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Background: Biological invasions pose an increasing risk to nature, social security and the economy, being ranked amongst the top five threats to biodiversity. Managing alien and invasive species is a priority for the European Union, as outlined in the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. Alien plant species are acknowledged to impact the economy and biodiversity; thus, analysing the distribution of such species provides valuable inputs for the management and decision-making processes. The database presented in the current study is the first consolidated checklist of alien plant species that are present in Romania, both of European Union concern and of national interest. This database complements a prior published distribution, based only on records from literature, bringing new information regarding the occurrence of alien plants in Romania, as revealed by a nationwide field survey. We consider this database a valuable instrument for managing biological invasions at both national and regional levels, as it can be utilised in further research studies and in drafting management and action plans, assisting stakeholders in making informed decisions and implementing management actions. New information: We present the results of the first nationwide survey of alien plant species in Romania, conducted between 2019 and 2022, in the framework of a national project coordinated by the Ministry of Environment, Waters and Forests and the University of Bucharest. The present database complements and updates the database published by Sirbu et. al (2022), which included occurrence records published until 2019. The new database includes 98323 occurrence records for 396 alien plant species in 77 families, with most species belonging to the Asteraceae family. One alien plant species in our database, the black locust Robinia pseudoacacia L., had more than 10,000 occurrence records. The distribution database also includes information on newly-reported invasive alien plant species of European Union concern in Romania (i.e. the floating primrose-willow Ludwigia peploides (Kunth) P.H.Raven) and documents the presence of plants in 44 additional families compared to Sirbu et al. (2022). Each entry includes information on species taxonomy, location, year, person who recorded and identified the alien plant, geographical coordinates and taxon rank. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: We examined differences in life span among the dominant tree species (spruce, Picea abies; fir, Abies alba; beech, Fagus sylvatica; and maple, Acerpseudoplatanus) across primary mountain forests of Europe. We asked how disturbance history, lifetime growth patterns, and environmental factors influence life span. Locations: Balkan Mountains, Carpathian Mountains, Dinaric Mountains. Methods: Annual ring widths from 20,600 cores from primary forests were used to estimate tree life spans, growth trends, and disturbance history metrics. Mixed models were used to examine species‐specific differences in life span (i.e., defined as species‐specific 90th percentiles of age distributions), and how metrics of radial growth, disturbance parameters, and selected environmental factors influence life span. Results: While only a few beech trees surpassed 500 years, individuals of all four species were older than 400 years. There were significant differences in life span among the four species (beech > fir > spruce > maple), indicating life history differentiation in life span. Trees were less likely to reach old age in areas affected by more severe disturbance events, whereas individuals that experienced periods of slow growth and multiple episodes of suppression and release were more likely to reach old age. Aside from a weak but significant negative effect of vegetation season temperature on fir and maple life span, no other environmental factors included in the analysis influenced life span. Conclusions: Our results indicate species‐specific biological differences in life span, which may play a role in facilitating tree species coexistence in mixed temperate forests. Finally, natural disturbance regimes were a key driver of life span, which could have implications for forest dynamics if regimes shift under global change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]