and nutrients. While the growth of epiphyton was mainly related to changes in calcium and nitrogen concentration, phytoplankton depended more on conductivity, pH and Fe. The presence of seven algal groups with different environmental requirements indicated considerable differentiation of the studied assemblages resulting from anthropogenic transformation of this littoral zone. The installation of separators and also stone accumulations in this zone contributed to the creation of new habitats for periphytic algae which utilized the common pool of nutrients. It may therefore have indirectly influenced phytoplankton dominated by cyanobacteria.

Keywords: periphyton, phytoplankton, differentiation, eutrophic lake, CCA.

Abstract: The annual plant Anastatica hierochuntica is an Ombrohydrochloric species where the seeds released from the canopy seed bank throughout several years. The genetic variations at the intra- and interpopulation levels were studied in the runnel microhabitat in Libya, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. The genetic diversity was detected by RAPD analysis of the DNA material. The amount of genetic variation within Anastatica hierochuntica populations reached 67.910 % of the total variance. The Nei’s gene diversity ranged from 0.336 to 0.361 and the Shannon’s diversity index from 0.506 to 0.588 showing relatively high values. The highest value of the gene diversity was obtained in the Libya population. Lower values of the Nei’s gene diversity were obtained in the Saudi Arabia then in the Egypt populations. Strong linear relationships were obtained between the Nei’s gene diversity and the total amount of annual rainfall (R2 = 0.88) and between the differences in the total annual rainfall and the values of the fixation index between population pairs (R2 = 0.83). The role of the dispersal mode in shaping the genetic variations in the species was discussed as the canopy seed bank was suggested to have great significance in the context of species evolution and conservation of genetic diversity.

Keywords: RAPD, Genetic diversity, genetic differentiation, fixation index, geographical distance

Abstract: Gross primary production (GPP), transpiration and conversion efficiency of solar energy by Artemisia sieberi and Artemisia aucheri in Nodushan shrublands of Yazd, Iran, were determined. GPP was determined through estimates of net primary production (NPP) and respiration (R) of leaf, new branch, stem, coarse root and fine root. Total biomass (g C m-2) of A.sieberi and A.aucheri was 81.7 and 224.87 respectively. The ratio of below-to-aboveground biomass was 0.4 and 0.56 respectively, for A.sieberi and A.aucheri. Total NPP, R and GPP (g C m-2) were 32.11, 53.1 and 85.21 for A.sieberi and 62.75, 91.56 and 154.31 for A.aucheri. The carbon use efficiency (NPP/GPP), R/GPP and Belowground NPP/total NPP were 0.38, 0.62 and 0.29 for A.sieberi and 0.41, 0.59 and 0.37 for A.aucheri respectively. Based on the estimates of solar energy available in the study sites, the amount of incoming solar energy absorbed in photosynthesis and transpiration was 0.05 % and 0.08 % by A.sieberi, and 0.08 % and 0.17 % by A.aucheri. Artemisia shrublands play an important role as carbon sinks and energy stocks in arid and semiarid ecosystems of the central parts of Iran.

Keywords: Artemisia sieberi, Artemisia aucheri, Gross primary production, Solar energy, Transpiration

Abstract: Shrub encroachment at the expense of grasslands is a world-wide phenomenon, which has considerable nature conservation consequences. On the southern slope of Mt Szársomlyó, one of Hungary’s most unique nature reserves, shrubforest cover has been rapidly increasing in the past few decades. Our aim was to quantify this process and to give a comprehensive analysis of the landscape history of the area. Moreover, we compared Mt Szársomlyó to two nearby and similar mountains with a slightly different land-use history. It is almost certain that both shrubforests and grasslands were present on Mt Szársomlyó before human influence, although their original proportion is unknown. Southern slope was used as a pasture for centuries, maybe even for millennia. After grazing had come to an end during the 1970’s, shrubforests began to expand rapidly: their cover increased from 9.83 % in 1964 to 21.7 % in 2005. In the case of the other two mountains, where grazing stopped earlier, forest cover is considerably higher than on Mt Szársomlyó, but this is partly due to the afforestation. It can be concluded that grazing of south-exposed rock swards should be regarded as a traditional land-use in the region. Further studies are needed to support nature conservation decisions.

Keywords: land-use, grazing, Mt Szársomlyó, image classification, aerial photo

Abstract: The initial question of any ecological restoration project should be whether the degraded ecosystem may recover spontaneously in a reasonable time period or active intervention is needed. We examined the successional trajectories of vegetation within peatlands exploited by the traditional blockcut technique in Eastern Canada, with the final purpose of identifying sites which need human intervention to ensure the return of a typical Sphagnum-dominated bog community that accumulates C. Ordinations showed that the development of vegetation was different between three block-cut peatland regions. Peatlands of one of the regions were initially colonized by tall, dense ericaceous shrubs. There, communities tended to become increasingly dominated by trees and understories were closing over time, therefore not being on a trajectory toward the recovery of a Sphagnum-dominated system that accumulates peat in the future. Intervention is therefore recommended, for example by blocking still active drainage ditches. In the peatlands of the other two regions, Sphagnum had a high initial cover and remained dominant ten years later. However, species typically found in hummocks gained relative importance vs. those associated to hollows. More time is needed to decide whether these sites could be left unmanaged as they have remained after their abandonment 35 years ago.

Keywords: abandoned exploited bogs, cutover peatlands, partial tb-PCA, spontaneous revegetation, mire

Abstract: Spatial distribution pattern of butterfly species richness were explored using geographically weighted regression (GWR) and ordinary least square (OLS) regression. These models were compared to assess their abilities in modelling butterfly species richness and, further the spatial variation in the relationship between butterfly species richness and environmental predictors was questioned. Data on the occurrence of butterflies from “Die Tagfalter der Türkei unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der angrenzenden Länder” (The Butterflies of Turkey with special attention to the adjacent countries) and three groups of environmental predictors (climatology, topology, and physical features) were incorporated in the analyses after eliminating highly correlated, redundant predictors. Furthermore, Monte Carlo permutation test was applied simultaneously to assess non-stationarity in the relationship between butterfly species richness and environmental predictors. The results indicated that GWR model predicted butterfly species richness better than the OLS model and also, demonstrated spatial non-stationarity in the relationship between butterfly species richness and environmental predictors. In addition, it was found that most of the variation in butterfly species richness was associated with minimum temperature in January, maximum temperature in July, diurnal range, and solar radiation. This result indicated that the distribution of butterfly species richness is mostly governed by climatic environmental predictors, particularly temperature related predictors, indicating that many butterfly species may respond to projected climate changes rapidly.

Keywords: butterfly richness, environmental predictors, geographically weighted regression, nonstationarity, ordinary least squares

Abstract: Many aquatic ecosystems continue to show the impact of acidification. Two factors that have been put forward to explain retarded biological recovery from aquatic acidification: geology and land-use (specifically, coniferous afforestation). The present study tests the hypothesis that afforestation is more significant than underlying geology in limiting recovery. Six streams were sampled using a 2 × 3 design with two types of underlying geology and three levels of afforestation. Results provide evidence for substantial chemical recovery but limited and uneven biological recovery. Statistical analysis suggested that both afforestation and geology had significant impacts on biological indicators, but geology had a greater impact on the richness of acid sensitive species. These results are discussed in relation to competing theories on factors underlying differential and retarded biological recovery.

Keywords: acidification, recovery, invertebrates, afforestation

Abstract: Efforts on isolation of native plastic adoring beneficial microorganism from landfills of three different geographical niches were carried out following testing of their ability to degrade biodegradable polyethylene in laboratory appraisal of identified native microorganisms; Aspergillus terreus Gr., Aspergillus wentii Gr., Emericella nidulans (Eidam), Pseudomonas sp. and Streptomyces sp., on different biodegradable polyethylene showed biodegradability in terms of weight loss of plastic in liquid with biofilm formation on plastic strips and it was also noticed that bacteria remained more active compared to fungi in biodegradation process. Amylase production by proven microorganisms showed that A.terreus produced maximum amylase followed by E.nidulans, A.wentii, Pseudomonas sp. and Streptomyces sp. Bio-efficacy of microorganisms against different BD PE in pots indicated that colonization of plastic was not found up to 3 month interval by all of them but E.nidulans found to colonizing IPCL plastic and A.wentii colonizing Israel plastic at 6 month interval.

Keywords: isolation, biofilm, percent weight loss, enzyme activity

Abstract: We studied the effects of forest fragmentation and management practices on carabid beetle (Coleoptera: Carabidae) assemblages in the Japanese red pine forests of Naju City, South Korea. A total of 2,058 carabid individuals, representing 15 species, were collected by pitfall trapping from May to September 2010 in three forest types: native forest (relatively undisturbed forest), managed forest (planted trees with clear-cutting of the herb layer), and forest patch (fragmented forest). We showed that the different forest types differed significantly in terms of their carabid assemblages. The managed forest had the most distinct assemblage, with a lower species richness and abundance than the other two forest types. Although forest fragmentation did not significantly affect the species richness of carabid beetle assemblages, the abundance of some carabid beetles (forest specialists and large-sized species) was significantly altered by forest fragmentation and intensive forest management. Sub-tree layer and herb cover were the strongest environmental variables determining the carabid assemblage composition. Forest fragmentation is an inevitable change in landscape structure, particularly in urbanized and pre-urban areas, and it constitutes a threat to biodiversity through landscape homogenization. Therefore, it is necessary to identify appropriate management practices, designed to minimize the damage caused by the loss and modification of natural habitats, together with maintenance and enhancement of the biodiversity in urban areas.

Keywords: forest fragmentation, intensive management practice, understorey vegetation, pine forest, carabid beetle

Abstract: The mathematical modeling of ecological phenomena may describe time evolution and spatial distribution being capable to explain some important characteristics of ecological systems. Although there are many difficulties related to the system description, their modeling may define at least a system caricature, which may be useful for different goals. This contribution deals with the modeling of the global warming in a nonlinear dynamics point of view. Mathematical modeling is based on the daisyworld that is able to describe the global regulation that can emerge from the interaction between life and environment. In brief, daisyworld represents life by daisy populations while the environment is represented by temperature. Here, two daisy populations are of concern, black and white daisies, and an extra variable related to greenhouse gases is incorporated in the model allowing the analysis of the global warming. Moreover, transient analysis of temperature evolution is of concern. Climate variability is represented by a sinusoidal variation of the luminosity. Numerical simulations are investigated in order to present a qualitative description of the phenomenon. Daisyworld dynamics presents a rich behavior including chaos.

Keywords: Global warming, daisyworld, nonlinear dynamics, chaos, ecology

Abstract: This study assessed the effects of exploitations in natural forest ecosystem on tree species diversity and environmental conservation. This was achieved by comparing tree species diversity and yield in an unlogged forest (inviolate/strict nature reserve) and part of the forest reserve where active logging is in progress. Both forest types are located in Akure Forest reserve, Ondo State, Nigeria. Eight plots (20 × 20m) were located in each site using systematic sampling technique. All living trees with dbh > 10cm were identified in each plot and categorized into families. Ddiameter at breast height was measured from each of the trees in each plot. This was used to compute basal area and volume. Relative frequency, relative density and habitat occupancy were obtained and compared. Shannon-Weiner and species evenness indices were used to assess and compare tree species diversity and abundance. The result shows that the tropical humid forest is very rich in tree species diversity as a total of 54 different tropical hardwood species from 24 families were encountered in both forest types. There are 46 species distributed among 21 families in the inviolate forest while 24 species in 14 families were in the logged forest. Higher values of Shannon-Weiner (3.16 and 3.03 for inviolate and logged respectively) and evenness index (0.83 and 0.81) are also obtained for the inviolate and logged forest respectively. The stand density in the inviolate is 555 stems/ha and that of the logged forest is 132 stems/ha. A mean dbh of 39.35 cm and 14.24 cm, basal area of 10.34 m2/ha and 2.14 m2/ha and volume of 1235.04 m3 and 14.81 m3 were obtained for the inviolate and logged forests respectively. In the inviolate forest, the species with the highest number of occurrence is Mansonia altissima (80stems/ha) and Caesalpinoidae and Sterculiaceae families have the highest number of species (6). In the logged forest, Triplochiton scleroxylon (18 stems/ha) has the highest frequency and Caesalpinoidae family has the highest number of species (4). There are significant differences in all the variables estimated (P 0.5) with result from the inviolate forest having the highest value. The study concluded that exploitation has affected species diversity in the ecosystem and subsequently, the roles of trees in environmental conservation are affected.

Keywords: Inviolate, Strict Nature Reserve, exploitation, deforestation, systematic sampling technique