Fungal diversity is one of the most important indicators of overall forest biodiversity and its health. However, scarce information exists on the state of macrofungal communities of mountain forests ...in Serbia, making it one of the countries with the least-published mycological data in the Mediterranean and Balkan region of Europe. This paper presents the results of the first comprehensive, long-term study of macrofungal communities in some of the most important mountain forest ecosystems in Serbia (Tara, Kopaonik and Vidlič). In the course of three consecutive years, the sampling of five permanent experimental plots resulted in 245 species of macrofungi, classified into three functional groups (terricolous saprothrophs, lignicolous, and mycorrhizal fungi). Special attention was given to protected and indicator species, which point out the great value of studied forest habitats and the importance of their conservation. It was found that precipitation, habitat humidity, and temperature significantly influence the occurrence and distribution, primarily of mycorrhizal and lignicolous group of fungi. Thus, the continuation of long-term monitoring is crucial in order to more precisely determine which groups/species of macrofungi would, and to what extent they would, adapt to a rapidly changing climate.
Antioxidant characteristics of leaves, twigs, and acorns from two Serbian oak species Quercus robur L. and Quercus petraea L. from Vojvodina province (northern Serbia) were investigated. 80% ethanol ...(in water) extracts were used for antiradical power (ARP) determinations against D P P H • , N O • , and O 2 ∙ - radicals, ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), total phenol, tannin, flavonoid, and proanthocyanidin contents. Permanganate reducing antioxidant capacity (PRAC) was determined using water extracts. Beside, mentioned parameters, soluble proteins, lipid peroxidation (LP), pigments and proline contents were also determined. The data of different procedures were compared and analyzed by multivariate techniques (correlation matrix calculation and principal component analysis (PCA)). PCA found that investigated organs of two different oak tree species possess similar antioxidant characteristics. The superior antioxidant characteristics showed oak leaves over twigs and acorns and seem to be promising source of antioxidants with possible use in industry and pharmacy.
Harnessing the ability of genetically manipulated human embryonic stem cells (hESC) to differentiate into appropriate lineages could revolutionize medical practice. These cells have the theoretical ...potential to develop into all mature cell types; however, the actual ability to develop into all hematopoietic lineages has not been demonstrated. Using sequential in vitro coculture on murine bone marrow stromal cells, and engraftment into human thymic tissues in immunodeficient mice, we demonstrate that hESC can differentiate through the T lymphoid lineage. Stable transgene expression was maintained at high levels throughout differentiation, suggesting that genetically manipulated hESC hold potential to treat several T cell disorders.
Climate change will affect European beech (
Fagus sylvatica
L.) ecosystems negatively due to well-known vulnerability of this species to drought. Phenotypic plasticity has been recognized as the ...primary means in rapid acclimation to adverse environmental conditions. Provenance trials of forest tree species represent a valuable tool for assessing provenance adaptive potential to changing environments. In the present study, we examined the adaptive response capability (plasticity) of certain leaf anatomical traits in different European beech provenances to contrasting environmental conditions prevailing in two provenance trials. While one location of the trials is an isolated, marginal site, the other is a site within the original geographic range of beech forests in Serbia. The study involved 12 provenances originating from Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Germany, Hungary, Romania and Serbia. The results of the study evidenced that genetic differences of the provenances are mainly responsible for the differences in leaf traits. Cluster analysis showed absence of association between provenances from the same geographic regions (e.g., Germany and Balkan Peninsula, respectively), revealing phenotypic heterogeneity between them. Steep reaction norms, observed for anatomical traits studied, indicate the possibility of plastic provenance response to changes in environmental conditions. The highest values of plasticity index, observed for stomatal density and thicknesses of palisade and spongy parenchyma, seem to be the result of a regulative function of stomata and mesophyll structure on physiological adaptation to the unfavorable growth conditions at the marginal site. Such sclerophyllous leaf structures, indicating drought resistance, were observed in certain provenances from Central/Eastern Europe and mesic sites, indicating that beech provenances from warmer sites in Southern Europe may not necessarily be the only source of drought-resistant ecotypes.
•Ellenberg's climate quotient (EQ) was applied to determine the beech xeric limit.•European beech xeric limit was lower than earlier proposed.•About 90% of current beech forests will be outside ...present niche before 2100.•The EQ differences among researches suggest strict regional approach.
Ellenberg's climate quotient (EQ), which is a simple biometeorological index, was used to predict the xeric limit of the European beech distribution and potential future changes in Serbia (southeast Europe). The general aim of this study was to evaluate EQ as a predictive tool of the xeric limit of the beech at the southern edge of its distribution and to predict future changes in the xeric limit. The novelty of this study is its assessment of EQ accuracy for Serbia, the beech populations of which were separated from Central European refugia during the last glacial period. Climate projections from the coupled regional climate model EBU-POM were used to predict the changes in the xeric limit in the 21st century. The computation of the area under the receiver operating characteristic curves showed that EQ had “good” and “fair” predictive ability for two samples. Using three threshold criteria and different samples, the beech xeric limit in Serbia for the reference period of 1961–1990 varied between EQ values of 20.1 and 29.5. Significant changes in the beech xeric limits were predicted for the 21st century. The EQ calculations for 2001–2030 (A1B scenario) predicted that more than 20% of the present-day beech forests will be located outside of the ideal bioclimatic niche characterised by EQ≤30 that was proposed by Ellenberg. For 2071–2100 (A1B and A2 scenarios), up to 90% of the current beech forests are expected to be located outside of that niche, and approximately 50% will be located beyond the limit EQ=40 for which beech mass mortalities have been observed. The results suggest an urgent need for the development of adaptive forest management strategies for beech in this region.
Forest ecosystems represent one of the largest and most important ecosystems on Earth, containing close to 80% of the biomass of our planet. As such, they play a significant role in the global carbon ...cycle because through photosynthesis, forests absorb more carbon than they emit and thus accumulate it. The most important species in deciduous forests in Europe, European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.), is of exceptional importance from the aspect of carbon storage. Considering that the state of carbon in pure beech forests is poorly investigated in the western part of the Balkans, the need for total carbon research was imposed to complete the picture of its stocks and factors that impact it. Research on total carbon (TC) storage in uneven-aged pure beech stands in the western part of the Balkans was carried out in three regions located approximately at the same latitude, but different longitude, imposing different macro-habitat characteristics. This research aimed to determine the TC stock and to examine the effects of orographic factors, stand canopy, and macroclimate on its values. TC stock in forest biomass was determined using appropriate regression equations and formulas, while soil organic carbon stock was determined using ICP forests methodology. Effects of different factors on carbon stock were examined using ANOVA (Type II Sums of Squares), General Linear Hypothesis Test (GLHT), and regression analyses. It was found that the largest TC stock is located in the region of Eastern Serbia (SRB) where its macroclimate is classified as suitable for hornbeam and sessile oak or mixed beech-oak stands. It was found that anthropogenic activity plays a significant role in the size of the carbon stock stored in above-ground biomass via alteration of forest canopy. The results also indicate that Aboveground Carbon (AGC) stocks are approximately proportional to Belowground Carbon (BGC; C in belowground biomass + soil C) stocks. What makes the difference is the structure of BGC, as the share of Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) is higher in the regions of Eastern Republic of Srpska (ERS) and Western Republic of Srpska (WRS), which are climatically classified as highly suitable for beech. Further analysis has shown that the amount of SOC decreases with increasing aridity levels. Given the results, management goals should be aimed at increasing the stock of biomass for the sake of carbon sequestration and for reducing the adverse effects of climate change, as a large amount of carbon can be stored in the above-ground and belowground biomass.
Background and Purpose: Most projections of the global energy use predict that biomass will be an important component of primary energy sources in the coming decades. Short rotation plantations have ...the potential to become an important source of renewable energy in Europe because of the high biomass yields, a good combustion quality as solid fuel, ecological advantages and comparatively low biomass production costs.
Materials and Methods: In this study, the wood of black locust Robinia pseudoacacia, white willow Salix alba L., poplars Populus deltoides and Populus x euramericana cl.I-214, aged eight years were examined. Immediately after the felling, sample discs were taken to assess moisture content, ash content, the width of growth rings, wood densities and calorific values, according to the standard methodology.
Results: The mean values of willow, poplar and black locust wood density were 341 kg/m3, 336 kg/m3 and 602 kg/m3,respectively. The average heating values of willow poplar and black locust wood were 18.599 MJ/kg, 18.564 MJ/kg and 21.196 MJ/kg, respectively. The FVI index (average values) was higher for black locust (17.186) than for poplar and willow clones, which were similar: 11.312 and 11.422 respectively.
Conclusions: Black locust wood with a higher density, calorific value and ash content compared to poplar and willow wood proved to be a more suitable raw material as RES. However, it is very important, from the aspect of the application of wood of these tree species as RES, to also consider the influence of the biomass yield per unit area of the plantations established as “energy plantations”.
Background and Purpose:
Due to the ability to uptake and accumulate heavy metals (HM) in their aboveground tissues, trees may be used for phytoremediation purposes, but also as bioindicators of ...environmental pollution. The aims of the present study were: a) to investigate the content and temporal variation of the studied HMs in different plant organs during the period of intensive leaf falling (September-October), in two species from genus
Quercus
; b) to evaluate the observed HMs content relative to plausible ranges of element concentration in foliar litter, as recommended by ICP Forests Foliar Co-ordinating Centre (IFFCC).
Material and Methods:
The contents of zinc (Zn), manganese (Mn), copper (Cu) and iron (Fe) were assessed in the litterfall (i.e. leaves and branches) of
Quercus petraea
(Matt.) Liebl. and
Quercus robur
L. grown at two ICP Forests Level II monitoring plots (Fruška Gora and Odžaci, Serbia). Plant material was sampled during September-October 2018 and analyzed by atomic absorption spectrophotometry.
Results:
Comparing the content of investigated HMs in foliar litter and branches of
Q. robur
and
Q. petraea
, notably higher concentrations of Mn and Fe have been observed in the foliage of both species, whereas Zn and Cu concentrations were higher in collected branch material of both of the above-mentioned tree species. The results further showed that, when compared to plausible ranges of element concentrations in foliar litter, given by ICP Forests Foliar Co-ordinating Centre (IFFCC), average concentrations of Fe and Zn in the leaves were within suggested limits, whereas certain concentrations of Mn and Cu exceeded the proposed ranges. Furthermore, the content of the studied HMs in plant material of both Quercus species significantly varied during sampling period.
Conclusions:
Although it was observed that concentrations of certain HMs were beyond plausible limits recommended by IFFCC, our results were in accordance with the findings of other authors who studied HMs content in
Quercus
species grown in natural forests. For that reason, these limits should be considered optionally, i.e. in the cases when the results significantly deviate from the suggested values. Moreover, we believe that the observed variation in the HMs content during sampling period is related to the sampling procedure commonly applied at ICP Forests monitoring plots, which is indirectly associated with the capacity of trees to accumulate HMs and their phenological properties.
In almost all industrially developed regions of the Russian Federation, the soil is contaminated with heavy metals (HM) often in concentrations which exceed limits of safety. This contamination ...causes degradation of agricultural land, which underlines the importance of the complex continuous monitoring of the dynamics of on-going changes in urban ecosystems against the background of natural processes. Quantitative assessment of the environmental sustainability of the soil according to the biological indicators of its condition is of enormous importance, in particular the balance of microbial carbon in soils, which are under varying degrees of anthropogenic pressure. Experiments were carried out to determine the phytoremediation potential of the spring rapeseed plants on soil contaminated with heavy metals. The aim of the study was to assess the respiratory activity of albic luvisol at different levels of its contamination with zinc and nickel under the conditions of a growing experiment with spring rapeseed plants. The experimental data on the respiratory activity of soil artificially contaminated with zinc and nickel in the dose range of 400-800 and 30-60 mg kg-1 of soil respectively, showed that microbial activity had a strong positive correlation with the presence of spring rapeseed plants in the vessels and weak correlation on the presence of toxic elements in the soil. According to the respiratory activity of albic luvisol, it was found that in the first 13 days of vegetation, cultivation of spring rapeseed plants had a positive effect on the sustainability of soil microbiocenosis to complex pollution with zinc and nickel.
Although sessile oak is one of the most important deciduous forest tree species in Europe, data on the diversity of ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi on sessile oaks in the Republic of Serbia are scarce. ...The aim of this study was to provide the first insight into the diversity of ECM fungi on sessile oak in Serbia. Two sites Info center and Brankovac, located in National Park Fruška gora were chosen. ECM fungi were identified combining morphological and anatomical characterization with molecular analysis of nuclear rDNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region. All vital ECM root tips were counted, diversity indices were calculated, and ECM fungi were classified into the exploration types. The granulometric and chemical composition of soil were analyzed as well. At both sites, 26 different ECM fungal taxa were recorded in total, 17 taxa were observed at the site Info center and 12 taxa at Brankovac. ECM communities consisted of a few abundant taxa and a larger number of rare taxa.
Lactarius quietus, Cenococcum geophilum,
and
Tomentella sublilacina
were recorded at both sites. High abundance of contact and short-distance exploration types recorded in studied stands suggests that soils are sufficiently rich in total nitrogen and organic matter. Values of diversity indices recorded in studied sessile oak stands from Fruška gora were lower in comparison to those obtained in stands of different oak species across Europe which is likely induced by drought. To get a more thorough insight into the diversity of ECM fungi on sessile oak, research should be continued at more sites and seasonal dynamics should be included.
Hrast kitnjak je jedna od ekonomski i ekološki najvažnijih vrsta listopadnog šumskog drveća u Europi. U većini ekosustava umjerene klimatske zone zasnivanje, rast i preživljavanje stabala ovise o njihovoj zajednici sa ektomikoriznim (ECM) gljivama. Pri tome informacije o strukturi ECM zajednice mogu pružiti dragocjene informacije o funkcioniranju šumskih ekosustava. Međutim, podaci o raznolikosti
ECM gljiva na hrastovima u Republici Srbiji su rijetki. Cilj ovog istraživanja bio je pružiti prvi uvid u raznolikost ECM gljiva na hrastu
kitnjaku u Srbiji. Odabrane su dvije lokacije Info centar i Brankovac, smještene u Nacionalnom parku Fruška gora. ECM gljive su identificirane kombiniranjem morfološke i anatomske karakterizacije s molekularnom analizom nuklearne rDNA ITS regije. Prebrojani su svi vitalni ECM korijenski vrhovi, izračunati indeksi raznolikosti i ECM gljive su klasificirane u eksploracijske tipove. Analiziran je i granulometrijski i
kemijski sastav tla. Na obje lokacije zabilježeno je ukupno 26 taksona ECM gljiva, 17 taksona zabilježeno je na lokaciji Info centar i 12 taksona na Brankovcu. ECM zajednice sastojale su se od nekoliko brojnih ECM gljiva i većeg broja rijetkih ECM gljiva. Na obje lokacije zabilježeni su
Lactarius quietus
,
Cenococcum geophilum
i
Tomentella sublilacina
.
Na lokaciji Info centar dominirale su porodice Thelephoraceae, Russulaceae i Inocybaceae, dok su na lokaciji Brankovac najzastupljenije
familije bile Entolomataceae, Tuberaceae i Russulaceae. Velika brojnost
kontaktnih i eksploracijskih tipova kratkih udaljenosti zabilježena u proučavanim sastojinama sugerira da su tla dovoljno bogata ukupnim dušikom i organskim tvarima. Vrijednosti indeksa raznolikosti zabilježene u proučavanim sastojinama hrasta kitnjaka s Fruške gore bile
su niže u usporedbi s onima dobivenim u sastojinama različitih vrsta hrasta diljem Europe, što je vjerojatno uzrokovano sušom. Da bi se dobio
temeljitiji uvid u raznolikost tipova ektomikoriza na hrastu kitnjaku, trebalo bi nastaviti s istraživanjima na više mjesta i uključiti sezonsku dinamiku.
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