Volume 45 (2017): Issue 1 (January 2017)

Progeny from nineteen family lines of silver fir (Abies alba Mill.) from the Tisovik Reserve growing in an experimental plot were analyzed based on 4 chloroplast microsatellite DNA loci and 12 morphological and anatomical needle traits. The Tisovik Reserve is located in Białowieża Primeval Forest, 120 km north of the natural range limit of this species, and embraces a small and isolated natural population of silver fir. The aim of this study was to determine genetic variation within and between progeny lines. Analysis of phenotypic variation showed that the traits which differed most among individuals were the needle width and the distance from resin canals to vascular bundle. Those traits, which differed most between the progeny lines, were the number of endodermic cells around the vascular bund and the weight of hypodermic cells. In Tisovik progeny, we detected 107 different haplotypes. In progeny lines, we detected more haplotypes than in maternal trees, and most haplotypes did not exist in maternal trees. This may be the result of pollen influx from other silver fir stands. Progeny from Tisovik showed a higher level of variability in comparison with maternal trees.

The first record of occurrence of Pinnularia subinterrupta Krammer & Schroeter in Poland with the species ecological and morphological characteristics (including scanning electron microscope details) are provided. The species was observed in the material collected from the Jamów and Tokarka streams, flowing from the areas of raised bog in the Orava Region of southern Poland. Pinnularia subinterrupta occurred in low abundance, among mosses, and always at low water pH (3.3-4.8), conductivity (28-63 mS cm^-1) and temperature (3.9-9.6°C).

The paper presents a new Polish record of Badhamia versicolor, a nationally rare and red-listed species of Myxomycetes. It was discovered on the edge of the disused sand and gravel pit (formerly, a gravel mine of the Polish State Railway) in the town of Suwałki, north-eastern Poland. Two small clusters of mature fruiting bodies of B. versicolor were noticed on a bark of living poplar (unidentified species of Populus) and on a fallen leaf of the same poplar tree. Photographic documentation of specimens collected from a new locality is provided.

This study analyses the impacts of canopy disturbance on vegetation compositional attributes of two characteristic temperate forests (i.e., mixed broad-leaf and banj-oak forests) in west Himalayan part of India. Following the standard approaches, quantitative information on compositional attributes of forest vegetation was generated and analyzed. Considerable changes in these attributes were revealed across different levels of canopy disturbance in both forests. In particular, tree density and total basal area (TBA) exhibited significant decline from undegraded to degraded stands. Among others, seedling and sapling density of mixed broad-leaf forest was affected adversely by increased level of canopy disturbance. However, herb density in this forest increased significantly with increasing levels of disturbance; the same was not true for banj-oak forest. A significant decline in relative frequency and density of native herbaceous species was apparent towards degraded stands, implying that the disturbed sites in both forests created an opportunity for the establishment and proliferation of non-natives. However, with significant increase in relative density of non-native herbs, the degraded stands of banj-oak forest emerged as critically vulnerable to non-native proliferation. The patterns of tree size class distribution in both forests also exhibited certain trends across canopy disturbance, which suggested possible future changes in composition. In particular, the patterns of common tree associates (i.e., Myrica esculenta and Rhododendron arboreum) in banj-oak forest and Pinus roxburghii in mixed broad-leaf forest were indicative of likely compositional changes in near future. The study concludes that: (i) compositional attributes of both mixed broad-leaf and banj-oak forests were sensitive to increasing levels of canopy disturbance, (ii) mixed broad-leaf forest exhibited greater sensitivity to canopy disturbance at recruitment levels, (iii) increased canopy disturbance led to establishment and proliferation of non-native species in the herbaceous layer of both forests, and (iv) banj-oak forest exhibited high vulnerability to non-native proliferation at degraded stage.

The paper presents the results of phytosociological studies on thermophilous forb fringes conducted in August, 2012, in Belarus. A dataset of 31 relevés is analyzed, 3 associations and 1 community of 3 alliances and 3 orders of the class Trifolio-Geranietea sanguinei T. Müller 1962 are distinguished. For the first time for this area, the association Galio borealis- Geranietum sanguinei Tüxen 1967 is reported and characterized. The results of syntaxonomical interpretation are discussed based on chorological data.