The Balkan Peninsula has 57 herbaria listed in Index Herbariorum that have almost 5.5 million herbarium sheets. The aim of this study was to determine the status of these herbaria, in terms of their ...current technical capacities and manpower, their activities, and their communication with botanical societies via herbarium exchanges and loans. Data were gathered through a survey of 24 questions passed to the herbaria curators or other herbarium staff. Fifty-six percentage of the herbaria responded (32/57). Through the analysis of the data gathered, the current state, needs, potential and future perspectives for these Balkan herbaria were evaluated for the full individual question responses. The Balkan herbaria are mostly owned by universities, institutes and museums (30/32; 94%), and the majority have almost no formal protection of their collections (17/32; 53%). They are not sufficiently financed and functioned with too few staff. They are also not following modern herbarium standards, with problems mainly with insects and moulds (29/32; 91%), and with air conditioning mostly not used (18/27; 67%). Their exchange and borrowing frequencies are very low. Generally, there is little public access to the databases, and only a small fraction of the material has been digitized. The awareness of the problems of these herbaria at higher decision-making levels is low. Therefore, we can conclude that these herbarium collections in the Balkan Peninsula are under serious threat. Societies must be aware of this and must do as much as possible to preserve these collections and to enhance their active maintenance and use.
Systematic field sampling revealed that within 50 years since the first records in Slovenia, Sporobolus neglectus and S. vaginiflorus became widespread. They are two superficially similar N American ...annual grass species with cleistogamous spikelets and similar ecology that are confined to dry ruderal places in their European secondary range, especially along roads. The oldest records of naturalised populations of both species in Europe date back to the 1950s, when both were found for the first time in the Vipava valley (SW Slovenia). They spread slowly in the next decades to NE Italy, N Croatia, and S Austria until recently, when an explosive expansion has been observed along almost all the main roads in lowland and montane Slovenia. In addition to that, one or both of them have recently been recorded scattered in SE Europe (Hungary, Serbia, B&H, Montenegro) and W Europe (France, Switzerland). Sporobolus vaginiflorus is herein reported for the first time for Serbia, Herzegovina (in B&H), and Slavonia (in Croatia).
Cities represent enviroment for most of Europe's human population. Spatial pattern of cities' environmental as well as socioeconomic features affect plant biodiversity. We analysed a floristic ...mapping dataset of the city of Ljubljana (Slovenia) and asked what affects the spatial differences in the presence of different categories of species: species according to residence time and endangered and thermophilic species. To explain the proportions of these species groups in grid cells, using Generalized Additive Models, we tested the effects of three categories of predictors: i) urban structure, represented by the distance from the city centre, population density, soil sealing, and quality of residential environment index, ii) habitat predictors, represented by habitat diversity and geologic diversity, and iii) environmental conditions, represented by urban heat island (UHI). Species richness decreases with the distance from the city centre and is highest in the cells with intermediate habitat diversity. Number of species is highest within city parts of highest quality of residential environment index and lowest in parts with UHI effect. Proportion of native species is positively related to habitat and geologic diversity. The proportion of archaeophytes is higher where habitats are more diverse and increases with the distance from the city centre. Grid cells with highest proportion of neophytes are located in the most built-up areas and in the city centre, which is positively associated with soil sealing, but negatively with UHI. Thermophilic species are positively associated with soil sealing. Endangered species have uniform distribution pattern and their proportion is negatively associated with distance from the city centre and soil sealing. A grid cell with the highest proportion of endangered species includes two protected areas with wetland habitats. Calculated ecological indicator values show correlation with soil sealing and habitat diversity. Some of the results are in line with well-established patterns from other cities, while others reflect certain specific features of Ljubljana, e.g. forested hills close to the city centre. The identified hotspots of city's plant species richness can serve in the argumentation of future urbanistic planning.
Impatiens glandulifera Royle (Himalayan balsam) is an annual plant, native to humid parts of the Himalayas. Brought to Europe in the XIX century, it has since successfully naturalized and spread ...throughout the continent, becoming one of the best-known invasive plants. Even though it has been thoroughly studied by many authors, some aspects of its biology and ecology remain unclear and debatable, such as its spreading dynamics, negative impacts in invaded ecosystems and ecological adaptability regarding moisture, nutrients, and light. This 2019 field study from the Ljubljana Marsh (Slovenia) has proved that Himalayan balsam successfully develops under mesophilic conditions, where it easily compensates moderate deviations from its ecological optimum. The species thrives in riparian zones, out-competing native vegetation, trait shown as potentially the biggest negative impact of chosen species in this context. This study additionally gave us a different insight into - usually highly emphasized - dynamics of species’ spreading. Spreading was not either dependent on hydrochory or as drastic as mentioned in literary sources, giving it a secondary role in species’ invasiveness on the chosen area. Lastly, we proposed rough estimates of eradication expenses for given area, based on our field results of species’ abundance and distribution on chosen area.
Aim We test for the congruence between allele-based range boundaries (break zones) in silicicolous alpine plants and species-based break zones in the silicicolous flora of the European Alps. We also ...ask whether such break zones coincide with areas of large elevational variation. Location The European Alps. Methods On a regular grid laid across the entire Alps, we determined areas of allele- and species-based break zones using respective clustering algorithms, identifying discontinuities in cluster distributions (breaks), and quantifying integrated break densities (break zones). Discontinuities were identified based on the intra-specific genetic variation of 12 species and on the floristic distribution data from 239 species, respectively. Coincidence between the two types of break zones was tested using Spearman's correlation. Break zone densities were also regressed on topographical complexity to test for the effect of elevational variation. Results We found that two main break zones in the distribution of alleles and species were significantly correlated. Furthermore, we show that these break zones are in topographically complex regions, characterized by massive elevational ranges owing to high mountains and deep glacial valleys. We detected a third break zone in the distribution of species in the eastern Alps, which is not correlated with topographic complexity, and which is also not evident from allelic distribution patterns. Species with the potential for long-distance dispersal tended to show larger distribution ranges than short-distance dispersers. Main conclusions We suggest that the history of Pleistocene glaciations is the main driver of the congruence between allele-based and species-based distribution patterns, because occurrences of both species and alleles were subject to the same processes (such as extinction, migration and drift) that shaped the distributions of species and genetic lineages. Large elevational ranges have had a profound effect as a dispersal barrier for alleles during post-glacial immigration. Because plant species, unlike alleles, cannot spread via pollen but only via seed, and thus disperse less effectively, we conclude that species break zones are maintained over longer time spans and reflect more ancient patterns than allele break zones.
The Red osier dogwood (Cornus sericea L.) is a popular North American ornamental shrub, often planted also in Slovenia. Subspontaneous occurrence of the species in Slovenia is known for two decades, ...but only in recent years, we can recognize it as an invasive species. The Red osier dogwood is currently known from numerous localities in the wider city area of Ljubljana and also from two sites in the Gorenjska region. It occurs in wetland habitats, particularly in the vicinity of settlements, where the shrub is planted for ornamental purposes. To limit the invasion of the Red osier dogwood, timely measures should be taken. We also publish the updated determination key for the genus Cornus in Slovenia.
Butterfly-bush (Buddleja davidii) is globally widespread invasive alien plant that originates in China. In Slovenia, a switch from benign naturalized plant to invasiveness occurred just recently, so ...in the last decade it has been spreading rapidly in the sense of geography and also forming viable competitively strong populations in (semi-)natural habitat types such as abandoned quarries, rocky slopes and river banks. In the article its spreading is presented with some older overlooked records and several new records that more than double our knowledge of the species’ distribution in Slovenia. These data strongly confirm that it can be recognized as invasive alien species also in Slovenia, owing to its successful spread to natural habitat types in several parts of the country in the last decade.
nimblewill, is a widespread North American perennial grass species, slowly spreading in European countries, where it has been recorded in Spain, Switzerland, Italy, and Slovenia. In addition, a well ...naturalized population was discovered in Opatija (Northwestern Croatia, Croatian Littoral) in 2011 as described herein. It has been recognized as a persistent weed in some North American states, and in the last few decades its secondary European distribution range has been slowly increasing. Thus most probably it will also spread in Croatia and become classified as invasive.
A naturalized population of Asiatic fern Cyrtomium fortunei J. Sm. was found in the surroundings of Nova Gorica. It is the first record of the species in the country, although the locality is an ...expected prolongation of the secondary distribution range with the species’ concentration in southern foothills of the Carnic Prealps (N Italy). The locality is characterized by mild temperate submediterranean climate and slightly degraded forest vegetation of the alliance Carpinion orientalis, where the fern occurs in the herb layer. Local occurrence of the fern represents the easternmost point of its secondary distribution range in Northeastern Italy, although this could possibly be connected with the immediate vicinity of the graveyards at the top of the slope.
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