Abstract: We examine some theoretical and applied issues related to mapping taiga forests using highresolution remote sensing data and mathematical models. New technologies are suggested for processing space-acquired images. Some results from implementing this technique for the northern Irkutsk region (Ust-Ilimsk district, East Siberia) are provided in the form of a sequence of predictive maps.

Keywords: Taiga forests, restoration-age dynamics, predictive mapping, GIS, remote sensing, East Siberia

Abstract: The comparison analysis and assessment of certain landscapes and landscape units is an effective tool for the decision makers for meeting appropriate land use decision. In our analysis we compared various groups of indices applicable for ecological landscape assessment applying them on three lowland landscape units. The assessed indices characterize the landscape from the point of view of vegetation (vegetation-based natural capital index) and birds (diversity of birds species of agricultural areas). The vegetation-based natural capital index values have been derived from the MÉTA database collected between 2003 and 2008. The ornithological survey was carried out in the spring of 2011 by modified Danish point counting system. Our sample areas were the geographical micro-regions Csepelisík, Hortobágy and Nagyberek, which are landscapes dominated by agricultural lands and grasslands. The major question was whether different naturalness indicators characterize basically similar but differently used landscape areas in a similar way. We found that while a higher NCI value corresponds to a higher abundance of birds, it also corresponds to a lower diversity of bird species. This contraintuitive effect partially might be explained by the variance of the large-scale landscape structure of the assessed landscape areas.

Keywords: biodiversity index, bird indices, habitat quality, vegetation-based natural capital index, naturalness

Abstract: Urban habitats are unique and harsh environments for established plant communities, basically due to the increased stress (disturbance, pollution, drought etc.). However, ever increasing is the need for extending the green areas of the cities. There are several possibilities for urban afforestation, yet most of them require the use of chemicals that burden the soil. A feasible solution is applying artificially modified microbiota to enhance the growth and stress tolerance of the ornamental species. Mycorrhiza is mutualistic interaction between plant roots and fungal hyphae that increases the ecological fitness of both partners, especially among harsh environmental conditions. As a consequence, exploiting the advantages of this symbiosis can be a proper and sustainable strategy for establishing artificial plant communities in urban areas. In the present article we review the most important questions of urban afforestation and describe the most important general features of mycorrhizae that are related to their extended use by the humankind. Afterwards, we sum up the actual knowledge on mycorrhizae of plants living in urban areas. Then we report about the Bavarian research project “Urban Green 2021”. Finally, we introduce an extensive ongoing study aiming to gain new results on this topic among Hungarian conditions.

Keywords: urban trees, afforestation, ectomycorrhiza, endomycorrhiza, inocula

Abstract: In the present study, we used dendrochronological tools to determine the effect of domestic livestock on the cumulative radial growth of Rosa rubiginosa, a shrub native to Europe that has been introduced to the mountains of central Argentina. We described R. rubiginosa growth rings, we built a ring width chronology using 18 stems from a homogeneous site, and finally compared rings width in 40 individuals distributed in areas with and without livestock but otherwise similar. Our results demonstrated the negative effect of livestock on the cumulative radial growth of invasive species R. rubiginosa. In this sense, the livestock would be acting as a biotic filter for the invasion of this species in the mountains of Córdoba (Argentina) and may be considered as a tool to reduce R. rubiginosa growth in invaded areas, where livestock will not cause other damages. We consider that the measurement of annual ring width against datable basal stems represents a simple method for the determination of radial growth rates. This approach could be particularly useful for monitoring the effects of land management practices on the invasion of woody species.

Keywords: Dendroecology, invasive species, radial growth rate, Argentina

Abstract: Nowadays a popular research field is the use of indicators, especially landscape indicators for the analysis of landscape functions. We have elaborated 13 complex indicators in 6 groups to compare the level of different landscape services and explore the relation between landscape use and economic situation in two rural regions of Hungary. We have chosen rural regions with different natural and economic conditions. The level of regulation and supporting functions are reflected by the group of indicators of environment and biodiversity. Habitat function was analyzed by the rate of protected areas. For the assessment of the visual and cultural value we analyzed the naturalness and diversity of the landscape and cultural heritage. The provisioning services cover mostly the cultivation of the landscape; we assessed intensity of agriculture, forestry and tourism. As an additional analysis we assessed the availability and economic conditions of the pilot regions. The results have shown interesting correlation between the level of landscape functions, availability and economic situation of the analyzed regions. Based on our researches we found that in course of landscape function analysis as a base of rural development it is important to analyze not just the relevant functions but the connections between them, since they may act differently on each other in different situations. While in case of regulation, supporting and habitat function values of Gönc micro-region exceeds Csorna, the values of availability and economic situation Csorna has higher values.

Keywords: Landscape function; Ecosystem services; Landscape management; Sustainable rural development; Micro-region of Csorna, Gönc

Abstract: Leishmaniasis is one of the most important emerging vector-borne diseases in Western Eurasia. Although winter minimum temperatures limit the present geographical distribution of the vector Phlebotomus species, the heat island effect of the cities and the anthropogenic heat emission together may provide the appropriate environment for the overwintering of sand flies. We studied the climate tempering effect of thermal bridges and the heat island effect in Budapest, Hungary. Thermal imaging was used to measure the heat surplus of heat bridges. The winter heat island effect of the city was evaluated by numerical analysis of the measurements of the Aqua sensor of satellite Terra. We found that the surface temperature of thermal bridges can be at least 3-7 °C higher than the surrounding environment. The heat emission of thermal bridges and the urban heat island effect together can cause at least 10 °C higher minimum ambient temperature in winter nights than the minimum temperature of the peri-urban areas. This milder micro-climate of the built environment can enable the potential overwintering of some important European Phlebotomus species. The anthropogenic heat emission of big cities may explain the observed isolated northward populations of Phlebotomus ariasi in Paris and Phlebotomus neglectus in the agglomeration of Budapest.

Keywords: climate change, epidemiology, Phlebotomus, sandfly, vector, leishmania, overwintering, prediction, model

Abstract: Swamps represent a relatively understudied ecosystem in many regions, which contrasts markedly with the research attention which other wetlands and Mangrove ecosystems have received. In the upper Nilgiris of southern India, montane swamps are restricted to geographic areas with flat surfaces and bounded by different edge transition vegetation types including grasslands and shola forests. Our study examined whether species richness, endemism, edge and the composition of swamp interior communities have a significant relationship with swamp area. Using species-area curves we continued sampling for species in each swamp until species richness reached the asympote within that swamp. Our results suggest that species richness (log n), log endemism, and edge and swamp interior species composition do not increase significantly with increasing area due to edge effect. Moreover, swamp area and vegetation parameters showed no significant relationships. However our results did indicate that swamps species richness and endemism were affected by abiotic and biotic edge effects, particularly physical topographic environment and the structure of adjoining matrix vegetation. Therefore swamp protection and restoration, in addition to the preservation and management of buffer regions may be important conservation criteria to preserve these fragile ecosystems.

Keywords: endemism, ecotone, grasslands, Nilgiris, species richness, swamp area, sholas

Abstract: Phytosociological and nature conservation assessment of the herb layer of 6-, 15- and 20-yearold post-mining Austrian pine stands was conducted in reclaimed bauxite quarries in Hungary. Great differences among the vegetations were found. Disturbance-tolerant species were dominant, subdominant and subordinated in the youngest, middle-aged and oldest pine stand, respectively. In parallel, proportion of the species characteristic for natural habitats increased gradually, leading to growing diversity and naturalness. The increasing pine cover reduced the species number and the coverage of herb layer. Postmining flora differed significantly from both the potential mature oak forest vegetation of the areas and from the associations developed through regenerative succession on clear-cut areas of oak forests. Vegetation of the reclaimed quarries had lower naturalness: relative abundances of disturbance-tolerant and ruderal species were higher, but ratio of natural broad-leaved forest’s species was smaller than in the potential vegetation. Similar differences were shown by comparison of the flora of bauxite quarries with the same-aged stages of regenerative succession of oak forests. In pine stands the repression of weeds parallel to the spreading of natural competitors was slower, and natural geophytes and protected species remained absent. Deficiency of propagule sources in reclaimed areas could contribute to the retentive effect of Austrian pine on vegetation succession.

Keywords: Pinus nigra, bauxite quarries, phytosociological succession, naturalness value, reclamation

Abstract: The objective of the study was to investigate composted biogas digestate as a suitable carrier for the microorganisms to be used in bioremediation of petroleum hydrocarbon contaminated soils. The survival kinetics of alkane-degrading microorganisms was examined in microcosm experiments by two means: measuring the number of colony forming units and their ability to produce CO2 from alkanes. The viability of the cells of Rhodococcus strains in the compost lasted longer than those of the tested Brevundimonas, Chryseobacterium, Pseudomonas strains. The decimal reduction time (D-value) used to express the survival of the microorganisms depended on their cell structure and biological features. Their survival was also affected by some abiotic factors: higher temperature (26 °C) decreased the survival of the microbes while the addition of burned perlite to the compost medium increased it. All of the tested microorganisms were able to use diesel oil as a sole carbon source both in the pure, unamended compost and in the compost-perlite mixture. Moreover, the addition of perlite increased the alkane-degrading activity for the tested Rhodococcus and fungal strains. These results indicate that biogas digestate composts can be suitable carriers for microorganisms used in bioremediation.

Keywords: bacteria, fungi, viability, hydrocarbon, bioremediation

Abstract: The feeding ecology of several species of mangrove crabs was studied in Cameroon mangrove forest through tethering experiments and gut analyses from September 2010 to March 2011. Field observations were two-fold: to investigate mangrove propagules predation and feeding preferences of mangrove leaves. Feeding preference was determined on fresh and senescent leaves of Laguncularia racemosa, Avicennia germinans and Rhizophora species. Propagule predation was investigated on Rhizophora mangle, Rhizophora harrisonii and Rhizophora racemosa. In the laboratory, gut content analysis was done on Metagrapsus curvatus, Sesarma huzardi, Sesarma elegans, Sesarma alberti, Goniopsis pelii and Grapsus grapsus to assess their natural diets. The field observations suggest that 65.9% of the propagules studied was predated, 71.3% of the leaves was damaged. Mangrove material was the main component of crabs diet, it constituted 45.4% of Metagrapsus curvatus diet, 55% Sesarma elegans diet, 62.5% Sesarma alberti, 65.9% Goniopsis pelii diet, 47.8% Sesarma huzardi diet and 37.3% Grapsus grapsus diet. Damage on young mangrove trees was highly correlated to the number of crabs on trees (r2 = 0.75). The high damage rate of mangrove materials indicate that crabs play a significant ecological role in the functioning of the mangrove ecosystem, by affecting mangrove recruitment and biogeochemical functioning.

Keywords: Feeding Behaviour, Mangrove leaf species, Mangrove Crabs, Cameroon

Abstract: This paper presents the results of measuring the concentrations of ozone, VOCs (benzene, toluene, m- and p-xylene, o-xylene and ethylbenzene), nitrogen oxides (NO, NO2 and NOx), CO, H2S, SO2 and PM10 in the ambient air in parallel with recording the meteorological parameters: temperature, solar radiation, relative humidity, barometric pressure, wind speed and direction during the year 2009. The measurements were performed at the measuring station located within an agricultural area near the city of Zrenjanin (Serbian Banat, Serbia). The results are presented in this paper as average values in winter and summer vs. time of day, and as average daily values vs. measurement date. Several correlations of the ozone concentration vs. atmospheric observables were made, together with Principal Component Analysis. The statistical analysis of the obtained data, based on Principal Component Analysis (PCA), led to result that 80.87 % of the variance in the measured values could be described with five factors. A high level of intercorrelation of VOCs, NOx and CO was determined. These pollutants were all grouped in factor 1, which described 42.85 % of variances of the measured values. According to the VOCs/NOx and VOCs/CO ratios (which were 0.26 and 0.029, respectively), it was determined that production of tropospheric ozone is a VOCs sensitive process for the investigated region.

Keywords: pollutants, ozone, VOCs, nitrogen oxides

Abstract: This study aims to determine the lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) concentrations and genetic variability in the tissues of the freshwater snail Filopaludina martensi. These measures can be biomarkers of environmental quality. The samples were collected over three seasons from five sites around the Ubonrat Dam. The results showed that the average concentrations of Cd and Pb found in the tissue of fresh water snails during the rainy season (0.1040 and 0.0106 μg/g, respectively) were higher than in the winter (0.0566 and 0.0030, respectively) and summer (0.0654 and 0.0059 μg/g, respectively). Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) was successfully applied to produce 440 total bands used for dendrogram construction and analysis of genetic similarity (S). The dendrogram separated the studied samples by seasons, showing the highest S values of 0.59-0.93 in the Rainy S1-S5 and S2-S3, 0.62-0.83 in the Winter S1-S4 and S1-S2, and 0.64-0.84 in the Summer S1-S5 and S2-S3. The highest S values in the rainy season that are lower values compare to samples from other seasons are those associated with the highest average concentrations of Cd and Pb in the tissues sampled in this season. The metal concentrations are below the standard control level, but they can still affect the genetic material of freshwater snails.

Keywords: Lead, cadmium, freshwater snail, genotoxicity, genetic erosion

Abstract: Detailed analysis of the relationship between vegetation and environment requires a thorough understanding of the environmental processes that influence vegetation. There is an intimate relationship between vegetation concepts’ development, mathematical methods of analysis and knowledge of environmental processes. Traditionally most vegetation/environment studies have been done at a single scale of observation. It has been considered important to assess whether the processes that determine community structure and function are similar at different scales or whether the most important processes change with the scale of observation. This study aims to describe in a quantitative manner the vegetation pattern in a localized area and on that basis to test/verify statistically some previously proposed hypothesis and assumption concerning vegetation organization. Describing the coarsest vegetation pattern, ordination and classification analyses were used. The detailed relationships between environmental gradients and vegetation were examined using regression and correlation methods. Obtained results were tested with different statistical tests for their reliability. We found that the basic environmental gradients influencing the local vegetation are elevation and habitat moisture. The correlation between environmental gradients and vegetation increased with the increasing scale of observation. Environmental gradients influencing vegetation most strongly were the same at the different scales. With the increase of sampled area, correlation strength between environment and vegetation also increased. In the future, if possible, all studies of vegetation/environment relationships should be done at different spatial scales. Gathered quantitative information and verified hypothesis in the current study could be very successfully used in the management and conservation of the local and regional vegetation.

Keywords: vegetation variables, ordination, correlation, regression, CCA, GAM

Abstract: Nowadays we meet many different evaluation methods regarding the ecological performance of green surfaces and parks. All these methods are extremely valuable in determining how well a green surface performs from ecological aspect and to what extent the environment were damaged if these sites would be built or would be developed any other way causing reduction of green surfaces. The goal of the article is to clarify the differences between two evaluation methods (GSI – Green Space Intensity, BARC – Biological Activity Rate Calculation) suitable for urban green infrastructure analysis and to see if any significant difference can be observed evaluating the same site by these methods. Our research sites are in Budapest and their sizes vary between 2,5-8 acres. The most important aspects of site analysis are the following: size and boundaries of the park, existence or lack of water features, the characteristics of their surfaces and the complexity of vegetation. We summarize the data of the site analysis in tables, make a summarizing diagram for visual representation and draw conclusions from the results. As a final step, we evaluate how these two evaluation systems relate to urban open space developments.

Keywords: remote sensing, urban vegetation, vegetation index, biological activity, green surface