<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>Various treatments can be used to break physical dormancy (PY, i.e. water-impermeable seed coat) of legume species, but the effects of these treatments on seedling growth are of great importance in the success of afforestation projects. Our aims were to determine the effects of 20 PY-breaking treatments on (1) germination of <italic>Gleditsia caspica</italic> (Caspian locust) seeds and (2) seedling growth. Five germination and nine seedling growth and morphological traits were studied. Immersion in concentrated sulfuric acid (98%) for 60 minutes was optimal for all germination traits and for all seedling traits except root length. After seed coat removal or treatment with sulfuric acid (for 45 to 120 minutes), 99–100% of the seeds germinated, but seedling growth traits after 5 months were significantly lower in the former than in the latter treatment. Other treatments (e.g., different periods of exposure to cold water, boiling water, and KNO3) did not significantly increase germination or improve seedling growth. Thus, despite incurring adverse environmental impacts, sulfuric acid treatments have the best potential to break seed dormancy and produce high-quality seedlings (in terms of shoot length, root and shoot mass, root area, leaf number and area and collar diameter) of Caspian locust.</abstract>

Effects of dormancy-breaking methods on germination of the water-impermeable seeds of <italic>Gleditsia caspica</italic> (Fabaceae) and seedling growth

<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>The dhole (<italic>Cuon alpinus</italic>) is one of the least frequent studied endangered canid species and many aspects of ecological knowledge about this species are lacking. The objectives of this study were to investigate the spatial movement of dholes, prey abundance, prey selection, and prey overlaps with other large carnivorous species in the Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary, Thailand, during November, 2017 and October, 2018. Two adult female dholes were captured and fitted with GPS collars. Twenty camera trap sets were systematically used to survey the area. Scat collection was conducted along forest roads and trails. The home range sizes and activity radii of the two dholes were 3,151.63 ha. and 1,442.84 m, and 33.39 ha and 331.56 m, respectively. The sambar deer (<italic>Rusa unicolor</italic>) was the most abundant prey species (30.93%). However, dhole fecal analysis showed that the monitored dholes preferred red muntjac (<italic>Muntiacus muntjak</italic>) (57.1%). There was a high degree of prey overlap between dholes and leopards (98%), indicating very high prey competition. The dholes in this study represent movement patterns in richly abundant prey habitats, but with the presence of other predators that can affect prey selection and movement patterns of the dhole in the area.</abstract>

Some ecological aspects of dhole (<italic>Cuon alpinus</italic>) in the Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary, Uthai Thani Province, Thailand

<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>Inter primer binding site (iPBS) polymorphism was investigated for common ivy (<italic>Hedera helix</italic>, L.) to obtain the knowledge on genetic diversity in this species. Actually, a very limited information exists about application of DNA markers in <italic>Hedera helix</italic>. Natural and planted European populations of ivy were analysed using an iPBS marker 5′ACCTGGCGTGCCA3′ with a total number of 238 fragments generated. Of these, 86% were polymorphic. There were determined certain attributes of this marker such as the diversity index (DI) and polymorphism information content (PIC). The value of the diversity index was 0.79 and the polymorphic information index was 0.78. The proportion of polymorphisms of the individual amplified loci ranged from 0.32% to 6.98%. Cluster analysis was performed to determine the relationships among the European ivy populations where the distribution in the dendrogram under the habitat specifity was found for the used iPBS marker. We concluded that iPBS was very efficient in analysing the genetic diversity in <italic>Hedera helix</italic>, L. and that this marker can serve as a suitable tool to find genomically specific fingerprints relevant to the factors influencing the distribution of genetic variation.</abstract>

Habitat-related specifity of iPBS fingerprint in European populations of <italic>Hedera helix</italic> L.

<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>Slovakia is acountry with limited natural resources, therefore its essential task is to search for new renewable sources of energy to reduce its dependence on imported fossil fuels. The results of research confirmed that the Common Reed (<italic>Phragmites australis</italic> (Cav.) Trin.) has considerable potential of phytomass production and energy storage (calorific value reached 17,448 J g−1 d.w.). Biomass production of Common Reed under natural conditions of the lower Liptov region reached 12.702 tons of a dry mater per hectare with the calculated energy storage of 221.622 GJ ha−1. The average biogas production was 351.31 l kg−1 of a dry matter of which the methane (CH4) content represents 185.21 l kg−1 (52.72%). With regards to the values of combustion heat, a calorific value and the production of methane it can also be noted that in case of Common Reed it is more profitable to focus on direct combustion of biomass than the production of biogas and methane.</abstract>

Energy production analysis of Common Reed – <italic>Phragmites australis</italic> (Cav.) Trin.

<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title> Modelling the influence of different concentrations of lead and cadmium ions upon a laboratory culture of insects has not been adequately studied. In our research, we assessed the influence of cadmium and lead nitrates at different concentrations (10-2-10-9 М) upon the development of larvae, pupae and imagines of Calliphora vicina Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830 (Diptera: Calliphoridae). We found an acceleration in the development of larvae and an increase in mass of puparia when lead ions were added to the food of the larvae, and decrease in the mass of puparia when cadmium ions were added. We registered nanism and malformation of the fly imagines in experiments with lead and cadmium in the food substrate. We observed that under the influence of the studied heavy metal ions there was a reduced motor activity of the fly larvae at all stages of development, a delay in formation of puparia and a delay in the emergence of imagines in comparison with the control group.</abstract>

Effect of lead and cadmium ions upon the pupariation and morphological changes in Calliphora vicina (Diptera, Calliphoridae)

<abstract>
<title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
The aim of the study was to assess the current state and productivity of black alder (<italic>Alnus glutinosa</italic> (L.) Gaertn.) stands and determine the optimal conditions for the emergence and further growth of its natural regeneration in Ukrainian Polissya. The area of black alder stands in Ukrainian Polissya (Ukrainian forest zone) is 162,348 ha, reaching 8.4% of the total forest area. Volyn Region has the largest area of alder stands within Ukrainian Polissya (61,271 ha covering 37.7% of the total area). In the forests of this region, a more detailed study of the current condition, productivity, growth and regeneration of alder stands was performed. The natural regeneration under the alder canopy was characterized as poor. The largest numbers of alder seedlings (1,600–1,800 stems per ha) were recorded under the canopy of 76–78-year-old stands with a relative density of stocking of 0.63–0.70 and 80–100% of alder in their composition. Naturally regenerating alder seedlings had mainly group distribution on the area (occurrence is up to 40%). These specificities should be taken into account to promote natural seed regeneration of alder stands.
</abstract>

Distribution, productivity and natural regeneration of black alder (<italic>Alnus glutinosa</italic> (L.) Gaertn.) in Ukrainian Polissya

<abstract>
<title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
Blue spruce (<italic>Picea pungens</italic>) has been planted in urban greenery as an ornamental tree in central Europe for more than 150 years. We investigated whether this nonnative spruce is a convenient habitat for ladybirds (Coleoptera, Coccinellidae). In 2021 and 2022, adults and larvae were sampled in four towns in Slovakia at monthly intervals throughout the growing season, from April to October. We recorded adults of 27 species and larvae of 11 ladybird species. Conifer specialist ladybird species predominated both in adult and larval communities (adults – 9 species, 85.2% of all individuals; larvae – 7 species, 92.1% of all individuals). <italic>Exochomus quadripustulatus</italic> and <italic>Aphidecta obliterata</italic> were the most common in adult (31.8% and 33.5% of all individuals, respectively) and larval (57.5% and 25.1% of all individuals, respectively) communities. The most abundant generalist species was nonnative invasive <italic>Harmonia axyridis</italic> (adults – 5.6%, larvae – 6.8% of all individuals). Adults and larvae of ladybirds were more abundant on solitary trees than on trees growing in groups. Our results confirmed that blue spruce hosts rich ladybird communities and provides them shelter and food resources.
</abstract>

Ladybird (Coleoptera, Coccinellidae) communities on nonnative blue spruce in central Europe

<abstract>
<title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
<italic>Falcataria moluccana</italic> (Miq.) Barnaby &amp; Grimes is an important species for forest plantation programmes in Malaysia and is widely used in the wood industry. However, its root interactions have not been widely investigated due to the limited methodologies and information about the root distribution of trees and crops in forest plantation and agroforestry systems. This study was conducted to determine the rhizotron-scale root interactions of <italic>F. moluccana</italic> at different tillage and nitrogen concentrations under four different treatments: control, tillage, fertiliser, and tillage with fertiliser. The rhizotron-scale experiment was conducted at a greenhouse where <italic>F. moluccan</italic>a (Batai) seedlings were transplanted in transparent rhizotron tubes (onemetre-high transparent polycarbonate solid sheet) using topsoil and river sand to simulate natural growing conditions. Root Intensity (RI), Root Length Density (RLD), Specific Root Length (SRL), dried shoot bio-mass and root biomass were recorded. Root biomass and SRL were notably higher (25–50 cm depth) at 6 WAT (Weeks After Transplanting), and the shoot biomass (tillage + fertiliser) was significantly higher at 14 WAT. However, plants treated with different tillage and nitrogen concentrations showed no significant impact on the RI and RLD. Fertiliser treatment only, and tillage with fertiliser treatment, showed greater root distribution at the rhizotron scale. These findings contribute to forest plantation and natural forest rehabilitation efforts by helping optimise the soil resources within ecosystems for sustainable forest management.
</abstract>

<italic>Falcataria moluccana</italic> (Miq.) root distribution seedlings in response to nitrogen concentrations and tillage

<abstract>
<title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
To overcome the human-induced threats impacting on ecosystems, managers should focus on priorities. Here, we applied the expert-based Threat Analysis (TAN) in a forest urban park (Northern Italy), involving experts which ranked local threats, from the more to less impacting and following the IUCN classification. We also evaluated the level of knowledge of operators about these threats. Experts identified five priority target-specific threats: Roads and Railroads; Invasive-Non Native/Alien species; Other Ecosystem modifications; Recreational Activities, and Storms and Flooding. Storms and Flooding and Invasive-Non Native/Alien species appeared the threats with significant highest magnitude. Knowledge of threats is comparable without significant difference among them. However, Storms and Flooding and Roads and Railroads are the threats having both the highest level of knowledge by experts and the highest magnitude. At the opposite, Mowing was the less known threat regarding its regime and showed the lowest magnitude. TAN approach should be routinely used to build conceptual frameworks, ranking threats from the more to less impacting, therefore optimizing the management effort and developing local projects.
</abstract>

Applying threat analysis approach in a small forest urban park (Northern Italy): local expert-based assessment to prioritize the management actions

<abstract>
<title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
In highly transformed regions, such as the tropical Andes, identifying the influence of forest succession and soil fauna on non-additive effects of litter decomposition is crucial for gaining a more realistic understanding of carbon dynamics and nutrient cycles. The objective of this paper was to analyze the changes of litter mixture effects on decomposition between different soil fauna treatments (macrofauna inclusion vs macrofauna exclusion) and successional stages (mature forests vs secondary forests) in upper Andean tropical forests along time by using a reciprocal translocation experiment of 1,344 litterbags that ran for 18 months with six common native Andean species. Thought <italic>t</italic>-tests, linear regressions, and linear mixed models, I found that litter mixture effects vary among sites and increase with time in secondary forests until the year of decomposition in litterbags with macrofauna exclusion. Mature forests exhibited strong antagonistic effects, while pronounced synergistic effects were observed in secondary forests. Although soil macrofauna did not increase significantly litter decomposition and synergistic effects in the mixtures at any of the stages of decay, it is likely that soil macrofauna may impact litter mixtures through top-down effects within soil food webs, rather than exerting a direct effect in the litter consumption as has been reported in tropical lowland ecosystems. Overall, this study supports the idea that litter mixtures exhibit significant variability across sites, can change with successional stage, and are influenced by soil fauna depending on the stage of decay in tropical Andean montane forests.
</abstract>

Litter mixture effects on decomposition change with forest succession and are influenced by time and soil fauna in tropical mountain Andes

<abstract>
<title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
In the present study, we investigated the structure of stomata in seven native species of Hyrcanian forests (<italic>Acer hyrcanum, A. velutinum Boiss., A. campestre, A. platanoides L., A. cappadocicum, A. monspessulanum, A. amazandaranicum</italic>), as well as non-native species that have fully adapted (<italic>A. negundo, A. negundo variegatum, and A. palmatum</italic>). We used light and electron microscopy to determine the form and position of the stomata in relation to the leaf epidermal cells. The length, width, shape, area, perimeter, and stomatal density were all measured. Our findings revealed that the stomata type of <italic>A. negundo varengiayum, A. campestre, A. hyrcanum, A. mazandaranicum</italic> and <italic>A. monsspesulanum</italic> is anomocytic, <italic>A. platanoides</italic> and <italic>A. cappadocicum</italic> have anomocytic stomata with wavy subsidiary cells, while <italic>A. palmatum</italic> has anisocytic stomata and <italic>A. velutinum</italic> has parasitic stomata. <italic>A. negundo</italic> has actinocytic stomata. Regarding the location of stomata relative to adjacent epidermal cells, we identified three types. In the first type, the stomata were flush with adjacent epidermal cells (<italic>A. cappadocicum, A. negundo, A. platanoides</italic>). In the second type, the stomata were higher (<italic>A. negundo variegatum</italic>), and in the third type, the stomata were lower (<italic>A. velutinum, A. monspesulanom, A. campestre, A. mazandaranicum, A. hyrcanum</italic>). The principal component analysis was used to determine the essential stomatal traits in differentiating between species. We also investigated the distribution of trees in the coordinate axis space based on two main components and performed cluster analysis based on stomatal characteristics. <italic>A. platanoides, A. negundo, A. negundo variegatum</italic> were in one cluster, while the other species were in separate clusters. The calculation of dissimilarity among the studied species revealed the lowest similarity between <italic>A. negundo</italic> and <italic>A. hyrcanum</italic> and the highest similarity between <italic>A. campestre</italic> and <italic>A. mazandaranicum</italic>. The results of the discriminant analysis identified stomatal density as the essential factor in differentiation between the studied species.
</abstract>

Stomatal variations and their position relative to leaf epidermal cells in ten Maple species

<abstract>
<title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
The paper aims to study the distribution and communities of two giant hogweed species <italic>Heracleum mantegazzianum</italic> and <italic>H. sosnowskyi</italic> in Ukraine. This research was motivated by strong invasive trends, risks for native vegetation and a lack of data on giant hogweeds in Ukraine. We presented phytosociological tables of giant hogweeds communities, maps of their modern distribution in Ukraine, a dendrogram of similarity of the communities, phytoindicative evaluation, and proportions of diagnostic species in the syntaxa. According to our survey and literature data, there are 102 locations of <italic>H. mantegazzianum</italic> and 405 locations of <italic>H. sosnowskyi</italic> throughout most of Ukraine, except for the steppe zone, where the limiting factor is the arid climate. The amplitudes of both studied <italic>Heracleum</italic> species have a significant overlap in the factors of humidity, nitrogen, and salt regime. There are differences between the species in the factors of light, temperature and continentality. The amplitudes of the studied species are the widest for moisture and the narrowest range for soil acidity. Both species favour soils enriched in nitrogen. Based on the phytosociological survey, the species forms two distinct associations <italic>Urtico dioicae-Heracleetum sosnowskyi</italic> and <italic>Urtico dioicae-Heracleetum mantegazziani</italic>i and also occurs with lower abundance in communities belonging to 8 vegetation classes. The obtained data can be used to carry out preventive measures against the further spread of giant hogweeds in new habitats with varying degrees of anthropogenic transformation.
</abstract>

Giant hogweeds (<italic>Heracleum mantegazzianum</italic> and <italic>H. sosnowskyi</italic>) in Ukraine: distribution, ecological and coenotical features

<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>The North American oak lace bug (OLB, <italic>Corythucha arcuata</italic>) was first found in Europe in northern Italy in 2000, and up to 2019 it was recorded in 20 countries. Almost all Eurasian deciduous oak species are suitable hosts and the species can also feed on many other woody plants. At least 30 million hectares of oak forests provide suitable hosts for the OLB, meaning that the lack of suitable hosts will not restrict its further spread. Detailed studies on the long-term impact of the species are not yet available but there are many good reasons to assume that it poses multiple threats to oaks and oak ecosystems. In the long term, it may have negative effects on oak health, growth, and acorn crops. Many of other oak-associated species will likely also be negatively affected. So far, no effective and environmentally tolerable large scale control method is known for OLB.</abstract>

Known and predicted impacts of the invasive oak lace bug (<italic>Corythucha arcuata</italic>) in European oak ecosystems – a review

<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>The study subject was the soil heterogeneity at a recultivation site Nikopol manganese-ore basin (Pokrov, Ukraine). The soils at the locality are sod lithogenic soils developed on gray-green clays. The study ran by applying soil penetration resistance indices. The penetration resistance was measured across a regular grid of 7 × 15 points (21 × 45 m). The distance between the measurement points was 3 m. The parameters were recorded at every 5 cm to a depth of 50 cm. The environmental parameters were determined by phytoindication. Geostatistical analysis showed the average level of spatial dependence of soil penetration resistance. According to the features of the profile variation in penetration resistance with the depth, the measurement points have been divided into three clusters. The clusters formed morphologically homogeneous soil areas. These areas significantly differed in their soil acidity and in nitrogen content in soil.</abstract>

Soil heterogeneity after recultivation: ecological aspect

<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>This paper tested the hypothesis that the placement of trees in the floodplain ecosystem leads to multiscale spatial structuring and plays an important role in formation of the spatial patterns of the soil macrofauna. The research polygon was laid in an Eastern European poplar-willow forest in the floodplain of the River Dnipro. The litter macrofauna was manually collected from the soil samples. The distances of the sampling locations from the nearest individual of each tree species were applied to obtain a measure of the overstorey spatial structure. The pure effect of tree structured space on the soil animal community was presented by the broad-scale and meso-scale components. The soil animal community demonstrated patterns varying in tree structured space. The tree induced spatial heterogeneity was revealed to effect on the vertical stratification of the soil animal community. The complex nature of the soil animal community variability depending on the distance from trees was depended on the interaction of tree species in their effects on soil animals. The importance of the spatial structures that interact with soil, plants and tree factors in shaping soil macrofauna communities was shown.</abstract>

Tree canopy affects soil macrofauna spatial patterns on broad- and meso-scale levels in an Eastern European poplar-willow forest in the floodplain of the River Dnipro

<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>This paper examines the role of ecological factors, derived from principal component analysis performed on edaphic and vegetational dataset as well as spatial variables, in structuring the soil macrofauna community of the Dnipro floodplain within the ‘Dnipro-Orilsky’ Nature Reserve (Ukraine). The soil macrofauna was defined as invertebrates visible to the naked eye (macroscopic organisms). The test points formed a regular grid with a mesh size of 3 m with 7 × 15 dimensions. Thus, the total test point number was 105. At each point, soil-zoological samples of 0.25 × 0.25 m were taken for quantifying the soil macrofauna. The spatial structure was modeled by a set of independent spatial patterns obtained by means of principal coordinates of neighbor matrices analysis (PCNM-variables). Spatial PCNM-variables explain significantly more variations of the community (19.9%) than edaphic factors (4.1%) and vegetation factors (3.2%). Spatial and combined environmental and spatial effects were divided into three components: broad-scale component was characterized by periodicity of spatial variation with a wavelength of 24.0–44.5 m, medium-scale – 11.1–20 m, fine-scale – 6.6–11.0 m. For a broad-scale component, environmental factors of a vegetational nature are more important, for medium-scale, edaphic factors are more important, for fine-scale, both vegetation and edaphic are important. For litter-dwelling animals, the most characteristic spatial patterns are on the broad and medium-scale levels. For endogeic and anecic animals, the most significant variability is on the fine-scale level.</abstract>

The role of edaphic, vegetational and spatial factors in structuring soil animal communities in a floodplain forest of the Dnipro river

<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>The forest litter plays a significant role in forest ecosystems. The composition of the litter biota comprises micro- and mesofauna, and a great diversity of microorganisms, including unrecognized algae (eukaryotic representatives and Cyanoprokaryota). The aim of this work was to study the diversity of algae in the different types of forest litters and to clarify the relationship between the algae composition and the forest-forming tree species. Our results show that the pine forest litter is the most appropriate habitat for the development of green and yellow-green algae and that this litter type limits the variety of blue-green ones. The admixture of deciduous leaf litter to pine litter caused an increase in the species richness of blue-green algae and diatoms. The algae were unevenly distributed across the sub-horizons of pine litter. The highest species richness of algae was identified in the enzymatic sub-horizon of litter. The peculiarity of the composition of leaf litter algae was a significant variety of green, yellow-green and blue-green algae. The spatial organization of algae communities in the leaf litter was characterized by equal distribution of algae species in the litter-subhorizons.</abstract>

The influence of forest-forming tree species on diversity and spatial distribution of algae in forest litter

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