The main aim of the research is to identify landscape fragmentation (LF) in Slovakia with special emphasis on the contribution of protected areas (PAs) to mitigate the effect of LF. Results are ...presented in the final raster output (10 m grid). The raster contains 490,321,151 individual 10 m raster grids, with the LF average value of 59.12 % (where 0 represents fragmented landscape, 100 represents fully connected landscape by natural or semi-natural ecosystems) on the national level. Most of the territory of Slovakia falls within the range of values 55 – 65 %, which confirms the presence of significant continuous unfragmented areas. Based on the Ordinary Least Square (OLS) statistics results, there is a positive correlation of lower LF within the PAs network (p < 0.05, Table 1) in comparison to the unprotected part of Slovakia. The results of geographically weight regression (GWR) proved a medium positive correlation (r2=0.36; r2adj=0.36; n=49,003), thus confirming to a certain extent the role of PAs in the mitigation of the effect of LF. On the other hand, the level of protection does not correlate significantly with fragmentation values, where a higher level of protection is not significantly connected with a lower level of LF. For each category of PA, individual statistics of quality and quantity of LF are estimated and subsequently compared with unprotected parts of Slovakia. The comparison of all PAs with each other resulted in 1,132 unique assessments. The overall average value of LF of unprotected parts is still rather high (56.42 %) and it shows that there are still significant areas existing, which are situated in unprotected parts of the country. Spatial analysis revealed, that these important parts are covering 93,065 hectares, and are variously spread across the whole of Slovakia. The average value of LF for these newly identified areas is 68.5 %. As output, the results of this research present a comprehensive national map of the level of LF and lists of PAs ranked according to the overall assessment of LF.
We identify hotspots of biocultural value on the national level in Slovakia in order: (1) to define indicators for the identification and evaluation of biocultural landscape types; (2) to analyze ...sites of natural and cultural heritage that create valuable biocultural landscapes, and (3) to identify hot-spots of biocultural landscape in Slovakia. Reflecting the transformation of original habitats, we distinguished five degrees of natural vegetation: three—sub-natural, quasi-natural and semi-natural—include habitats dependent on human management, areas of historical green infrastructure, and high environmental value farmland with the presence of natural/semi-natural habitats. We include natural or semi-natural landscape features, specifically arboreta, historical parks, and cultural monuments with historical green infrastructure among hotspots of biocultural value. Such areas have been preserved in 10.89% of urban or rural settlements in Slovakia.
This paper provides an analysis of the rare and important Natura 2000 species Carabus zawadzkii in terms of its ecological niche, conservation status and relationship with other Carabus species in ...carabid assemblages. Published sources are inconsistent in defi ning the habitats in which this species occurs. Therefore, a large part of this paper is dedicated to identifying the relationship of Carabus zawadzkii with particular non-forest habitats based on fi eld research conducted in 2011-2013. The results revealed an unexpected affi nity of this species for non-forest habitats in addition to the know relationship with forest habitats. Further analysis, using additional fi eld data collected over the period 2013-2021, also focused on the assessment of the current conservation status of this rare species. Overall, the population of this species seems stable; however, to improve its conservation status it requires particular management measures. Important conservation measures include periodic extensive mowing of mountain hay meadows. This species' seasonal dynamics provides important information for nature conservationists. It is important to carry out research on this species in May, when it is most active. Presented results provide the most comprehensive overview of the ecological preferences and occurrence of this important and very rare Carpathian species.
Three species of spiders (Araneae), Altella aussereri Thaler, 1990, Mimetus laevigatus (Keyserling, 1863), and Trichoncyboides simoni (Lessert, 1904), are reported from Slovakia for the first time. ...These new records originate from southern Slovakia. The record of A. aussereri provides new data on the distribution and natural history of this range-restricted species of very high conservation value. The records of M. laevigatus and T . simoni in Slovakia extend their known distribution in Central Europe. Characteristic features, pictures of the habitus, copulatory organs, and habitats are presented.
Abstract
The highly diverse group of freshwater mussels from order Unionida is found in the world’s freshwater systems due to several fascinating evolutionary adaptations, including “parental care,” ...and most notably, an obligatory parasitic phase in their early life cycle, called glochidia, which infests and uses fish for nutrition and dispersal. Freshwater mussels play essential ecological roles in freshwater habitats, including water filtration, sediment bioturbation, and nutrient cycling. However, these species are also highly threatened, being one of the faunal groups with the highest recorded extinction rate in the wild. Genomics methods have an incredible potential to promote biodiversity conservation, allowing the characterization of population health, identification of adaptive genetic elements, delineation of conservation units, and providing a framework for predictive assessments of the impact of anthropogenic threats and climate change. Unfortunately, only six freshwater mussel species have had their whole genomes sequenced to date, and only two of these are European species. Here, we present the first genome assembly of the Painter’s Mussel, Unio pictorum (Linnaeus, 1758), the type species representative of the order and the most widespread species of the genus in Europe. We used long-read PacBio Hi-Fi sequencing reads to produce a highly contiguous assembly that will pave the way for the study of European freshwater mussels in the Genome Era.
Ecosystems in Slovakia Černecký, Ján; Gajdoš, Peter; Špulerová, Jana ...
Journal of maps,
12/2020, Letnik:
16, Številka:
2
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
The authors have prepared a detailed map of Slovakia's ecosystems, which identifies individual ecosystems and their spatial distribution, status, and selected properties. The impetus for the ...production of this map is the need of various stakeholders, especially nature protection bodies, forestry management, agricultural management and public administration, for better data on the distribution of ecosystems. The methodology mostly involves using GIS analytical tools to combine datasets on nature protection, forestry, and agriculture which list attributes related to habitat identification. The results can be used for ecosystem services assessment, spatial planning, nature protection analysis, and other related purposes. The spatial precision of the data is determined by that of the field data, which was mostly created at scales between 1:10000 and 1:5000. The data are stored in the form of a geodatabase containing more than 1,000,000 polygons.
The spatial distribution of parasitoids is closely linked to the distribution and ecological requirements of their hosts. Several studies have documented changes in the fauna composition of ...parasitoids in response to elevation, but data on parasitoids associated with spiders are missing. The koinobiont ichneumonid wasp
Zatypota anomala
is strictly specialised on spiders of the genus
Dictyna
(Dictynidae) in Europe. We examined the distribution of spiders of the family Dictynidae in forest ecotones in central Europe across a broad elevation gradient (110–1466 m a.s.l.). We checked the spiders for parasitism by
Z. anomala
. It was most abundant at the mid-elevations (median 712 m a.s.l., range 179–870 m a.s.l.). We identified four dictynid spider species as
Z. anomala
hosts. These were
Dictyna arundinacea
,
Dictyna uncinata
,
Nigma flavescens
, and
Nigma walckenaeri
. All four species and the genus
Nigma
were recorded as hosts for the first time. The parasitoids strongly preferred juvenile instars of their hosts. The body length differed between parasitised
Dictyna
and
Nigma
spiders (medians: 1.95 mm and 2.55 mm, respectively). The distribution of
Dictyna
and
Nigma
spiders overlapped along the elevation gradient, but parasitism incidence significantly differed between spider genera along the elevation gradient.
Nigma
was parasitized at lower elevations between 179–254 m a.s.l. and
Dictyna
at higher elevations between 361–870 m a.s.l. The phenology of
Z. anomala
is closely tied to the univoltine life strategy of its host spiders. The parasitoid female oviposits in autumn, and its offspring overwinter as larvae on the host, reach adulthood during spring, and pass the summer as an adult.
The main aim of this article is to summarise data on the biology and conservation of the Western Palaearctic planorbid gastropod Anisus vorticulus (Troschel, 1834). This aquatic gastropod is a ...threatened species at European level and endangered species in Slovakia according to IUCN red list classification. This paper also deals with comprehensive data on the species distribution in Slovakia between 1953 and 2019. According to the Habitat Directive, Slovakia realised regular monitoring of the species at 10 permanent monitoring plots and established 11 sites of community interest (SCI) within the NATURA 2000 network exclusively for its protection. In results, there are monitoring assessments available as well as the overall assessment of the species conservation status. In the last twenty years, Anisus vorticulus has been confirmed in Slovakia at 23 sites. The most recent research shows that the species prefers small and old drainage ditches (36% out of all its sites) and plesiopotamal channels, flooded by surface water only at a high water table levels (25% of sites). To a lesser extent, the species also inhabits stagnant water bodies which are not in contact with surface floods (i.e. paleopotamal; 16% of sites).
This article provides an overview and results of the pilot national ecosystem services assessment in Slovakia. It follows the MAES process and past ecosystem services (ES) research in Slovakia and is ...based on original research methodology using spatial and statistical data. The initial step of national ES assessment resulted in the selection of significant ES for the evaluation process, where 18 ES in three groups were selected (five provisioning, 10 regulatory/maintenance and three cultural ES). An original assessment model provided the theoretical and methodological framework for national ES evaluation. The principal result is an assessment of the national landscape’s capacity for ES provision, based on evaluation of the landscape units and selected properties and indicators at the ecosystem level. These inputs included habitat types and watersheds, administrative units, natural topology, geology, soils, climate, water and biota. The ES capacity models were created and evaluated for each ES, for the main groups and, finally, for overall ES provision. The highest capacity to provide ES in Slovakia comes from natural and semi-natural ecosystems, mainly deciduous, mixed and coniferous forests which cover over 38% of Slovak territory. The water ecosystems and wetlands are also significant, followed by grasslands and permanent crops. The research highlights the crucial importance of the mountainous and sub-mountainous areas in Slovakia and confirms the significant contribution of the natural and semi-natural ecosystems for ensuring ES provision.
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