Volume 50 (2018): Issue 1 (June 2018)

For 12 years, Biodiversity: Research and Conservation has been publishing scientific articles in the area of taxonomy, chorology, ecology and nature protection. In accordance with the journal’s profile adopted from the very beginning, the subject of publications are plants in the wide, traditional perspective of this group of organisms, as well as fungi and lichens. Over 12 years, 345 scientific articles were published in the journal’s pages. The frequency in individual sections is as follows: Variability, taxonomy and phylogeny – 95, Chorology – 92, Ecology – 79, Nature protection – 51, other topics – 28. The authors of these articles are 468 scientists from 28 countries. To ensure a high level of publications, the submitted works are send for review. To date, 171 scientists specializing in biological diversity research participated in the review process.

Biodiversity: Research and Conservation, published at the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań (Poland), is open for the authors from the whole world and attracts a growing interest among researchers and readers. The data presented in this article show that this journal is read in a growing number of countries. It reaches readers mostly through its online version, but it is still published also in the traditional paper form, with the possibility of including colour photographs and figures.

Numerical taxonomic study of the genus Crotalaria L. in Nigeria was conducted to identify and differentiate some of the species of the genus Crotalaria using numerical taxonomy based on quantitative and qualitative characters. Field work was conducted, where different species were collected and analyzed using multivariate analysis. The results showed that all the collected species are distinct at Euclidian distance of 0.41 in the cluster analysis with Cophenetic correlation (r)=0.964. The ordination analysis based on the results of the PCA, separated the specimens into 7 groups corresponding to the result of cluster analysis. The first two components of the PCA account for 81.5%. The length of petiole, width of leaflet and length of fruit contributed more to showing delimitation among the species.

Impatiens acuminata Benth. ex Hook.f. & Thomson, endemic to Meghalaya in North-Eastern India, is lectotypified here. The species was collected/observed only five times in the 20^th century. A detailed description and photographic illustrations based on live plant material is provided for its easy identification along with its comparison to closely related species I. parkinsonii C. E. C. Fisch. Geographical distribution, conservation status and horticultural potentials of the species are also discussed.

The study was conducted on five species of Veronica L. subsection Agrestes occurring in Central Europe: Veronica agrestis L., V. polita Fr., V. opaca Fr., V. persica Poir. and V. filiformis Sm. These species are very similar morphologically and are often misidentified. Last thorough studies of morphology and micromorphology of their seeds were conducted in 1960s. Based on 48 herbarium specimens, we examined SEM images of 422 seeds. We found that 22 of the 30 studied morphological traits differentiated five species at statistical level and V. agrestis and V. persica differed with the greatest number of features from other species. Our measurements of seed size were not fully congruent with previous studies, suggesting dependence of these features on external conditions. Seeds were usually cochlidiospermous and ovoid with a reticulate-verrucate seed coat, but these features were, at the same time, quite variable. The results of discriminant function confirmed that some characters of the seed size, shape and coat sculpture could be taxonomically useful in distinguishing species of Veronica subsect. Agrestes. In addition, we believe that similarity of the examined seeds may confirm unity of this group and the need of identifying a subsection.

Gdańsk Pomerania is a region characterized by unique physiographic features and diverse flora. This region, as many other areas, is subject to numerous accelerating transformations. The occurrence of numerous species on their range edges and on isolated stands, e.g. mountain and xerothermic grassland species, was an important criterion in the development of a regional red list of vascular plants of Gdańsk Pomerania (Markowski & Buliński 2004). On this list, 648 species of vascular plants, which constitute about 39% of the regional flora and 26% of all Polish flora, are considered to be endangered at various levels. In total, 47 species have been declared extinct in the aforementioned region (RE), 39 taxa are considered as critically endangered (CR) and 109 – as endangered (EN). Further 222 plant species are classified as vulnerable (moderately endangered) (VU), 124 have low risk categories (NT or LC) and there are 107 taxa of unknown threat, due to lack of sufficient information (DD). The aim of this work was to synthesize endangered components of Gdańsk Pomerania vascular plant flora for their better recognition and characterization. Among the species varying in threat degrees, the authors identified species protected by law and endangered in Poland as well as globally. In addition, the participation of species diagnostic of individual phytosociological units was verified. Also, the share of taxa representing various geographical elements was indicated.