The objective of this study was to analyse the diversity of pine and spruce bog forests on the domes of Carpathian raised bogs located in the Upper San River Valley. In order to determine the present species composition, 59 phytosociological relevés were performed (32 within spruce forests, and 27 in pine forests). For all relevés, the Shannon-Wiener index, evenness index and mean Ellenberg indicator values were calculated. Detrended correspondence analysis was conducted in order to determine the degree of similarity between distinct units of vegetation and to identify the main environmental gradients that have an impact on species composition. The results revealed considerable similarities between the ground vegetation of both spruce and pine forests growing on peat substrate. Within pine forests there was a greater proportion of certain plant species characteristic of raised bogs, and plants typical of bog coniferous forests. The ground flora of spruce forests was more diverse. Although spruce forests predominantly contained species typical of raised bogs, there was also a group in which Molinia caerulea predominated. Ellenberg indicator values typical of pine forests lay within ranges that were characteristic of spruce forests, but pine forests occupy more humid, more acidic and poorer habitats than most patches of spruce forests. Both spruce and pine bog forests were developed as a result of the colonization of open bogs, but the time-scale and rate of intensity were different. Palaeobotanical and historical data indicate that the Scots pine first reappeared on the domes of raised bogs in the first half of the 20^th century. The concept that the spruce forests are older than those of pine is supported by their greater habitat diversity. Conversely, the younger age of pine forests is confirmed by their low habitat diversity, and greater proportion of photophilous raised-bog species.

Many studies on the changes in the rhythm of nature (animate and inanimate) revealed that plants are good indicators of climate change, because they are responsive to air temperature variations. There is a clear trend towards earlier onset of plant development in Poland, especially for spring phenological events as flowering and leafing. The main objective of this study was to identify phenological tendencies of selected plant indicator species in Poland and to explore the statistical relationship between mean phenological onset date against mean monthly air temperature. Phenological observations of 9 plant species: Corylus avellana L., Tussilago farfara L., Padus avium L., Taraxacum officinale F.H. Wiggers coll., Betula pendula Roth, Syringa vulgaris L., Aesculus hippocastanum L., Robinia pseudoacacia L., Tilia cordata Mill. from 25 locations acquired in the period 1951–1990 were used. The results proved that phenological changes were the reaction of plants to air temperature variations. For spring and summer phenophases, the mean correlation coefficient was negative — higher air temperature was related to earlier onset dates. The advance of spring and summer phenology was estimated at -2.2 days per 1°C. Majority of phenological events were the most significantly correlated with mean monthly air temperature of the preceding months.

Phenological trends observed in Poland were mainly negative (73% of analysed stations), significant (22%) but diversified between the selected species. Linear regression analysis of the onset dates against year (including regression coefficient) showed the highest values for Corylus avellana flowering: -0.24 days per year (20% significant) and Betula pendula leaf unfolding: -0.18 days per year (33% significant). Robinia pseudoacacia showed significant advances (72% of negative trends were significant) in a summer season with an average rate of -0.3 days per year. Whereas in case of Tilia cordata no tendencies to advance has been proved.

Global climate change is predicted to alter growing season rainfall patterns, potentially reducing total amounts of growing season precipitation and redistributing rainfall into fewer but larger individual events. Such changes may affect numerous soil, plant, and ecosystem properties in grasslands and ultimately impact their productivity and biological diversity. A five-year field study with regulated amount of precipitation was executed in different types of temperate grasslands (dry Festuca, wet Cirsium and Nardus grasslands) in three different regions (in lowland, highland and mountain, respectively) in the Czech Republic. Three simulated rainfall treatments were applied: reduced rainfall by 50% (dry), increased rainfall by 50% (wet), and natural rainfall of the current growing season (ambient). The addition of supplemental resources of water exhibited slightly positive relation with the above-ground production (AP), but statistically significant only in the lowland grassland. At all grasslands, both root biomass (RB) and total below-ground biomass (TBB) were significantly higher in wet compared to dry treatments. Significantly increased values of the TBB/AP ratios occurred only in the highland grassland due to enhanced rainfall. The opposite relations were found in lowland grassland where the TBB/AP ratio decreased in response to enhanced rainfall, though not significantly. In the mountain grassland, values of the TBB/AP ratios have shown less variability. The highland wet Cirsium grassland was more sensitive to altered rainfall regimes forming rather lower proportion of below-ground plant production.

The litter decomposition plays an important role in nutrient circle of grassland ecosystem, the water holding ability of litter and physical and chemical characteristics have been studied exclusively over the past century. However, the effect of litter accumulation on plant community in desert steppe under fenced condition was little known. In this study, four typical plant communities were employed to identify the effects of litter accumulation on plant communities. The results showed the trend of litter accumulation amount in the four different types of plant communities was best represented by Birk model. The accumulation of litter had different effects on the number of seedlings. When litter accumulation reached 300–400 g cm-², green-up dates advance 7 days. The amount of seedling germination and the number of plant species reached a peak. Meanwhile, plant density, coverage, average height, richness, and evenness reached maximum values. It was concluded that when opposite fencing time was about 6 years, and the optimum amount of litter accumulation was about 300–400 g cm^-2, which could advance the green-up dates and increase the number of plant seedlings, and also improve or maintain community stability. Such a notion has to be taken into account for the development of an improved policy for environmental management in desert steppe.

Anthropogenic disturbances, such as tillage, management practices, and fertilization, can influence soil microbial communities, but little is known about the effects of land use type on soil fungal communities. In this study, fungal abundance, diversity and community composition in soils were analyzed, to determine the impacts of different agricultural land use types, including old rice paddies (ORP), the long-term and (LTV), short-term (STV) cultivation of vegetables and Magnolia nursery plantations (MNP). Compared to the soils in ORP, the fungal abundance, determined by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction, was significantly higher in soils from LTV fields and lower in those from MNP; the copy numbers of the fungal ITS genes in the LTV soils were 30 times greater than in the MNP soils. The terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) results showed that the fungal community composition was obviously different in the different soils, based on land use type. Only three T-RFs were found in the soils from the LTV fields, followed by seven in the STV soils and nine in the MNP soils; the most (11) T-RFs were found in the ORP soils. Of the measured soil chemical properties, SOC, available P and NO_3^--N were the dominant factors that influenced the fungal communities based on the canonical correspondence analysis (CCA). The present study showed that conversion from paddy soil to vegetable cultivation changed soil properties, decreased soil fungal diversity, increased fungal abundance, and shifted fungal community composition.

Salix myrtilloides L. is an endangered species whose western limit of range runs through Poland. The main aim of the study was to increase the knowledge on the ecology and biology of S. myrtilloides populations in the Polesie Lubelskie region (Eastern Poland) in order to create an effective protection program. An 80% decrease in its population was found in this area. Our study was conducted to identify the mechanisms responsible for the process of withdrawal of this species from its natural stands by determining whether the processes of generative reproduction (pollen viability and germinability, seed germination ability and dynamics) in the populations occur properly and by characterizing within- and among-population genetic diversity of S. myrtilloides, using ISSR (Inter-Simple Sequence Repeat) primers. The results confirmed that S. myrtilloides pollen viability was high (84.17±8.67), and so were the seed germination ability (76% of the total number of sown seeds/24 h) and dynamics. The within-population genetic diversity was quite high for this species and the inter-population genetic variation was of medium value (Φ_PT=0.148). The condition of two populations, their genetic diversity and sex ratio as well as the correctness of the investigated reproductive cycle stages altogether give prospects for their survival. It seems to be very important to start conservation involving the reintroduction and reconstruction of S. myrtilloides populations in the Polesie Lubelskie region. The proposed method for restoration of S. myrtilloides resources would be possible if ex situ cultivation and in vitro methods were used.

Forest soil respiration (SR) has become a vital issue in global change ecology because of its critical role in global warming processes. However, SR remains the least understood component of the terrestrial carbon cycle because of its high spatial-temporal variability, inaccessibility of the soil substrate, and the high cost of measurement equipment. This study investigated the spatial and temporal variations of SR in six temperate and subtropical forest sites in eastern China. Seasonal variations of SR, the relationship between SR and soil temperature (ST) and volumetric water content (SW) were analyzed. Mean monthly SR varied seasonally and peaked in summer. SR varied temporally with ST (R² = 0.43∼0.79) in different sites and varied spatially with latitude (R² = 0.68). The responses of SR to the changes of SW varied across different sites and forest types. Their relationships were simulated by piecewise functions in the north three sites. The modules of ST and SW showed that ST is the dominant environmental factor in regulating seasonal dynamics of SR. This study is the first to examine the temporal and spatial variations of SR using a consistent method in situ in temperate and subtropical forests in eastern China. The results provide a scientific basis for accurately assessing future soil CO₂ efflux as a result of climate changes, and aid predictions of the changes of forest SR.

Decomposition of litter is a crucial process in terrestrial ecosystems, determining global carbon budget and nutrient turnover. Soil faunas have been shown to accelerate the rates of litter decomposition and nutrient cycling in terrestrial ecosystems. Litter decomposition has recently been observed in winter in alpine/subalpine ecosystems, but the contribution of soil fauna to the decomposition process is not clear. Field experiment using litterbags was conducted in order to quantify the contributions of soil fauna to mass losses of fir (Abies faxoniana) and birch (Betula albosinensis) litters during a freeze-thaw season in three representative alpine/subalpine forests. The litterbags of mesh sizes 0.02 mm, 0.125 mm, 1.0 mm and 3.0 mm were placed on the forest floor in October 2010, and collected after each of the three stages of the freeze-thaw season: OF, the onset of freezing stage (26 October to December 31); DF, the deeply frozen stage (1 January to 4 March 2011); and TS, the thawing stage (5 March to 30 April 2011) over the entire 2010/2011 winter. Over the whole freeze-thaw period, the mass losses of fir litter were 11–12% (0.02 mm), 12–13% (0.125 mm), 14–15% (1.0 mm) and 17–19% (3.0 mm), and that of birch litter were 10–13% (0.02 mm), 12–15% (0.125 mm), 13–18% (1.0 mm) and 17–22% (3.0 mm), respectively, depending on the altitude. The mass losses caused by microfauna, mesofauna and macrofauna for the fir litter accounted for 6–9, 12–13 and 22–25%, respectively and that for the birch litter accounted for 8–11, 13–15 and 25–27%, respectively. Furthermore, the contributions of soil fauna to mass loss showed an increasing trend with increasing body size regardless of species at three stages of the freeze-thaw period. These results suggest that soil fauna contributes strongly to litter decomposition during the freeze-thaw period in alpine/subalpine regions.

In this paper we introduce a new way of analysing habitat preferences of plant communities using the genotype and genotype-by-environment interaction effects (GGE) biplot method. We took into consideration real data on six plant associations belonging to the Molinio-Arrhenatheretea class. A total of 241 phytosociological relevès collected with the Braun-Blanquet method were described by the Ellenberg indicators. The two-way classification relevès-by-indicators was analysed with GGE. As a result it is proposed the modified biplot that contains ellipses for making the plot clearer. Next, we present the equations that described both axes and allow adding into the biplot any other relevès or a mean of set of relevès. Based on the generated biplot it is possible to present an ecological characteristics of any type of plant community including its acceptable and typical habitat requirements. The ellipse ranges provide important information about the homogeneity and ecological spectrum of the analysed syntaxon. The constructed equations allow comparing new data with data analysed previously. Summing up, the GGE biplot method is useful for analysing and graphically presenting ecological preferences of plant communities in a simple and comprehensive way.

Leaf morphological and anatomical differences between two collection sites in central Poland were examined in tall buttercup Ranunculus acris. We hypothesized that the availability of soil moisture would affect leaf morphological and anatomical traits. The objective of this study was to examine the effect of soil moisture content on: leaf size, epidermal features and on a number of stomatal characteristics in populations of R. acris species. The plants were investigated at sites differing in soil moisture conditions (a dryer upper site and a wetter lower site). Relatively semi-dry and wet sites were identified by plant communities and soil moisture content. We found out that morphological and anatomical leaf traits of R. acris were significantly related to soil moisture content. Leaves from plants growing in the wet site were 26% smaller in size than those from the semi-dry site. The population with smaller leaf area had larger leaf perimeter and higher dissection index. The stomatal index of the leaves sampled in the semi-dry site was higher than that of the leaves sampled in the wet site. Greater leaf thickness in the semi-dry site was primarily the result of increased spongy parenchyma thickness. On the abaxial leaf surface epidermal cell density was significantly higher at the wet site implying more epidermal cells. On the adaxial leaf surface, however, epidermal cell density decreased when plants were exposed to the elevated soil moisture. The results may indicate that soil moisture content influences leaf anatomy and morphology of R. acris. Thus, all these leaf morphoanatomical traits provide a basis for R. acris to reduce water loss from leaves and to balance water use efficiency under reduced precipitation. The present study demonstrates that R. acris can maximize growth in habitats with a wide range of soil moisture availability and such information can be crucial for developing management strategies and predictive models of its spread.

The aim of the study was to compare the feeding activity of soil fauna in seven temperate forests with the application of the bait-lamina method. Seven types of temperate forests located throughout Poland (East-Central Europe) were tested, ranging from dry pine forest with a typical poor quality soil to eutrophic riparian fresh deciduous forest. Each forest type was represented by five stands and all stands altogether represented natural gradient of soil fertility, texture and vegetation diversity. Despite clear diversification between the studied forest types according to a range of soil physicochemical properties and vegetation characteristics in addition to applying recommended measurement conditions for the method, we determined that the feeding activity of soil fauna did not differ between forest types. The activity of soil fauna did not depend on site botanical characteristics or any soil physical or chemical features, indicating that the bait lamina method was useless in measuring the feeding activity of soil fauna in temperate forest soils. Differences in the feeding activity of soil fauna might result from other environmental factors that influence soil fauna feeding activity in forest stands that were not measured here, i.e., soil temperature and humidity. The differences could also be attributable to the attractiveness of the bait substrate to soil fauna, which may be different in various soil conditions.

The effects of the growing season climatic factors (i.e., temperature, precipitation, vapor pressure and relative humidity) on the growing season maximum normalized difference vegetation index (MNDVI), which can mirror the aboveground net primary production and the vegetation maximum absorbed ability of photosynthetically active radiation, were examined during the period from 2000 to 2012 on the Tibetan Plateau. The effects of climatic factors on the MNDVI changed with vegetation types, which was probably due to the fact that the changes of climatic factors differed with the type of vegetation. There was a significant increasing trend for the spatially averaged MNDVI of the vegetation area over the entire plateau. Approximately 16 and 3% of the vegetation area demonstrated a significant MNDVI increasing and decreasing trend, respectively. The MNDVI was significantly affected by relative humidity and vapor pressure, but not affected by temperature and precipitation over the entire plateau. Our findings suggested that the environmental humidity played a predominant role in affecting the variation of MNDVI over the entire Tibetan Plateau.

In central Europe, the endangered Rosalia longicorn Rosalia alpina (L.) has rarely been observed to develop in the wood of elms Ulmus sp.; however, this beetle has recently expanded into habitats formed by elms. The factors driving these changes are unknown in detail, but a potential one is the increasing amount of breeding material, namely, dead elm wood. Dutch elm disease, caused by the fungi Ophiostoma ulmi and O. novo-ulmi, by killing off elm trees, has created a supply of dead wood. The aim of this work was to assess the potential role of Dutch elm disease in the formation of habitats suitable for the endangered Rosalia longicorn. The health of four elm stands (Carpathians, SE Poland) was analysed and the pathogen responsible for elm death were determined by DNA sequence comparison. O. novo-ulmi — the causative agent of Dutch elm disease — was isolated from weakened and dying trees at all studied localities. In total, 30% of the elm trees were dead, 34% showed signs of dieback or were moribund, while some 36% showed no signs of dieback (N = 120). The presence of the Rosalia longicorn was recorded at all four studied localities. The use of elms as a host plant was long-term; dead trees served as a breeding material through the past 11 years. Our results indicate that O. novo-ulmi is playing an important part in the death of elms in Rosalia longicorn localities. Dutch elm disease, due to its wide distribution, may shape suitable habitats for Rosalia longicorn within the species' range. While the chronic nature of the disease contributes to the slow and inexorable death of these trees, it may at the same time be a factor promoting the long-term stability of Rosalia longicorn habitats.

The differences in morphology and age between single and paired males of an urban population of the European Blackbirds (Turdus merula) were studied in Żeromski park in the city of Szczecin (NW Poland) spanning 11 breeding seasons since 1998. The proportion of single to paired males in different age groups was established. Also, morphology features like the length of tail, wing and tarsus of 45 single males and 475 paired males were collected. We found that old males (after second year of life) formed pair bonds more often than the young males (in their second year of life). The probability of being a paired male in case of young males increased along with the tarsus length.

A new stand, formed by some fifty individuals of Ambrosia artemisiifolia L., an invasive plant of alien origin, was discovered at the Katowice railway station (southern Poland), in 2011. Two years later, the stand (increased to more than 160 individuals in the meantime) was re-visited, phytosociological survey was made, and four soil cores (5 cm deep and 80 cm² surface area, each) were taken for seed bank studies.

The phytosociological sampling revealed 28 co-occurring vascular species, most of them representing hemicryptophyte and geophyte life forms. According to Ellenberg's values, the species pool indicated sunny (L7 and L8 species dominating) and semi-dry (mainly F4 species) habitat for the common ragweed population, whereas Zarzycki's soil granulometric data reflected coarse-grained soil. Albedo of the soil was lower than that of the vegetation thus sparsely vegetated sites were considered as heat accumulating microhabitats that might support establishment of the thermophilic A. artemisiifolia.

During soil seed bank analysis a high number of naturally opened fruits (dehiscent achenes) were found (718.75 per m²) most probably indicating frequent germination in previous years. Greenhouse germination tests proved successful germination of 125 individuals per m², which was considered enough to maintain the A. artemisiifolia stand at the station. The results call attention to a newly discovered, established population with increasing demography of A. artemisiifolia, a highly allergenic introduced weed of Poland.

Short- and medium-distance migrant birds that return to the breeding grounds early can usually take better-quality territory leading to higher breeding success than of congeners arriving later. On the other hand, early breeders usually have to face severe weather conditions. 109 Black-headed Gulls which had begun laying in a breeding colony (N-Poland) earlier than the remaining 960 females lost 66.2% of eggs because of severely adverse weather. On 9 April 2012 ambient temperature fell to -4.6°C during the first two hours after sunrise (06:00–07:59) resulting in eggs cracking during the adults' first feeding bout after the night. Up to 1 mm wide cracks in eggshells were from 3 mm to 24 mm long; in some eggs the external shell membrane also broke. Pairs that lost eggs did not repeat broods. In this way in 2012 this colony suffered the greatest loss of eggs during its 15-years history. This event showed that even in the temperate climate, adverse weather, a consequence of the global climate change, does have negative impact on life history traits of birds.