Summary
This paper aims to present the possibilities for creating maps in the programming language R. Even though R is primarily developed as a statistical program, its application in the area of ...mapping and spatial statistics is becoming frequent and highly relevant. Many R packages make the mapping process easier and user-friendly, and this paper presents the most commonly used ones: “leaflet”, “ggplot2” and “ggmap”. The selection of the R package depends on the user’s proficiency in R programming but also depends on the visual quality of the map the user wants to gain. Based on the questionnaire conducted in this research, the paper recommends application of the “leaflet” package for the beginners, the “ggplot2” package for medium proficient users, and the “ggmap” package for the most advanced R users. After creating maps in R it is possible to conduct additional analysis related to processing of the spatial data contained within, and this would be a recommendation for future research. In this paper, the mapping process is demonstrated on the case study of the National Park “Fruška gora” in Serbia, and different types of maps are presented.
This paper deals with the tasks of creating maps of protected natural assets
(national parks and natural monuments - individual plant specimens) on
several case examples in Serbia. The main goal of ...the paper is to introduce
the application of the R program in diverse mapping assignments. Even
though the R program is commonly used for numerical and statistical
analysis, its application in mapping assignments is still relatively new and
not widely known. Therefore, this paper aims to promote the use of R in
mapping and to present the appearance of maps that can be obtained as a
result. The selected examples are shown on different spatial scales,
starting from the mapping of national parks on a map of Serbia, continuing
with the mapping of a single national park in a narrow spatial context,
ending with the mapping of individual protected plants. The same procedure
can be repeated for the similar mapping assignments in the future. Creating
maps is an integral part of defining adaptive management strategies for
protected natural assets, and therefore can greatly impact the process of
monitoring and conducting conservation measures for in situ plant protection
activities.
Recycling organic waste is most important for preserving natural resources. The research objective was to quantify the effect of the application of vermicompost and vermicompost leachate on the yield ...and quality of strawberries and compare it with a standard fertilization program with mineral fertilizers during a 3-year production cycle. Five fertilization treatments were studied: control—without fertilizer (Ø); vermicompost (V); vermicompost + foliar application of vermicompost leachate (VL); vermicompost leachate through fertigation and foliar application (L); and mineral NPK fertilizers (NPK). The application of V positively affected strawberry yield only in the first year. In all three years of fruiting, the highest yield was measured for NPK treatment. In the first year, fertilization had no effect on fruit quality, while in the second and third years, the application of leachate led to a significantly higher concentration of total soluble solids, total anthocyanins, antioxidant activity of the fruit, and a lower concentration of total acid. Strawberries are grown for a two- or three-year production cycle, so the application of V and VL cannot maintain the yield level as was with the application of mineral NPK fertilizers. The quality of strawberry fruit, however, can be improved significantly.
This paper presents the results of research on the dendroflora of the Natural Monument (NM) “Stari park” in Temerin, Serbia. The park’s natural values are intricately linked to the characteristics of ...its dendrofloristic elements, i.e. the large dimensions and age of its trees. To gain insight into changes in diversity, the flora recorded in 2004 and 2022 was compared. In 2022, a field study was conducted to provide a detailed dendroflora analysis, including taxonomic analysis, species origin analysis, assessment of the presence of autochthonous, allochthonous, and invasive species, as well as the biological spectrum. Although Celtis occidentalis L. remained the most represented species eighteen years later, its percentage decreased from 34% to 21%. This decline can be attributed to the emergence of new dominant species such as Fraxinus angustifolia Vahl. (15%), Ulmus effusa Willd. (13%), and Acer platanoides L. (9%). These four species now collectively constitute 58% of the trees in the park.
Summary
Biodiversity refers to genetic, species and ecosystems varieties within an area. Two main characteristics that should be investigated when considering biodiversity are richness and evenness. ...Richness is related to the number of different species in the analyzed area, while evenness corresponds to the homogeneity of the abundance of species. For quantifying these features, many indices have been defined, and this paper offers an overview of the most commonly used biodiversity indices, such as Shannon, Simpson, Margalef and Berger-Parker. The paper explains the process of calculating these indices on the case study example of four forest communities and discusses the results obtained. The Jaccard index analysis is used to discover a similarity between the analyzed forest communities. Results from this part of the research are visualized by creating appropriate dendrograms for making the interpretation easier. Calculating and analyzing these indices is useful not only for forest ecosystems, but for the other types of ecosystems as well, including agro-ecosystems. Biodiversity indices can be obtained in thespecialized software, for instance in EstimateS (Statistical Estimation of Species Richness and Shared Species from Samples), or by programming in the statistical package R, as it was done in this research.
The paper gives an overview of non-native and invasive tree species, and
offers the basic data about their current presence in European forests. It
deals with definitions and classifications and ...explains how these species
can affect new environment with the emphasis on local biodiversity loss. The
process of invasion is also explained, emphasizing that there is a lag phase
in which a species does not reveal its invasiveness, which can last even a
few centuries (for certain species). That is why it is important to monitor
non-native species and prevent their further establishment. Invasive species
are less likely to develop in habitats with intense inter-species
competition over a long period of time, in undisturbed areas with high
biodiversity, but also in areas with the lack of nutrients, light and water
or in areas where these resources are being heavily exploited by local plant
communities.
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This research presents the process of assessment of management objectives for
natural monuments by applying two multi-criteria methods: SMART and SMARTER.
For SMART application three decision makers ...performed the required
assessments, while SMARTER results were gained by using the ranking of
objectives. Namely, in both cases, the bases of the assessments were the
management guidelines defined by the IUCN organization. In SMARTER analysis
the ranking of objectives defined by the IUCN was the only input data, while
SMART application included decision makers who assigned the points to each
objective respecting the IUCN ranking. The obtained results represent the
weights (cardinal values) of management objectives for natural monuments,
which can be a convenient basis for further assessment and evaluation of
management plans for this category of protected areas.
This paper demonstrates the application of the Analytic Hierarchy Pro?cess
(AHP) in assessing landscape plans using the option of abbreviated pair-wise
comparisons to simplify the weight elicitation ...process for decision makers.
Whereas the standard AHP elicitation procedure requires a full set of
pairwise comparisons among all criteria at each node of the decision
hierarchy in order to derive criterion weights for the decision model, the
abbreviated pairwise method uses a minimal spanning set of pairwise
comparisons, and remaining comparisons are then derived by transitivity
rules. In this paper is presented the abbreviated pairwise method with a
case study in which alternative management plans are evaluated for the
Zvezdarska forest of Belgrade, Serbia. The analysis was performed with the
Criterium DecisionPlus software, which fully implements the AHP methodology,
and provides useful diagnostics on AHP decision models. As a conclusion,
some of the key advantages and disadvantages of the abbreviated pairwise
variant of the AHP method are demonstrated. One of the key qualities of the
Criterium DecisionPlus software is a clear and easy graphical representation
of the results.
Decision support methods have an important role regarding the envi?ronmental
and landscape planning problems. In this research, one of the decision
support methods - multiplicative version of ...Promethee - has been applied for
assessment of five main parks in Novi Sad. The procedure required defining a
set of criteria that were as follows: aesthetic, ecological and social values
of analyzed parks. For each criterion an appropriate Promethee preference
function was adopted with corresponding threshold values. The final result of
the process was the ranking of parks by their aesthetic, ecological and
social quality and importance for the City of Novi Sad. The result can help
urban planners and responsible city bodies in their future actions aimed at
improving development and management of analyzed parks. Two main directions
of a future research were identified: (a) testing appli?cability of other
decision support methods, along with Promethee, on the same problem and
comparison of their results; and (b) analysis of the criteria set more
closely by expanding it and/or including a set of indicators.
Biodiversity and biodiversity preservation are some of the most important
topics in ecology. Protecting biodiversity in urban ecosystems is especially
challenging. Urban parks are a valuable part of ...green infrastructure in
cities, as they contribute to preserving natural habitats for many species.
Biodiversity can be quantified by calculating different diversity indices,
and in this paper, we have calculated alpha indices (Shannon, Simpson,
Fisher, Berger-Parker and Margalef index) and beta indices (Sorensen index,
Jaccard distance and Bray-Curtis index) for the Futog park in Novi Sad,
Serbia, within two periods, 2005 and 2020. The goal of the paper is to
analyze the current values of biodiversity indices in the park and compare
them with the ones from 15 years ago. In addition to the analysis of
biodiversity indices values, the paper provides the comparison of taxonomic
structure of flora, and the abundance of native, endemic and invasive
species in the park, in 2005 and 2020. The results show that the values of
biodiversity indices have decreased in the indicated period of time, and one
of the main causes can be related to the spread of invasive species within
the park. For calculation purposes, we have used the R program and the R
package ?vegan?.
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