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Važno je znati kako će klimatske promjene utjecati na pojedine šumske vrste, a pritom je jednako važno istraživati i mjeriti značajke biljaka koje je relativno lako kvantificirati, a koje su snažno povezane s cjelokupnim funkcioniranjem biljke. Iz toga je razloga provedeno istraživanje funkcionalnih značajki lišća na petogodišnjim sadnicama obične bukve (Fagus sylvatica L.) i hrasta kitnjaka (Quercus petraea /Matt./ Liebl.) porijeklom iz dviju provenijencija čija se staništa odlikuju sličnim orografskim i edafskim, a različitim klimatskim značajkama, što je posebno izraženo u količini oborine. Prema tomu, jedna je provenijencija s područja Slavonskoga Broda koja raste na staništu s manjom količinom oborine (suha provenijencija), a druga s područja Karlovca koja uspijeva na staništu s većom količinom oborine (vlažna provenijencija). Na lišću biljaka iz tih provenijencija mjerena je površina lišća (LA), gustoća puči (SD), lisna masa izražena po površini (LMA) i sadržaj suhe tvari u lišću (LDMC). Provedeno istraživanje funkcionalnih značajki lišća potvrdilo je da je hrast kitnjak u odnosu na običnu bukvu bolje prilagođen na sušne stanišne uvjete pa se može pretpostaviti da će pod utjecajem globalnih klimatskih promjena biti kompetitivniji u odnosu na običnu bukvu. Međutim, obična je bukva pokazala veću fenotipsku plastičnost koja joj može omogućiti bolju prilagodbu na buduće suše stanišne uvjete. Nadalje, utvrđeni obrazac diferencijacije sušnije i vlažnije provenijencije, uzimajući u obzir obje vrste, pokazuje njihovu ekotipsku diferencijaciju. Pri razmatranju utjecaja klimatskih promjena na prirodne populacije tih dviju vrsta treba uzeti u obzir njihovu fenotipsku plastičnost, ali i uočenu funkcionalnu ekotipsku diferencijaciju.

The objective was to examine the effects of optimal leaf nitrogen levels > 2.0% and suboptimal levels ˂ 2.0%, nitrogen nutrition on net photosynthetic rate, stem diameter increment, height growth increment and acorn mass of pedunculate oak during 2010 in the absence of drought stress and during 2011 under the impact of moderate drought stress. According to the results, moderate drought stress significantly reduced net photosynthetic rate, stem diameter increment and height growth increment, while acorn mass was not affected. Suboptimal nitrogen nutrition significantly reduced the net photosynthetic rate and stem diameter increment only in the wet year, acorn mass in both wet and dry years, while height growth increment was not significantly reduced by suboptimal nitrogen nutrition in either year. The results indicate that optimal nitrogen levels can stimulate photosynthetic rate and stem diameter increment of pedunculate oak only in the absence of moderate drought stress. Moreover, the results show that moderate drought stress is a more dominant stressor for photosynthesis and growth of pedunculate oak than suboptimal nitrogen nutrition, while for acorn development, it is the more dominant stressor.

U ovome radu prikazani su rezultati rasta bukovih sadnica pod utjecajem suboptimalne ishrane s dušikom (N), fosforom (P), magnezijem (Mg) i željezom (Fe). Cilj rada bio je približiti ovu problematiku šumarskoj praksi kroz raspravu dobivenih rezultata u kontekstu dosadašnjih spoznaja o rastu biljaka pod utjecajem suboptimalne ishrane s mineralnim hranivima. U rano proljeće 2019. godine 30 bukovih jedinki u razvojnom stadiju ponika, porijeklom iz jedne prirodne mješovite sastojine hrasta kitnjaka i obične bukve, presađeno je u sterilni supstrat (agroperlit). Nakon presadnje tijekom sljedeće tri godine po šest presađenih biljaka redovito je zalijevano (tretirano) s kompletnom hranjivom otopinom (KO tretman), odnosno hranivim otopinama u kojima su izostavljeni dušik (-N tretman), fosfor (-P tretman), magnezij (-Mg tretman) ili željezo (-Fe tretman). Prema tomu, na šest biljaka unutar svakog od pet prethodno opisanih tretmana bilježeni su početak i trajanje razvoja lišća (2020. i 2021. godine), broj listova te prosječna i ukupna površina lišća (2019., 2020. i 2021. godina). Promjer stabljike na vratu korijena i visina stabljike mjereni su u proljeće 2019. i jesen 2021. godine, na temelju čega je izračunat debjinski i visinski prirast bukovih sadnica, te njihova vitkost na početku i na kraju pokusa. Uz to, tretiranim sadnicama utvrđena je masa suhe tvari lišća, stabljike i korijenja te ukupna dužina krupnog i sitnog korijenja, kao i broj račvanja i vrhova sitnog korijenja, što je obavljeno u jesen 2021. godine nakon njihova vađenja iz agroperlita. Na temelju usporedbe dobivenih rezultata između biljaka u kontrolnom i ostalim tretmanima bilo je moguće zaključiti da je pod utjecajem suboptimalne ishrane bukovih sadnica s P došlo je do odgode proljetnog otvaranja pupova i početka razvoja lišća. Najsporiji razvoj lišća zabilježen je pod utjecajem suboptimalne ishranjenosti s N i Mg. Prosječna površina lišća nije bila značajnije utjecana suboptimalnom ishranjenošću niti s jednim hranivom. Smanjenje broja listova i njihove ukupne površine pod utjecajem suboptimalne ishranjenosti sa svim hranivima zabilježeno je tek u posljednjoj godini provedbe pokusa. Debljinski i visinski prirast stabljike također su bili negativno utjecani suboptimalnom ishranjenošću sa svim hranivima, a smanjena vitkosti sadnica zabilježena je samo pod utjecajem suboptimalne ishranjenosti s Fe. Ukupna, duljina krupnog i sitnog korijenja također je bila negativno utjecana suboptimalnom ishranjenošću sa svim hranivima, izuzev N. Pod utjecajem suboptimalne ishranjenosti s N došlo je do povećanja ukupne dužine sitnoga korijenja, kao i do povećanja broja račvanja i vrhova sitnog korijenja. Unatoč tomu, na masu suhe tvari krupnog i sitnog korijenja suboptimalna ishranjenost sa svim hranivima imala je negativan utjecaj, uključujući i N.

Hrast crnika (Quercus ilex L.) je sredozemna vazdazelena vrsta drveća, koja na svom području pridolaska pokazuje veliku morfološku i funkcionalnu varijabilnost. Cilj ovoga rada bio je utvrditi postoji li diferencijacija hrasta crnike na klimatskom gradijentu istočne obale Jadranskoga mora (opisanom s prosječnom godišnjom količinom oborina, prosječnom količinom oborina tijekom ljetnog perioda i klimatskim deficitom vlage) s obzirom na funkcionalne značajke lišća (opisane sa specifičnom lisnom površinom, indeksom relativnog sadržaja ukupnih klorofila u lišću i stopom neto fotosinteze mjerene u lišću). Specifična lisna površina mjerena je na lišću uzorkovanom u tri provenijencije na prirodnom staništu te lišću uzorkovanom u pokusnom nasadu na mladim biljkama porijeklom iz tih istih provenijencija. U pokusnom nasadu mjeren je i indeks relativnog sadržaja ukupnih klorofila i stopa neto fotosinteze. Provenijencija Pula u odnosu na provenijencije Zadar i Bar ima veću specifičnu lisnu površinu te manji indeks relativnog sadržaja ukupnih klorofila i stopu neto fotosinteze. To potvrđuje prilagodbu provenijencije Pula na vlažnije stanište, a provenijencija Zadar i Bar na suše stanište te ujedno ukazuje na funkcionalnu diferencijaciju provenijencija hrasta crnike na istočnoj obali Jadranskoga mora s obzirom na klimatske prilike. Isti obrazac diferencijacije prema specifičnoj lisnoj površini u prirodnim sastojinama i pokusnom nasadu ukazuje na ekotipsku diferencijaciju istraživanih provenijencija. Prema tomu, hrast crnika mogao bi imati značajnu mogućnost funkcionalne prilagodbe na promijenjene klimatske uvjete., Holm oak (Quercus ilex L.) is an evergreen tree species with natural distribution within the Mediterranean, from Portugal and Morocco on the west to the western coast of Turkey on the east part of its range. On the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea, it occupies warmer localities on the coast of Istria and northern Adriatic islands while on the southern Adriatic islands as well as on the narrower coastal area south of Zadar it has a more continuous distribution. Given the size of the area of distribution, holm oak shows a big morphological and functional variability so certain populations differ according to the climate conditions in their area. This fact has been very well researched in the western and central part of its range, while the data for the eastern part, and thus for the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea, are scarce. The great morphological and functional variability of holm oak reflects its great phenotypic plasticity. Although phenotypic plasticity is conditioned by the environment, it can also have a genetic basis through local adaptation to the established environmental conditions in different parts of the species’ area of distribution. The aim of this study was to determine whether there is a differentiation of holm oak down the climatic gradient of the eastern Adriatic coast with respect to the functional characteristics of its leaves.The research was conducted on three provenances of holm oak from the area of ​​Pula and Zadar in the Republic of Croatia and Bar in Montenegro. During the winter of 2019, 12 leaves were sampled per 12 trees in each provenance in order to determine the specific leaf area (SLA). Additionally, acorns were collected beneath those trees with which an greenhouse experiment was established. In the experiment, a total of 64 plants were grown, of which 22 plants from the provenances of Pula and Zadar, and 20 plants from the provenance of Bar. In the second part of the vegetation period in 2020, one leaf was sampled from each plant with the aim of determining the specific leaf area (SLA). In addition, the rate of net photosynthesis (A) and the relative total chlorophyll content index (CCI) were measured in the greenhouse experiment. Measurements were performed in July and September of 2020. A was measured using a portable gas exchange measuring device LCpro + (ADC BioScentific, 2007), while the CCI was measured using the CCM-200 (Opti-Sciences, Tyngsboro, MA).Analysis of the variance revealed a statistically significant difference among the studied provenances for most of the measured characteristics both on the leaves sampled in the natural habitat and on the young plants in the experimental plantation. Previous research on holm oak indicates that there is a functional differentiation of provenances on different climatic gradients in the central and western Mediterranean, with our results confirming this on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. Young plants in the experimental plantation retain the same pattern of differentiation with respect to SLA as their mother trees in natural stands (Figure 1c). Such a result indicates that the differentiation of holm oak provenances is at least partly the result of genetic adaptation to local habitat conditions, i.e. that the holm oak on the eastern Adriatic coast as well as in other parts of its range could distinguish ecotypes. The sclerophilicity of the leaves described by SLA (Figure 1c) does not coincide with the average annual rainfall (Figure 1a), but with the amount of precipitation in the summer (Figure 1b) and the climate deficit of moisture (Figure 2a). The established pattern of provenance differentiation with respect to SLA and climatic conditions is followed by A measured on young plants in the experimental plantation. Therefore, Pula, which has the highest SLA and comes in the least arid climatic conditions, has the lowest A, while Zadar, which has the lowest SLA and comes in the most arid conditions, shows the highest values of A (Figures 1 and 2). This is in line with the literature that shows that the intensity of photosynthesis per unit leaf area in holm oak decreases with increasing SLA (Niinemets 2015, Peguero-Pina et al. 2017). Namely, the anatomical structure of holm oak leaves is adapted in such a way that those leaves that have a lower SLA also have better conductivity of CO2 through the mesophilic leaves and contain more nitrogen per unit area. Accordingly, the provenances of Zadar and Bar compared to the provenance of Pula had a lower SLA (Figure 1c) and a higher CCI (Figure 2b) which has a positive correlation with the nitrogen content in the leaves.Holm oak could have a significant ability to functionally adapt to different climatic conditions. Accordingly, when considering the impact of climate change on natural populations of holm oak, its phenotypic plasticity should be considered, as well as the observed functional ecotypic differentiation.

Riparian zones are the paragon of transitional ecosystems, providing critical habitat and ecosystem services that are especially threatened by global change. Following consultation with experts, 10 key challenges were identified to be addressed for riparian vegetation science and management improvement: (1) Create a distinct scientific community by establishing stronger bridges between disciplines; (2) Make riparian vegetation more visible and appreciated in society and policies; (3) Improve knowledge regarding biodiversity—ecosystem functioning links; (4) Manage spatial scale and context-based issues; (5) Improve knowledge on social dimensions of riparian vegetation; (6) Anticipate responses to emergent issues and future trajectories; (7) Enhance tools to quantify and prioritize ecosystem services; (8) Improve numerical modeling and simulation tools; (9) Calibrate methods and increase data availability for better indicators and monitoring practices and transferability; and (10) Undertake scientific validation of best management practices. These challenges are discussed and critiqued here, to guide future research into riparian vegetation. This article is categorized under: Water and Life > Nature of Freshwater Ecosystems Water and Life > Stresses and Pressures on Ecosystems Water and Life > Conservation, Management, and Awareness

The Žumberak and Samobor highlands are situated in the north-western part of Croatia where the characteristics of the Dinarides, the Alps and the Pannonian Plain meet. The greater part of the area is occupied by beech forests. The aim of the study was to determine the syntaxonomic affiliation of these forest communities, and to explore their floristic and main ecological features. Numerical analyses of floristic compositions were conducted on a data-set consisting of 144 new relevés and 99 relevés from the existing literature. Relevés were made following the standard Braun-Blanquet method. For descriptions of ecological conditions Ellenberg’s indicator values were used. Six plant associations and two subassociations of beech forests were established in Luzulo-Fagion and Aremonio-Fagion alliances. The higher altitudes of the studied area are occupied by ass. Cardamini savensi-Fagetum, whereas the lower altitudes are occupied by ass. Lamio orvalae-Fagetum and Hacquetio-Fagetum. Ass. Hacquetio-Fagetum spreads on southern slopes and ridges, whereas ass. Lamio orvalae-Fagetum occurs in ditches and on northern slopes. In the warmer habitats with shallow soils on a dolomite base ass. Ostryo-Fagetum occurred. A small part of the area is characterized by silicate substrate which is occupied by ass. Luzulo-Fagetum and Gentiano asclepiadeae-Fagetum.

This is a dataset of Ellenberg-type indicator values for European vascular plant species described in this article: Tichý L., Axmanová I., Dengler J., Guarino R., Jansen F., Midolo G., Nobis M.P., Van Meerbeek K., Aćić S., Attorre F., Bergmeier E., Biurrun I., Bonari G., Bruelheide H., Campos J.A., Čarni A., Chiarucci A., Ćuk M., Ćušterevska M., Didukh Y., Dítě D., Dítě Z., Dziuba T., Fanelli G., Fernández-Pascual E., Garbolino E., Gavilán R.G., Gégout J.-C., Graf U., Güler B., Hájek M., Hennekens S.M., Jandt U., Jašková A., Jiménez-Alfaro B., Julve P., Kambach S., Karger D.N., Karrer G., Kavgacı A., Knollová I., Kuzemko A., Küzmič F., Landucci F., Lengyel A., Lenoir J., Marcenò C., Moeslund J.E., Novák P., Pérez-Haase A., Peterka T., Pielech R., Pignatti A., Rašomavičius V., Rūsiņa S., Saatkamp A., Šilc U., Škvorc Ž., Theurillat J.-P., Wohlgemuth T. & Chytrý M. (2023) Ellenberg-type indicator values for European vascular plant species. Journal of Vegetation Science, 34, e13168. https://doi.org/10.1111/jvs.13168 The dataset contains: 1) Harmonized Ellenberg-type indicator values for light, temperature, moisture, reaction, nutrients, and salinity for European vascular plants. 2) Original indicator values from 13 datasets of Ellenberg-type indicator values: - Germany (Ellenberg & Leuschner 2010) - Austria (Karrer 1992) - Cantabrian Range (Jiménez-Alfaro et al. 2021) - Czech Republic (Chytrý et al. 2018) - European mires (Hájek et al. 2020) - France (Julve 2015) - Great Britain (Hill et al. 2000) - Greece (South Aegean) (Böhling et al. 2002) - Hungary (Borhidi 1995) - Italy (Guarino & La Rosa 2019, modified) - Saline habitats (Dítě et al. 2023) - Switzerland and the Alps (Landolt et al. 2010) - Ukraine (Didukh 2011) 3) Species nomenclature is standardized according to the Euro+Med PlantBase (http://europlusmed.org)., The final version of the paper (accepted 8th Dec 2022; published 22nd Dec 2022). Difference from version 1.0: Minor changes in newly added species values calculated from co-occurrence with other species in the EVA database. They were corrected using straight-line calibration.

Wetland forests and scrub (WFS) are conditioned by the strong impact of water. They consist of various vegetation types, depending on many factors such as type and duration of flooding, water table level and its fluctuation, river current strength, substrate ability to retain water, etc. WFS vegetation has been insufficiently studied in the Balkan Peninsula, especially in Bosnia and Herzegovina. By means of numerical classification, we aimed to classify Western Balkans WFS at the alliance level, and to identify the main underlying ecological gradients driving the variation in species composition. The dataset containing all published and available unpublished relevés from Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina was first classified using the EuroVegChecklist Expert System in Juice software in order to assign the corresponding class to each of the relevés. Relevés were subsequently analyzed within each of the four WFS classes (Alno glutinosae-Populetea albae, Salicetea purpureae, Alnetea glutinosae and Franguletea). Cluster analysis resulted in eight alliances, Salicion albae, Salicion triandrae, Salicion eleagno-daphnoidis, Alno-Quercion, Alnion incanae, Alnion glutinosae, Betulion pubescentis and Salicion cinereae, while one cluster could not be assigned with certainty. Edafic factors were found to be the most important factors determining the floristic composition and syntaxa differentiation of WFS in the study area.

[Aims] (a) To determine the contribution of current macro-environmental factors in explaining the phylogenetic structure of European forest vegetation, (b) to map and describe spatial patterns in their phylogenetic structure and (c) to examine which lineages are the most important contributors to phylogenetic clustering and whether their contribution varies across forest types and regions. [Location] Europe. [Taxon] Angiosperms. [Methods] We analysed the phylogenetic structure of 61,816 georeferenced forest vegetation plots across Europe considering alternative metrics either sensitive to basal (ancient evolutionary dynamics) or terminal (recent dynamics) branching in the phylogeny. We used boosted regression trees to model metrics of the phylogenetic structure as a function of current macro-environmental factors. We also identified clades encompassing significantly more taxa than under random expectation in phylogenetically clustered plots. [Results] Phylogenetic clustering was driven by climatic stress and instability and was strong in the areas glaciated during the Pleistocene, likely reflecting limited postglacial migration, and to a lower extent in areas of northern-central Europe and in summer-dry Mediterranean regions. Phylogenetic overdispersion was frequent in the hemiboreal zone in Russia, in some areas around the Mediterranean Basin, and along the Atlantic seaboard of the Iberian Peninsula. The families Ericaceae, Poaceae and Fagaceae were overrepresented in clustered plots in different regions of Europe. [Main conclusions] We provide the first maps and analyses on the phylogenetic structure of European forest vegetation at the plot level. Our results highlight the role of environmental filtering, postglacial dispersal limitation and spatial transitions between major biomes in determining the distribution of plant lineages in Europe., The study was supported by the Czech Science Foundation (19-28491X). IB and JAC were funded by the Basque Government (IT936-16). JCS considers this work a contribution to his VILLUM Investigator project “Biodiversity Dynamics in a Changing World” funded by VILLUM FONDEN (grant 16549).

Red clover, although primarily used for dairy cow feeding, can also repair soil structure, fix atmospheric nitrogen and prevent soil erosion. Until recently, the traditional cultivation of red clover in Croatia prevailed in suitable habitats. Abandoning of agricultural production is the reason of meadows succession process which can cause genetic erosion and threatens the survival of local population of red clover. Determining of sites according to their ecogeographical characteristics could help to improve the direction of action aimed at conservation of biological diversity of species in its natural habitats as well as the preservation of genetic resources and their use in breeding purposes. The aim of this research was to classify the sites of natural habitats of red clover local populations (under extensive agricultural production) in north-western part of Croatia on the basis of their ecogeographical characteristics. Data of geographical, pedological and climatological characteristics and floristic composition were collected at 18 sites and subjected to multivariate analysis. The main differences among sites were detected in geographical, pedological and climatological characteristics. Floristic structure of investigated sites were consisting of 151 plant species, including a large number of species of ruderal vegetation.

© 2020 The Authors. Applied Vegetation Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of International Association for Vegetation Science Questions: Which are the main wet and mesic grassland vegetation types along the climatic gradient on the southern margin of the Pannonian basin? Which are the most important environmental gradients that determine their distribution and species composition?. Location: The southern margin of the Pannonian plain (N and E Slovenia, N Croatia, N Serbia). Methods: A database of 2,575 vegetation plots originally assigned to the Molinio-Arrhenatheretea was compiled. Semi-supervised classification based on the K-means algorithm was applied to assign plots into 12 a-priori alliances and to search for new alliances. Non-metric Multidimensional Scaling (NMDS) ordination with Ellenberg's indicator values and bioclimatic variables were applied to show the influence of ecological conditions on species composition. The plots within each alliance were further classified into associations using the beta flexible method. Results: Classification resulted in 12 alliances recognized in the EuroVegChecklist, and two new groups appeared. The first group occurs in the eastern part of the research area, where many ruderal species appear. This group was treated as a new alliance, Salvio nemorosae-Arrhenatherion forming a vicariant syntaxon of the alliance Arrhenatherion. The second group occurs in the western part. It is a transitional group between mesic (Arrhenatherion) and wet meadows (Deschampsion) and can be treated as Alopecurion. Besides, three new associations and six new subassociations were described, together with the typification of seven associations and of three subassociations. Numerical analyses revealed floristic, ecological and geographical differentiation among analysed vegetation types. Conclusions: The communities showed typical Central European features in the western part, but their floristic and ecological conditions changed towards the eastern part, where the continental influence was more pronounced. The vegetation structure and plant species composition in the studied area were influenced by soil moisture and soil nutrient availability as well as by strong biogeographical and climatic gradients.

Aim The first comprehensive checklist of European phytosociological alliances, orders and classes (EuroVegChecklist) was published by Mucina et al. (2016, Applied Vegetation Science, 19 (Suppl. 1), 3-264). However, this checklist did not contain detailed information on the distribution of individual vegetation types. Here we provide the first maps of all alliances in Europe. Location Europe, Greenland, Canary Islands, Madeira, Azores, Cyprus and the Caucasus countries. Methods We collected data on the occurrence of phytosociological alliances in European countries and regions from literature and vegetation-plot databases. We interpreted and complemented these data using the expert knowledge of an international team of vegetation scientists and matched all the previously reported alliance names and concepts with those of the EuroVegChecklist. We then mapped the occurrence of the EuroVegChecklist alliances in 82 territorial units corresponding to countries, large islands, archipelagos and peninsulas. We subdivided the mainland parts of large or biogeographically heterogeneous countries based on the European biogeographical regions. Specialized alliances of coastal habitats were mapped only for the coastal section of each territorial unit. Results Distribution maps were prepared for 1,105 alliances of vascular-plant dominated vegetation reported in the EuroVegChecklist. For each territorial unit, three levels of occurrence probability were plotted on the maps: (a) verified occurrence; (b) uncertain occurrence; and (c) absence. The maps of individual alliances were complemented by summary maps of the number of alliances and the alliance-area relationship. Distribution data are also provided in a spreadsheet. Conclusions The new map series represents the first attempt to characterize the distribution of all vegetation types at the alliance level across Europe. There are still many knowledge gaps, partly due to a lack of data for some regions and partly due to uncertainties in the definition of some alliances. The maps presented here provide a basis for future research aimed at filling these gaps. This project was funded by the Czech Science Foundation (grant no. 19-28491X). LM was supported by Iluka Chair of Vegetation Science & Biogeography, Murdoch University, Perth; IB, JAC and JL by the Basque Government (IT936-16); TMH by the European Social Fund (POCH and NORTE 2020) and National Funds (MCTES) through Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia postdoctoral fellowship (SFRH/BPD/115057/2016) and project UIDB/04033/2020; AC and FK by the Slovenian Research Agency (P1-0236 to AC and program for Young Researchers to FK); SR by the University of Latvia (AAp2016/B041/Zd2016/AZ03); and KS by the Institute of Botany of the Czech Academy of Sciences (RVO 67985939).

Motivation: Indicator values are numerical values used to characterize the ecological niches of species and to estimate their occurrence along gradients. Indicator values on climatic and edaphic niches of plant species have received considerable attention in ecological research, whereas data on the optimal positioning of species along disturbance gradients are less developed. Here, we present a new data set of disturbance indicator values identifying optima along gradients of natural and anthropogenic disturbance for 6382 vascular plant species based on the analysis of 736,366 European vegetation plots and using expert-based characterization of disturbance regimes in 236 habitat types. The indicator values presented here are crucial for integrating disturbance niche optima into large-scale vegetation analyses and macroecological studies. Main types of variables contained: We set up five main continuous indicator values for European vascular plants: disturbance severity, disturbance frequency, mowing frequency, grazing pressure and soil disturbance. The first two indicators are provided separately for the whole community and for the herb layer. We calculated the values as the average of expert-based estimates of disturbance values in all habitat types where a species occurs, weighted by the number of plots in which the species occurs within a given habitat type. Spatial location and grain: Europe. Vegetation plots ranging in size from 1 to 1000 m2. Time period and grain: Vegetation plots mostly sampled between 1956 and 2013 (= 5th and 95th quantiles of the sampling year, respectively). Major taxa and level of measurement: Species-level indicator values for vascular plants. Software format: csv file. © 2022 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Cilj ovoga rada bio je usporediti dvije mješovite sastojine (provenijencije) obične bukve i hrasta kitnjaka, iz istočne (provenijencija Slavonski Brod - SB) i sjeverozapadne (provenijencija Karlovac - KA) Hrvatske, s obzirom na klimatske i edafske prilike te raspraviti njihov utjecaj na rast i produkciju suhe tvari prirodnog pomlatka hrasta kitnjaka i obične bukve u kontekstu njegove funkcionalne prilagodbe na prethodno spomenute stanišne prilike. Glavna razlika između provenijencija s obzirom na klimatske prilike ogleda se u prosječno većoj količini oborina na području provenijencije KA. Unatoč tomu, zbog nepovoljnog rasporeda oborina za vrijeme rasta i razvoja istraživanog pomlatka u razdoblju 2016. – 2020. godine područje provenijencije KA odlikovalo se učestalijom pojavom sušnih perioda nego područje provenijencije SB. S obzirom na edafske prilike (fizikalne i kemijske značajke tla) provenijencije se nisu značajnije razlikovale. Međutim, tlo provenijencije KA odlikovalo se nešto lakšom strukturom (manje gline i više skeleta) u odnosu na tlo provenijencije SB. Razlike između provenijencija i vrsta s obzirom na cijeli niz mjerenih parametara koji opisuju rast i produkciju suhe tvari istraživanog pomlatka uključujući i njihove alometrijske odnose ispitan je pomoću dvofaktorske ANOVA-e. Dobiveni rezultati ukazuju da je pomladak iz provenijencije KA ulagao više suhe tvari u rast i razvoj korijenja s posebnim naglaskom na sitno korijenje i pri tom se dublje zakorjenjivao te razvijao deblju i nižu stabljiku nego pomladak iz provenijencije SB. To ukazuje da je pomladak iz provenjencije KA funkcionalno prilagođeniji sušem staništu. Takav rezultat mogao bi biti posljedica različito ispoljene fenotipske modifikacije (reakcije na sušu) i/ili stvarnih genetskih razlika između provenijencija, što ovom prilikom nije bilo moguće točnije razlučiti. Dobivene razlike u rastu i produkciji suhe tvari između kitnjakova i bukova pomlatka odgovaraju već otprije poznatom načinu njihove funkcionalne prilagodbe na vlažnost, odnosno suhoću staništa. To znači da se kitnjakov pomladak dublje zakorjenjivao i pri tom je više suhe tvari ulagao u rast krupnog korijenja u odnosu na bukov pomladak koji se pliće zakorjenjivao i pri tom više suhe tvari ulagao u rast sitnog korijenja., The aim of this study was to examine the influence of climatic and edaphic conditions in two mixed stands (provenances) of common beech and sessile oak from eastern (Slavonski Brod - SB provenence) and northwestern (Karlovac - KA provenence) Croatia on the functional adaptation of growth and dry matter production of their natural saplings. The main differences between the provenances with regard to climatic conditions is reflected in the amount of precipitation. The amount of precipitation in the area of ​​KA provenance is much higher than in the area of ​​SB provenance (Table 1 and 2). In spite of, due to the unfavorable distribution of precipitation during the growth of the investigated saplings in the period 2016 – 2020, dry periods were more frequent in the KA provenance than in the SB provenance (Figure 1). Edaphic conditions (physical and chemical soil traits), did not significantly differ between the provenances. However, the soil of KA provenance was characterized by a slightly lighter structure (less clay and more skeletons) compared to the soil of SB provenance (Table 3 – 5 and Figure 2). Differences in growth and dry matter production, as well as in allometric growth relations between provenances and species were examined using two-way ANOVA. The obtained results indicate that the saplings from the KA provenance compared to the saplings from the SB provenance invested more dry matter in root growth (especially fine roots) and took root deeper. In addition, the saplings from the KA provenance developed a thicker and lower stem compared to the saplings from the SB provenance (Table 6 – 8). This indicates that the saplings from the KA provenance are functionally more adapted to the drought habitat. It could be the result of differently manifested phenotypic modification (drought response) and/or real genetic differences between provenances, which our research could not distinguish more accurately. The obtained differences in the growth and dry matter production between the sessile oak and the common beech saplings correspond to the already known patterns of their functional adaptation to the habitat humidity. It means that sessile oak saplings took deeper roots and invested more dry matter in the coarse roots compared to common beech saplings that took root more shallowly and invested more dry matter in the fine roots (Table 9).

Datos disponibles en https://github.com/fmsabatini/sPlotOpen_Code, EU H2020 project BACI, Grant No. 640176 (...), Sabatini, F.M., Lenoir, J., Hattab, T., Arnst, E.A., Chytrý, M., Dengler, J., De Ruffray, P., Hennekens, S.M., Jandt, U., Jansen, F., Jiménez-Alfaro, B., Kattge, J., Levesley, A., Pillar, V.D., Purschke, O., Sandel, B., Sultana, F., Aavik, T., Aćić, S., Acosta, A.T.R., Agrillo, E., Alvarez, M., Apostolova, I., Arfin Khan, M.A.S., Arroyo, L., Attorre, F., Aubin, I., Banerjee, A., Bauters, M., Bergeron, Y., Bergmeier, E., Biurrun, I., Bjorkman, A.D., Bonari, G., Bondareva, V., Brunet, J., Čarni, A., Casella, L., Cayuela, L., Černý, T., Chepinoga, V., Csiky, J., Ćušterevska, R., De Bie, E., de Gasper, A.L., De Sanctis, M., Dimopoulos, P., Dolezal, J., Dziuba, T., El-Sheikh, M.A.E.-R.M., Enquist, B., Ewald, J., Fazayeli, F., Field, R., Finckh, M., Gachet, S., Galán-de-Mera, A., Garbolino, E., Gholizadeh, H., Giorgis, M., Golub, V., Alsos, I.G., Grytnes, J.-A., Guerin, G.R., Gutiérrez, A.G., Haider, S., Hatim, M.Z., Hérault, B., Hinojos Mendoza, G., Hölzel, N., Homeier, J., Hubau, W., Indreica, A., Janssen, J.A.M., Jedrzejek, B., Jentsch, A., Jürgens, N., Kącki, Z., Kapfer, J., Karger, D.N., Kavgacı, A., Kearsley, E., Kessler, M., Khanina, L., Killeen, T., Korolyuk, A., Kreft, H., Kühl, H.S., Kuzemko, A., Landucci, F., Lengyel, A., Lens, F., Lingner, D.V., Liu, H., Lysenko, T., Mahecha, M.D., Marcenò, C., Martynenko, V., Moeslund, J.E., Monteagudo Mendoza, A., Mucina, L., Müller, J.V., Munzinger, J., Naqinezhad, A., Noroozi, J., Nowak, A., Onyshchenko, V., Overbeck, G.E., Pärtel, M., Pauchard, A., Peet, R.K., Peñuelas, J., Pérez-Haase, A., Peterka, T., Petřík, P., Peyre, G., Phillips, O.L., Prokhorov, V., Rašomavičius, V., Revermann, R., Rivas-Torres, G., Rodwell, J.S., Ruprecht, E., Rūsiņa, S., Samimi, C., Schmidt, M., Schrodt, F., Shan, H., Shirokikh, P., Šibík, J., Šilc, U., Sklenář, P., Škvorc, Ž., Sparrow, B., Sperandii, M.G., Stančić, Z., Svenning, J.-C., Tang, Z., Tang, C.Q., Tsiripidis, I., Vanselow, K.A., Vásquez Martínez, R., Vassilev, K., Vélez-Martin, E., Venanzoni, R., Vibrans, A.C., Violle, C., Virtanen, R., von Wehrden, H., Wagner, V., Walker, D.A., Waller, D.M., Wang, H.-F., Wesche, K., Whitfeld, T.J.S., Willner, W., Wiser, S.K., Wohlgemuth, T., Yamalov, S., Zobel, M., Bruelheide, H.

As key components of landscapes, edges have received considerable scientific attention in anthropogenic ecosystems. However, edges in natural and semi-natural forest–grassland mosaics have received less attention, despite the fact that they cover a considerable proportion of these mosaic ecosystems. We studied forest edges in a semi-natural forest– grassland mosaic ecosystem of the Samobor Mountains (Croatia). Our aim was to compare the species composition, diversity and ecological indicator values of forest edges to those of the interior parts of the adjacent forest and grassland habitats. The vegetation was studied in 80 plots established in forest patch interiors, north-facing forest edges, south- facing forest edges and grassland interiors. We found that edges had a unique species composition, containing species from both the forest and the grassland interiors plus their own edge-related species (i.e. species that significantly preferred the edge habitat). These local edge-related species did not correspond to regionally-identified edge- related species. Compared to the forest and the grassland interiors, we revealed increased species richness in north-facing edges but not in south-facing edges. The mean light availability and nutrient supply indicator values of the edges were intermediate between those of the forest interiors and the grasslands. The mean soil moisture indicator values of the edges were similar to those of the grasslands. Our results show that edges form a unique component of forest–grassland mosaics, and they contribute considerably to landscape complexity, which should be taken into account during conservation decisions and habitat management.

Aims: Biodiversity is traditionally studied mostly at the species level, but biogeographical and macroecological studies at higher taxonomic levels can provide valuable insights into the evolutionary processes at large spatial scales. Our aim was to assess the representation of vascular plant families within different vegetation formations across Europe. Location: Europe. Methods: We used a data set of 816,005 vegetation plots from the European Vegetation Archive (EVA). For each plot, we calculated the relative species richness of each plant family as the number of species belonging to that family divided by the total number of species. We mapped the relative species richness, averaged across all plots in 50 km × 50 km grid cells, for each family and broad habitat groups: forests, grasslands, scrub and wetlands. We also calculated the absolute species richness and the Shannon diversity index for each family. Results: We produced 522 maps of mean relative species richness for a total of 152 vascular plant families occurring in forests, grasslands, scrub and wetlands. We found distinct spatial patterns for many combinations of families and habitat groups. The resulting series of 522 maps is freely available, both as images and GIS layers. Conclusions: The distinct spatial patterns revealed in the maps suggest that the relative species richness of plant families at the community level reflects the evolutionary history of individual families. We believe that the maps and associated data can inspire further biogeographical and macroecological studies and strengthen the ongoing integration of phylogenetic, functional and taxonomic diversity concepts., MV, IA, JPC, ZL, IK, AJ and MC were funded by the Czech Science Foundation, programme EXPRO (project no. 19-28491X); JDi by the Czech Science Foundation (18-02773S); IB and JAC by the Basque Government (IT936-16); AČ by the Slovenian Research Agency (ARRS, P1-0236); AK by the National Research Foundation of Ukraine (project no. 2020.01/0140); JŠ by the Slovak Research and Development Agency (APVV 16-0431); KV by the National Science Fund (Contract DCOST 01/7/19.10.2018).

The 39th Meeting of the Eastern Alpine and Dinaric Society for Vegetation Ecology (EADSVE) will take place in Dubrovnik, Croatia, from Wednesday 4 to Saturday 7 May 2022. The meeting will be organized by University of Dubrovnik.

Aims: The effect of biogeographical processes on the spatial turnover component of beta-diversity over large spatial extents remains scarcely understood. Here, we aim at disentangling the roles of environmental and historical factors on plant taxonomic and phylogenetic turnover, while controlling for the effects of species richness and rarity. Location: European beech (Fagus sylvatica) forests in Europe. Methods: We aggregated plant species occurrences from vegetation plots in spatial grid cells of 0.25º × 0.25º to calculate the spatial turnover component of taxonomic (TBD) and phylogenetic (PBD) beta-diversity for each cell. We also calculated the deviation of PBD given TBD (PBD), which measures the importance of phylogenetic turnover after factoring out taxonomic turnover. Beta-diversity was calculated for each grid cell as the mean pairwise dissimilarity between the focal cell and all other cells. We used structural equation modeling (SEM) to examine the relationships between environmental (climate, soil pH, and distance from the geographical distribution limit of beech) and historical (distance from beech glacial refugia) predictors and beta-diversity metrics. Results: We found a geographically consistent variation in taxonomic and phylogenetic turnover. Overall, TBD and PBD increased significantly toward more extreme climatic conditions, on more acidic soils, and toward the margins of beech distribution. The effects of environmental variables and the distance from glacial refugia on beta-diversity metrics were mediated by species richness and rarity. Phylogenetic turnover was low in relation to taxonomic turnover (i.e., high PBD) in areas closer to glacial refugia. Conclusions: Continental-scale patterns of beta-diversity in European beech forests are the result of complementary ecological and evolutionary processes. In general, beech forests are taxonomically and phylogenetically more distinct in climatically marginal areas of their European range. However, the spatial variation of beta-diversity in European beech forest flora is still strongly characterized by the distribution of groups of closely related species that evolved or survived in glacial refugia., The study was supported by the Czech Science Foundation (project no.19-28491X). I.B. and J.A.C. were funded by the Basque Government (IT936-16).

[Aim]To analyse the biogeographic patterns of Temperate Deciduous Forests (TDFs) in Western Eurasia based on different life-forms and forests layers and explore their relationships with the current climate, Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) climate and topography., [Location] Western Eurasia., [Methods] We delimited nine regions encompassing the variability of TDFs in Western Eurasia and collected 1000 vegetation plots from each. We deconstructed the plant communities into three layers, tree, shrub and floor. We used (i) generalized linear mixed models (GLMM) to analyse the influence of current climate, historical climate and topography on species richness by accounting for regional effects and (ii) redundancy analysis (RDA) with variance partitioning to describe the variation in life forms along abiotic gradients. The three forest layers were analysed jointly and separately., [Results] The Balkans, Alps and Carpathians appeared to be the richest in plant species, whereas the British Isles and the Hyrcanian region were the poorest. Annual temperature range and annual mean temperature were the best predictors of species richness for the whole dataset and for the shrub layer. The tree layer richness was mainly explained by the annual temperature range and by elevation, whereas the forest floor richness was more related to the annual temperature range and the annual mean temperature differences between the LGM and current climate. The current climate was the main predictor of the composition of the whole community, the tree layer and the floor layer, while the shrub layer was also influenced by historical climate., [Main conclusions] Our overview of the diversity of temperate deciduous forests in Western Eurasia demonstrates different patterns and drivers across life-forms and forest layers. While the diversity of trees is mainly linked to current climatic conditions, the shrub layer is also driven by postglacial-glacial climatic stability, suggesting a different origin from forest trees., The authors are indebted to the custodians of the EVA databases for providing the vegetation-plot data, and to all the scientists who sampled these plots. MC, IK, PN and CM were funded by grant no. 19-28491X of the Czech Science Foundation and JL, IB, JAC and CM by grant no. IT936-16 of the Basque Government. The data used for this survey have been extracted with the permission of the EVA (European Vegetation Archive) and the Hyrcanian Forest Vegetation Database.

Aim: Vegetation types of Mediterranean thermophilous pine forests dominated by Pinus brutia, Pinus halepensis, Pinus pinaster and Pinus pinea were studied in various areas. However, a comprehensive formal vegetation classification of these forests based on a detailed data analysis has never been developed. Our aim is to provide the first broad-scale classification of these pine forests based on a large data set of vegetation plots. Location: Southern Europe, North Africa, Levant, Anatolia, Crimea and the Caucasus. Methods: We prepared a data set of European and Mediterranean pine forest vegetation plots. We selected 7,277 plots dominated by the cold-sensitive Mediterranean pine species Pinus brutia, Pinus halepensis, Pinus pinaster and Pinus pinea. We classified these plots using TWINSPAN, interpreted the ecologically and biogeographically homogeneous TWINSPAN clusters as alliances, and developed an expert system for automatic vegetation classification at the class, order and alliance levels. Results: We described Pinetea halepensis as a new class for the Mediterranean lowland to submontane pine forests, included in the existing Pinetalia halepensis order, and distinguished 12 alliances of native thermophilous pine forests, including four newly described and three informal groups merging supposedly native stands and old-established plantations. The main gradients in species composition reflect elevational vegetation belts and the west-east, and partly north-south, biogeographical differences. Both temperature and precipitation seasonality co-vary with these gradients. Conclusions: We provide the first formal classification at the order and alliance levels for all the Mediterranean thermophilous pine forests based on vegetation-plot data. This classification includes traditional syntaxa, which have been critically revised, and a new class and four new alliances. We also outline a methodological workflow that might be useful for other vegetation classification syntheses. The expert system, which is jointly based on pine dominance and species composition, is a tool for applying this classification in research and nature conservation survey, monitoring and management. Department of Botany and Zoology, Masaryk University; Free University of Bozen-Bolzano [TN201H]; Czech Science FoundationGrant Agency of the Czech Republic [19-28491X]; Plan Propio of the UCLM [2020-GRIN-29214]; European Social Fund (POCH); National Funds (MCTES) through a Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia postdoctoral fellowship [SFRH/BPD/115057/2016, UIDB/04033/2020] GB was funded by the post-doc programme of the Department of Botany and Zoology, Masaryk University and by the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano through the CONplant project (TN201H), JD, IK, LT and MC by the Czech Science Foundation (19-28491X), FFG by the Plan Propio of the UCLM (2020-GRIN-29214), TMH by the European Social Fund (POCH), by National Funds (MCTES) through a Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia postdoctoral fellowship (SFRH/BPD/115057/2016) and project no. UIDB/04033/2020.

U ovom radu prikazani su rezultati izmjere parametara koji opisuju fotosintetsku aktivnost bukovih klijanaca pod utjecajem suboptimalne ishranjenosti s mineralnim hranivima. Cilj rada bio je približiti ovu problematiku šumarskoj praksi kroz raspravu dobivenih rezultata u kontekstu dosadašnjih spoznaja o utjecaju mineralne ishrane na fotosintetski proces šumskoga drveća. U rano proljeće 2019. godine bukovi klijanci porijeklom iz jedne prirodne mješovite sastojine hrasta kitnjaka i obične bukve presađeni su u sterilni supstrat (agroperlit). Nakon presadnje redovito su zalijevani (tretirani) kompletnom hranivom otopinom (KO tretman), odnosno hranivim otopinama u kojima su izostavljeni dušik (–N tretman), fosfor (–P tretman), magnezij (–Mg tretman) ili željezo (–Fe tretman). Na šest klijanaca unutar svakog od pet prethodno opisanih tretmana tijekom vegetacijskog razdoblja 2019. godine redovito su mjereni sljedeći parametri: stopa fotosinteze (A), provodljivost puči (gs), intercelularna koncentracija CO2 (ci), indeks relativnog sadržaja klorofila u lišću (CCI) te indeks fotosintetske učinkovitosti (PIABS). Svi parametri bili su lošiji kod klijanaca iz –N, –P i –Mg tretmana u odnosu na klijance iz KO tretmana. Takav rezultat vjerojatno proizlazi iz fizioloških funkcija N, P i Mg koji sudjeluju u građi proteina i enzima, prometu i skladištenju energije te građi klorofila, što je sve skupa neophodno za uredno funkcioniranje cjelokupnog fotosintetskog procesa. Unatoč važnoj ulozi Fe u gotovo svim životnim procesima biljaka pa tako i fotosintezi svi mjereni parametri kod klijanaca iz –Fe i KO tretmana bili su podjednaki. Međutim, za razliku od N, P i Mg koji pripadaju skupini makrohraniva, Fe pripada skupini mikrohraniva, čije su koncentracije u biljnom tkivu relativno niske. Prema tome, moguće je pretpostaviti da su istraživani klijanci iz tla prirodne sastojine i/ili iz rezervi u sjemenu tijekom početne faze svoga razvoja uspjeli usvojiti i/ili mobilizirati dovoljnu količinu Fe koja im je bila dostatna za normalno funkcioniranje tijekom cijelog vegetacijskog razdoblja, bez obzira na kasniju primjenu tretmana. S obzirom na ovakav rezultat, inicijalno praćenje parametara fotosintetske aktivnosti bit će nastavljeno tijekom sljedećih nekoliko vegetacijskih razdoblja. U tom periodu planira se započeti s praćenjem dinamike vegetativnoga rasta, fenologije listanja i razvoja vizualnih simptoma pri suboptimalnoj ishranjenosti obične bukve s mineralnim hranivima s ciljem dodatnog približavanja ove problematike šumarskoj praksi.

The article deals with wet meadow plant communities of the alliance Trifolion pallidi that appear on the periodically inundated or waterlogged sites on the riverside terraces or gentle slopes along watercourses. These plant communities are often endangered by inappropriate hydrological interventions or management practices. All available vegetation plots representing this vegetation type were collected, organized in a database, and numerically elaborated. This vegetation type appears in the southeastern part of the Pannonian Plain, which is still under the influence of the Mediterranean climate, its southern border is formed by southern outcrops of the Pannonian Plain and its northern border coincides with the influence of the Mediterranean climate (line Slavonsko Gorje-Fruška Gora-Vršačke Planine). Numerical analysis established four plant associations—Trifolio pallidi–Alopecuretum pratensis, Ventenato dubii–Trifolietum pallidi, Ranunculo strigulosi–Alopecuretum pratensis, and Ornithogalo pyramidale–Trifolietum pallidi. Each association was elaborated in detail: diagnostic plant species, nomenclature, geographical distribution, climatic and ecological conditions, and possible division into subassociations. Results are presented in a distribution map, figures resulting from numerical analysis, and a synoptic table. The hydrological gradient was found as the most important factor shaping the studied plant communities. The article also brings new field data on this vegetation type, which has not been sampled for decades and is in process of evaluation to be included as a special habitat type in the Habitat Directive.

[Questions] European woodlands harbor at least 386 alien plant species but the factors driving local invasions remain unknown. By using a large vegetation-plot database, we asked how local richness and abundance of alien species vary by regions, elevation, climate, soil properties, human disturbance, and habitat types., [Location] Western, central and southern Europe., [Methods] We linked consolidated data from the European Vegetation Archive (16,211 plots) to a habitat classification scheme, climate, soil properties and human disturbance variables. In addition, we used 250 km × 250 km regional grid cells to test whether local patterns differ among regions. We used generalized additive models (GAMs) and quantile GAMs to explore how relative alien species richness and the sum of alien species covers per plot relate to predictors. Random Forest analyses (RFs) were employed to assess the importance of individual predictors that were not multicollinear., [Results] Relative alien species richness and the sum of alien species covers varied across regions and habitat types, with effects being more pronounced at the maximum rather than average responses. Both response variables declined with increasing elevation and distance to the nearest road or railroad and increased with the amount of sealed soil. Maxima in fitted functions matched plots from regional invasion hotspots in northwestern and central Europe. RFs accounted for 39.6% and 20.9% of the total variation in relative alien species richness and the sum of alien species covers, respectively, with region and habitat being the most important variables., [Conclusions] The importance of maximum response quantiles and the prevalence of regional hotspots point to invasion debt in European woodlands. As alien plants expand further, their species richness and abundance in woodlands will be likely driven by the shared effects of the introduction and planting history, differences in the invaded habitat types, and dispersal corridors., VW initiated this study as a part of the InvasEVe project financed by the SoMoPro II program and considers it as part of her Discovery Grant from the Canadian Natural Science and Engineering Research Council. VW's research leading to these results has acquired a financial grant from the People Program (Marie Curie Action) of the Seventh Framework Program of the EU according to REA Grant Agreement No. 291782, and it was further co-financed by the South-Moravian Region. MV and MC were supported by the Czech Science Foundation (19-28491X). PP and JP were supported by the Czech Science Foundation (19-28807X) and the Czech Academy of Sciences (RVO 67985939). JCS considers this work a contribution to his VILLUM Investigator project “Biodiversity Dynamics in a Changing World” funded by VILLUM FONDEN (grant 16549). IB and JAC were funded by the Basque Government (IT936-16). FFG was funded by the Plan Propio of the UCLM (2020-GRIN-29214)

Kroz dugo vremensko razdoblje, aromatično, ljekovito, kao i začinsko bilje pronalazi svoju primjenu u različite svrhe. U novije vrijeme, kada raste svijest i potreba o sve većoj integraciji prirodnog okruženja u urbanoj sredini (biofilni dizajn), sve je aktualnije uređenje unutarnjih i vanjskih zelenih prostora s terapijskom i rehabilitacijskom namjenom. Aromatična i druga svojstva takvih biljaka potencijalnom prostoru dodaju novi aspekt (uz onaj dekorativni) u vidu jačanja motoričkih, senzoričkih, kognitivnih te socijalnih potencijala osjetljivih skupina posjetitelja, čime doprinose njihovom skladnijem životu i zdravlju. Specifičnim mirisima, raznolikošću oblika, struktura, boja i listova, ove biljke omogućuju višeosjetilni doživljaj uređenog prostora. S obzirom na svoje biološke značajke i ekološke zahtjeve, iziskuju različite stupnjeve njege i održavanja te ih u tom pogledu treba promišljeno odabrati i uklopiti u prostor koji se uređuje kako bi kontinuirano održavale svoju namjenu, kako u estetskom, tako i u terapijskom smislu, pružajući potpuni učinak za osjetila posjetitelja.

Aim The EUNIS Habitat Classification is a widely used reference framework for European habitat types (habitats), but it lacks formal definitions of individual habitats that would enable their unequivocal identification. Our goal was to develop a tool for assigning vegetation-plot records to the habitats of the EUNIS system, use it to classify a European vegetation-plot database, and compile statistically-derived characteristic species combinations and distribution maps for these habitats. Location Europe. Methods We developed the classification expert system EUNIS-ESy, which contains definitions of individual EUNIS habitats based on their species composition and geographic location. Each habitat was formally defined as a formula in a computer language combining algebraic and set-theoretic concepts with formal logical operators. We applied this expert system to classify 1,261,373 vegetation plots from the European Vegetation Archive (EVA) and other databases. Then we determined diagnostic, constant and dominant species for each habitat by calculating species-to-habitat fidelity and constancy (occurrence frequency) in the classified data set. Finally, we mapped the plot locations for each habitat. Results Formal definitions were developed for 199 habitats at Level 3 of the EUNIS hierarchy, including 25 coastal, 18 wetland, 55 grassland, 43 shrubland, 46 forest and 12 man-made habitats. The expert system classified 1,125,121 vegetation plots to these habitat groups and 73,188 to other habitats, while 63,064 plots remained unclassified or were classified to more than one habitat. Data on each habitat were summarized in factsheets containing habitat description, distribution map, corresponding syntaxa and characteristic species combination. Conclusions EUNIS habitats were characterized for the first time in terms of their species composition and distribution, based on a classification of a European database of vegetation plots using the newly developed electronic expert system EUNIS-ESy. The data provided and the expert system have considerable potential for future use in European nature conservation planning, monitoring and assessment. The previous versions of the expert system and related reports were produced within a contract from the European Environment Agency to Wageningen Environmental Research and Masaryk University. The opinions expressed are those of the contractor and do not represent the Agency's official position. EVA data management and preparation of this paper were supported by the Czech Science Foundation (project no. 19-28491X to MC, LT, IK, TP, CM, JDa, MH, PN, DZ, GB, AJ, AKu, ZL and DV). IB and JAC were supported by the Basque Government (project no. T936-16). TB, ET, and LK were supported by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation (TB and ET project no. AAAA-A18-118052590019-7; LK project no. AAAA-A19-119012490096-2).

Red clover, although primarily used for dairy cow feeding, can also repair soil structure, fix atmospheric nitrogen and prevent soil erosion. Until recently, the traditional cultivation of red clover in Croatia prevailed in suitable habitats. Abandoning of agricultural production is the reason of meadows succession process which can cause genetic erosion and threatens the survival of local population of red clover. Determining of sites according to their ecogeographical characteristics could help to improve the direction of action aimed at conservation of biological diversity of species in its natural habitats as well as the preservation of genetic resources and their use in breeding purposes. The aim of this research was to classify the sites of natural habitats of red clover local populations (under extensive agricultural production) in north-western part of Croatia on the basis of their ecogeographical characteristics. Data of geographical, pedological and climatological characteristics and floristic composition were collected at 18 sites and subjected to multivariate analysis. The main differences among sites were detected in geographical, pedological and climatological characteristics. Floristic structure of investigated sites were consisting of 151 plant species, including a large number of species of ruderal vegetation., Iako se crvena djetelina prvenstveno koristi za hranidbu mliječnih krava, ona može popraviti strukturu tla, uz pomoć kvržičnih bakterija fiksirati atmosferski dušik i spriječiti eroziju tla. Donedavno je u Hrvatskoj prevladavao tradicionalni uzgoj crvene djeteline. Napuštanje poljoprivredne proizvodnje razlog je procesa pojave sukcesije livada koji može uzrokovati genetsku eroziju i ugroziti opstanak lokalnih populacija crvene djeteline. Utvrđivanje lokacija lokalnih populacija crvene djeteline, prema njihovim ekološkim karakteristikama, moglo bi pomoći u pronalaženju smjera djelovanja u cilju očuvanja biološke raznolikosti vrsta u njenim prirodnim staništima, kao i očuvanja genetskih resursa i njihove uporabe u oplemenjivačkim programima. Cilj ovog istraživanja bio je klasificirati lokacije lokalnih populacija crvene djeteline, koje su pod ekstenzivnom poljoprivrednom proizvodnjom, na području sjeverozapadne Hrvatske na temelju njihovih ekogeografskih karakteristika. Podaci o geografskim, pedološkim i klimatskim karakteristikama i florističkom sastavu prikupljeni na 18 lokacija podvrgnuti su multivarijatnoj analizi. Glavne razlike između lokacija utvrđene su u geografskim, pedološkim i klimatskim karakteristikama. Floristički sastav istraživanih lokacija, čije su lokalne populacije crvene djeteline sastavni dio, sadrži 151 biljnih vrsta, među kojima je veliki broj vrsta ruderalne vegetacije.

U radu je predstavljena nedestruktivna procjena koncentracije fotosintetskih pigmenata (ukupnih klorofila i karotenoida) u lišću hrasta lužnjaka pomoću prijenosnog optičkog klorofilmetra CCM-200. Istraživanje je provedeno 2015. godine na biljnom materijalu izloženom različitim tretmanima vlažnosti tla. U kontrolnom tertmanu sadržaj vlage u tlu održavan je iznad poljskog vodnog kapaciteta, dok je u sušnom tretmanu biljkama voda bila uskraćena 112 dana (1. 4. – 21. 7.). U drugom dijelu vegetacijskog razdoblja (22. 7. – 22. 10.) u oba tretmana vlaga tla održavana je iznad poljskog vodnog kapaciteta. Na temelju lišća uzorkovanoga istovremeno u oba tretmana i to sredinom jeseni (27. 10.) izrađene su kalibracijske jednadžbe koje opisuju odnos indeksa relativnog sadržaja klorofila izmjerenoga pomoću klorofilmetra i stvarne koncentracije fotosintetskih pigmenata (utvrđene laboratorijski) pred sam kraj vegetacijskog razdoblja. Jednadžbe su konstruirane posebno za kontrolni, a posebno za sušni tretman. S obzirom na takav dizajn pokusa i vrijeme uzorkovanja, primarni cilj rada bio je ispitati utjecaj dugotrajnog sušnog razdoblja na homogenost parametara kalibracijskih jednadžbi (Y-odsječaka i nagiba pravaca). Na temelju dobivenih rezultata zaključeno je da parametri kalibracijskih jednadžbi nisu bili utjecani sušnim tretmanom. Prema tome, rezultati istraživanja ukazuju na to da klorofilmetar CCM-200, uz primjenu odgovarjućih kalibracijskih jednadžbi, predstavlja pouzdan alat za nedestruktivnu procjenu koncentracije ukupnih klorofila i karotenoida u lišću hrasta lužnjaka, bez obzira na različite režime vlažnosti tla kojima je biljni materijal bio izložen tijekom vegetacijskog razdoblja. Uz to, u radu je utvrđeno da bi preciznost procjene stvarne koncentracije fotosintetskih pigmenata bilo moguće i dodatno poboljšati korekcijom klorofilnog indeksa sa specifičnom lisnom masom., The concentration of photosynthetic pigments (chlorophylls and carotenoids) in leaves of forest trees is a good indicator of the photosynthetic efficiency, level of nutrition with nitrogen and autumn leaf senescence. Thus the photosynthetic pigment concentrations is one of the most significant parameters related to the physiological status of plant. Change in pigment concentrations of leaves indicate presence of environmental stress. Well-timed detection of environmental stress play a crucial role in preventing damage on seedlings and saplings in forest nurseries and wood mass production in forest cultures and plantations. Traditional methods for determining the concentrations of photosynthetic pigments represent an obstacle to continuous monitoring concentrations of photosynthetic pigment in leaves of forest trees, primarily because they are relatively expensive, long lasting and require destruction of plant material. However, portable optical chlorophyll meters such as CCM-200 (Opti-Sciences, Tyngsboro, Massachusetts, USA) and SPAD-502 (Minolta Camera Co., Osaka, Japan) is a reliable alternative to traditional laboratory methods. To use chlorophyll meters as a tool for estimating photosynthetic pigment concentrations in leaves, it is necessary to construct regression equations (calibration equations) that reliably describe the relationships between the relative index of the total chlorophyll content in leaves (CCI) and the total pigment concentrations in leaves, determined by standard laboratory methods. In the present study, we set up experiment to establish the ability of the hand-held CCM-200 chlorophyll meter to accurately estimate the content of the photosynthetic pigments in leaves of Quercus robur L. with contrast level of soil moisture. The objectives of the present work were: (i) determine whether the long-lasting drought period significantly influences the relationship between the CCI obtined by CCM-200 and the concentration of photosynthetic pigments (total chlorophyll and carotenoid); (ii) construct calibration equations for non-destructive estimation of photosynthetic pigments in Q. robur leaves; (iii) to analyse the improvement estimation of photosynthetic pigments concentration when CCI was corrected with specific leaf mass. The research was carried out during the year 2015 on 60 two-years old plants grown in the greenhouse located in the Croatian Forestry Institute Jastrebarsko. Plant material was grown in 50 liter containers previously filled with soil originating from a natural oak stand. In the spring of the 2015, at the beginning of the study the mean height of investigated plants was 23.9 ± 4.8 cm. During the study, plant material was exposure to different level of soil moisture. In control treatment soil water content was kept above field capacity, while in drought treatment plants were exposed to water reduction during 112 days (1st of April – 21st of July). In second part of growing season (22nd of July – 22nd of October) in both treatments soil water content was kept above field capacity (Figure 1). Calibration equations, that describe relationship between relative chlorophyll content index measured with chlorophyll meter and actual photosynthetic pigment concentrations in sampled leaves (laboratory determined) at the end of growing season (27th of October), were constructed for both treatments (Table 2 and 3; Figure 4 and 5). Obtined results show that parameters of calibration equations were not affected by drought treatment (Table 4). Therefore, when using appropriate calibration equations, clorophyll meter CCM-200 can be considered as reliable tool for non-destructive estimation of total chlorophylls and carotenoids in Q. robur leaves, regardless of different soil water regimes during the growing season. Additionaly, this research confirmed that it is possible to improve the estimation of actual photosynthetic pigment concentration by using chlorophyll content index corrected with specific leaf mass (Table 2 and 3; Figure 4 and 5).

Since grasslands provide many ecosystem services, there are often different opinions on their management (e.g., agronomy, ecology, botany). Multidisciplinary research on this topic is therefore needed. This article focuses on the impact of ecological conditions, functional groups, ecological strategies, floristic composition (through habitat preference of species), major floristic gradients (presented as first two NMDS axes), and the management of forage quality. We estimated the forage quality using indicator values. All of the available vegetation plots in the region on wet and mesic meadows, managed pastures, and tall-herb meadow/pasture fringes on deeper or shallower soils (i.e., grasslands) were collected, organized in a database, and elaborated according to standard procedure. We used a widely accepted grassland classification system that uses floristic composition to define grassland types. Based on an NMDS ordination diagram and according to functional groups, ecological strategies, and habitat preferences (behavior of species) and management, we defined three major groups: mesic meadows (mowed), wet meadows (mowed), and pastures (grazed). We correlated all groups’ functional groups, ecological strategies, habitat preferences (behavior of species), major floristic gradients, management, and forage quality. We found that forage quality mainly depends on moisture conditions and that nutrients and grazing are less important. Within the grasslands under consideration, mesic meadows and mesic pastures have the highest forage quality. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

Croatia is among the most ecologically diverse and floristically rich countries in Europe, with a great variety of communities. The vegetation elaboration according to the standard central European method was initiated in Croatia at the beginning of the 20thcentury. In previous overviews of Croatian vegetation, the number of classes and alliances was underrepresented in relation to the country’s floristic richness. Furthermore, the level of knowledge and the amount of available data varied greatly among the various types of vegetation. The aims of this paper are mainly to compile a stabile syntaxonomic list of classes, orders and alliances dominated by vascular plants in Croatia and to adjust Croatian vegetation to the new European syntaxonomic system (EuroVegChecklist). It introduces a consistent description of high-rank syntaxa in Croatian. In conclusion, the vegetation of Croatia comprises 66 classes, 121 orders and 201 alliances. The number of syntaxa shows vegetation diversity that is rather high compared to most other European countries; this is related to the high floristic richness and endemism. The list points out the obvious problems and gaps in our knowledge of vegetation in Croatia and can serve as a baseline for the future vegetation studies.

Species distribution models (SDMs) are used to project how suitable ranges of species shift under a warming climate. Conservation management, however, commonly targets habitat types rather than individual species. Such habitat types are often defined by the co-occurrence of a set of characteristic species. Here, we develop a co-occurrence-based index (CRI); which measures how the representation of habitat types in a particular area may change in a future climate. The index is based on stacking projections of distribution models of characteristic species and accounts for changes both in potential range size of each species individually and in spatial range overlap among characteristic species, i.e. co-occurrence patterns. We illustrate the approach by modelling the changing representation of 68 habitat types in Austria under two different climate scenarios. We base index calculations on SDM projections under either the assumption of unrestricted mobility (‘full-dispersal’) or of complete immobility (‘no-dispersal’) of individual species. Moreover, we compare results to those achieved with a simpler occurrence-based index (OI); which only accounts for change in species’ range sizes. All three alternative index calculations suggest that most modelled habitat types will lose area (in particular mires, wetlands and siliceous alpine grasslands) and only a minority will profit from a warming climate (in particular forests of dry and warm sites). ‘Full-dispersal’ CRI and OI are closely, but not perfectly correlated. Importantly, for more than half of the habitat types, accounting for changing co-occurrence patterns amplifies projected losses. The ‘no-dispersal’ CRI (CRInd) delivers the most alarming projections, indicating considerable spatial turn-over of sites suitable to the habitat types. Taken together, our results suggest that modelling re-distribution of habitat types which are defined by species combinations needs to account for modifications of co-occurrence patterns. Moreover, conservation should acknowledge that novel combinations of species will likely emerge under a warming climate.

Research highlights: The susceptibility of oaks to late spring and early autumn frosts is directly related to their leaf phenology. Drought may alter the leaf phenology and therefore frost tolerance of oaks. However, the effects of drought on oak leaf phenology and frost resistance have not been thoroughly studied. Background and objectives: One of the consequences of climate change is an increase in the frequency of dry episodes during the vegetation period. Pedunculate oak (Quercus robur L.) is an economically and ecologically important forest tree species that prefers humid habitats. Therefore, knowledge of the impact of drought on this species is of great importance for the adaptation of forestry strategies and practices to altered environmental conditions. The aim of this study was to determine the impact of drought on leaf phenology and spring frost susceptibility in nine provenances. Materials and methods: One-year-old saplings originating from nine European provenances were used in the trial. The saplings were exposed to experimental drought and then re-watered in two subsequent years. Spring and autumn leaf phenology were scored. The trial was impacted by a late spring frost in the third year, and the resulting leaf frost injury was scored. The effects of drought treatment on the phenology and frost susceptibility of plants from the provenances were analysed. Results: Leaf phenology of plants from most of the studied provenances was significantly influenced by the drought treatment (p &lt, 0.001). Drought induced a carry-over effect on flushing phenology, which was observed as delayed bud burst (from 0.6 to 2.4 days) in the second year and as advanced bud burst (from 0.1 to 6.3 days) in the third year. Therefore, opposite shifts in flushing phenology may be induced as a result of differences in the time span when plants sense water deficits. In contrast to flushing, autumn leaf phenology was unambiguously delayed following the drought treatments for all studied provenances (from 2.1 to 25.8 days). Differences in late frost susceptibility were predominantly caused by among-provenance differences in flushing phenology. However, the drought treatment significantly increased frost susceptibility in the plants (the rate of frost-injured plants per provenance increased from 3% to 78%). This higher susceptibility to spring frost was most likely caused by the advanced flushing phenology that resulted from the drought treatment in the previous year.

U radu je istražen potencijal prijenosnog optičkog klorofilmetra CCM-200 (Opti-Sciences, Tyngsboro, MA, USA) u svrhu utvrđivanja stanja ishrane hrasta lužnjaka s dušikom na temelju uzorkovanja različitih tipovia lišća (lišće proljetnih i sekundarnih izbojaka). Istraživanje je provedeno na 30 biljaka uzgajanih u pokusnom nasadu tijekom dva vegetacijska razdoblja (2009. i 2010. godine). Meteorološke prilike i gnojidbeni tretman koji je bio proveden u rano proljeće 2009. godine uvjetovali su razlike između istraživanih godina s obzirom na razvoj izbojaka tijekom tercijarnoga porasta (što predstavlja potencijalni pokretač translokacije dušika u krošnjama istraživanih biljaka). Na temelju lišća proljetnih i sekundarnih izbojaka, uzorkovanoga u srpnju i rujnu 2009. i 2010. godine konstruirano je ukupno osam kalibracijskih jednadžbi. Te jednadžbe pouzdano opisuju (p < 0,001) odnos između klorofilnoga indeksa izmjerenoga pomoću klorofilmetra i koncentracije ukupnoga dušika u lišću proljetnih i skundarnih izbojaka s obzirom na vrijeme uzorkovanja. Pomoću ANCOVA-e ispitan je utjecaj tipa uzorkovanoga lišća na homogenost parametara kalibracijskih jednadžbi (Y-odsječaka i nagiba pravaca) s obzirom na vrijeme uzorkovanja. Tip lišća nije značajno utjecao na nagibe pravaca, ali značajno je utjecao na njihove Y-odsječke u tri od ukupno četiri promatrana vremena uzorkovanja. Homogenost parametara kalibracijskih jednadžbi konstruiranih na temelju različitih tipova lišća utvrđena je samo u rujnu 2009. godine, kada je pod utjecajem produkcije tercijarnih izbojaka došlo do izjednačenja koncentracije ukupnoga dušika u oba tipa uzorkovanoga lišća. Prema tomu, jednom konstruiranu kalibracijsku jednadžbu nije moguće istovremeno koristiti za preciznu procjenu ukupne koncentracije dušika u različitim tipovima lišća. Takav rezultat dovodi u pitanje praktičnost i pouzdanost procjene stanja ishrane hrasta lužnjaka s dušikom pomoću klorofilmetra CCM-200., In this paper we investigated potential of portable chlorophyll meter CCM-200 (Opti-Sciences, Tyngsboro, MA, USA) to estimate total nitrogen concentration in different types of Pedunculate oak leaves. Research was conducted on 30 plants grown in field trial, during two vegetation periods (in years 2009 and 2010). Fertilization treatment (carried out in early spring in 2009) and meteorological conditions caused differences between investigated years regarding third-flush shoots (that can be considered as potential trigger for translocation of nitrogen in leaves and branches of investigated plants). Eight calibration curves was constructed based on spring and second-flush leaves, sampled in July and September in 2009 and 2010. These equations shown to be are reliable (p < 0,001) in describing relationship between chlorophyll content index, measured with chlorophyll meter, and total nitrogen concentration in spring and second-flush leaves, regarding moments of sampling (July and September 2009 and 2010). Influence of leaf flush type on homogeneity of equation parameters (i.e. slope and intercept), regarding moment of sampling, was tested using ANCOVA. Leaf flush type (spring or second-flush) did not have significant influence on slope, but did influenced intercepts in three moments of sampling (July 2009, and July and September 2010). Homogeneity of equation parameters was observed only for one moment of sampling, e.g. September in 2009, when third-flush shoots occurred which resulted in levelling of total nitrogen concentration in sampled leaves.

International audience; Aim. We investigate whether (1) environmental predictors allow to delineate the distribution of discrete community types at the continental scale and (2) how data completeness influences model generalization in relation to the compositional variation of the modelled entities. Location. Europe. Methods. We used comprehensive datasets of two community types of conservation concern in Europe: acidophilous beech forests and base‐rich fens. We computed community distribution models (CDMs) calibrated with environmental predictors to predict the occurrence of both community types, evaluating geographical transferability, interpolation and extrapolation under different scenarios of sampling bias. We used generalized dissimilarity modelling (GDM) to assess the role of geographical and environmental drivers in compositional variation within the predicted distributions. Results. For the two community types, CDMs computed for the whole study area provided good performance when evaluated by random cross‐validation and external validation. Geographical transferability provided lower but relatively good performance, while model extrapolation performed poorly when compared with interpolation. Generalized dissimilarity modelling showed a predominant effect of geographical distance on compositional variation, complemented with the environmental predictors that also influenced habitat suitability. Main conclusions. Correlative approaches typically used for modelling the distribution of individual species are also useful for delineating the potential area of occupancy of community types at the continental scale, when using consistent definitions of the modelled entity and high data completeness. The combination of CDMs with GDM further improves the understanding of diversity patterns of plant communities, providing spatially explicit information for mapping vegetation diversity and related habitat types at large scales.

Aim: Formalized classifications synthesizing vegetation data at the continental scale are being attempted only now, although they are of key importance for nature conservation planning. Therefore, we aim to provide a vegetation classification and to describe the main biogeographical patterns of floodplain forests and alder carrs in Europe. Location: Europe. Methods: A database of more than 40 000 vegetation plots of floodplain forests and alder carrs across Europe was compiled. After geographic stratification, 16 392 plots were available for classification, which was performed using the supervised method Cocktail. We also searched for new associations using semi-supervised K-means classification. The main biogeographic patterns and climate-related gradients in species composition were determined using detrended correspondence analysis and cluster analysis. Results: Thirty associations of floodplain forests and alder carrs were distinguished, which belong to five alliances. The Alnion incanae includes riparian, seepage and hardwood floodplain forests in the nemoral and hemiboreal zones (dominated by Alnus glutinosa and Fraxinus excelsior) and in the boreal zone (dominated by A. incana). The Osmundo-Alnion represents oceanic vegetation dominated by Alnus glutinosa, Fraxinus angustifolia and F. excelsior distributed mostly on the Iberian Peninsula and composed of species with Atlantic distribution and Iberian endemics. The Populion albae comprises floodplain forests frequently dominated by Fraxinus angustifolia, Populus alba and P. nigra that are widespread in floodplains of large rivers under summer-dry climates in the Mediterranean region. The Platanion orientalis represents eastern Mediterranean floodplain forests dominated by Platanus orientalis. The Alnion glutinosae includes forest swamps dominated by Alnus glutinosa distributed mostly in the nemoral and hemiboreal zones. The main biogeographic patterns within European floodplain forests and alder carrs reflect the climatic contrasts between the Mediterranean, nemoral, boreal and mountain regions. Oceanic floodplain forests differ from those in the rest of Europe. The hydrological regime appears to be the most important factor influencing species composition within regions. Conclusions: This study is the first applying a formalized classification at the association level for a broad vegetation type at the continental scale. The proposed classification provides the scientific basis for the necessary improvement of the habitat classification systems used in European nature conservation.

The aim of this study is to classify and describe all plant communities with Quercus coccifera covering the entire eastern Adriatic coast and islands from north Croatia to south Albania, and to relate their species composition, chorotypes and life forms to environmental factors using Pignatti ecological indicator values. From a total of 70 phytosociological relevés we identified and described four floristically and ecologically distinctive vegetation communities (two new proposed subassociations, one association and stand each) using TWINSPAN and the Braun-Blanquet classification scheme. In Croatia and Montenegro, Q. coccifera is forming macchia within the Fraxino orni-Quercetum cocciferae pistacietosum lentisci. Q. coccifera occurs only sparsely in south Croatia as a shrubland within Fraxino orni-Quercetum cocciferae nerietosum oleandri subassociations or macchia within the Erico arboreae-Arbutetum unedonis association. Despite the difference in biogeographic position and bioclimates, low shrubbery Albanian Q. coccifera stands are more closely related to the Q. coccifera communities from the western Mediterranean. Eastern Adriatic communities appear exclusively within the Quercetea ilicis vegetation zone and spread within the meso- Mediterranean belt. They nevertheless are an important part of the region’s natural heritage and management plans must ensure that all forms of land are used in a sustainable way.

The forests in the Spačva Basin are a complex of lowland forests in the region of Slavonia (eastern Croatia). The present state of the forests is strongly influenced by intensive exploitation and hydro-ameliorative activities carried out in the past. The aim of this study was to consider the extent of changes in species composition, and the extent of environmental changes in forest communities of the Spačva Basin in relation to research conducted between 1969 and 1971. The species composition of four communities (Carpino betuli- Quercetum roboris, Genisto elatae- Quercetum roboris aceretosum tatarici, and caricetosum remotae, and Leucojo-Fraxinetum angustifoliae) is studied by comparing 41 old and 57 new relevés. Changes were estimated using ordinations (RDA, CCA, DCA) and changes in species frequency and cover. A general trend of moisture reduction was noticeable among all communities. All vegetation types are becoming floristically more similar. An increase in frequency and cover of flood intolerant woody species (such as Carpinus betulus, Cornus sanguinea, Tilia tomentosa, and Acer tataricum) as well as a decrease of vernal species related to wet habitats are particularly evident. The succession of all studied communities is resulting in loss of the mosaic community pattern characteristic of lowland alluvial forests.

QuestionsWhat are the main floristic patterns in European beech forests? Which classification at the alliance and suballiance level is the most convincing?LocationEurope and Asia Minor.MethodsWe applied a TWINSPAN classification to a data set of 24605 releves covering the whole range of Fagus sylvatica forests and the western part of Fagus orientalis forests. We identified 24 operational phytosociological units' (OPUs), which were used for further analysis. The position of each OPU along the soil pH and temperature gradient was evaluated using Ellenberg Indicator Values. Fidelity of species to OPUs was calculated using the phi coefficient and constancy ratio. We compared alternative alliance concepts, corresponding to groups of OPUs, in terms of number and frequency of diagnostic species. We also established formal definitions for the various alliance concepts based on comparison of the total cover of the diagnostic species groups, and evaluated alternative geographical subdivisions of beech forests.ResultsThe first and second division levels of TWINSPAN followed the temperature and soil pH gradients, while lower divisions were mainly geographical. We grouped the 22 OPUs of Fagus sylvatica forests into acidophytic, meso-basiphytic and thermo-basiphytic beech forests, and separated two OPUs of F.orientalis forests. However, a solution with only two ecologically defined alliances of F.sylvatica forests (acidophytic vs basiphytic) was clearly superior with regard to number and frequency of diagnostic species. In contrast, when comparing groupings with three to six geographical alliances of basiphytic beech forests, respectively, we did not find a strongly superior solution.ConclusionsWe propose to classify F.sylvatica forests into 15 suballiances - three acidophytic and 12 basiphytic ones. Separating these two groups at alliance or order level was clearly supported by our results. Concerning the grouping of the 12 basiphytic suballiances into ecological or geographical alliances, as advocated by many authors, we failed to find an optimal solution. Therefore, we propose a multi-dimensional classification of basiphytic beech forests, including both ecological and geographical groups as equally valid concepts which may be used alternatively depending on the purpose and context of the classification.

Aim: Woodlands make up a third of European territory and carry out important ecosystem functions, yet a comprehensive overview of their invasion by alien plants has never been undertaken across this continent. Location: Europe. Methods: We extracted data from 251,740 vegetation plots stored in the recently compiled European Vegetation Archive. After filtering (resulting in 83,396 plots; 39 regions; 1970–2015 time period), we analysed the species pool and frequency of alien vascular plants with respect to geographic origin and life-forms, and the levels of invasion across the European Nature Information System (EUNIS) woodland habitats. Results: We found a total of 386 alien plant species (comprising 7% of all recorded vascular plants). Aliens originating from outside of and from within Europe were almost equally represented in the species pool (192 vs. 181 species) but relative frequency was skewed towards the former group (77% vs. 22%) due, to some extent, to the frequent occurrence of Impatiens parviflora (21% frequency among alien plants). Phanerophytes were the most species-rich life-form (148 species) and had the highest representation in terms of relative frequency (39%) among aliens in the dataset. Apart from Europe (181 species), North America was the most important source of alien plants (109 species). At the local scale, temperate and boreal softwood riparian woodland (5%) and mire and mountain coniferous woodland (

Kontinentalni suhi travnjaci na području Papuka su biološki i krajobrazno vrlo vrijedna staništa i ubrajaju se među najugroženije tipove vegetacije kako u našoj zemlji tako i u drugim dijelovima Europe. Osim što se odlikuju velikom bioraznolikošću, na njima rastu i brojne rijetke i ugrožene vrste, poput kaćuna (Orchis spp., Ophrys spp.), karanfila (Dianthus spp.) i dr. Njihove su se površine, zbog izostanka tradicionalnog načina gospodarenja (ispaše i košnje) u posljednjih pedesetak godina značajno smanjile, a nalaze se u stalnoj dinamici i pod prijetnjom od nestanka uslijed progresivne sukcesije vegetacije. Stoga ovo istraživanje ima svrhu prikupiti nove i upotpuniti postojeće spoznaje o takvim staništima, kako bi se spriječio njihov daljnji nestanak i gubitak rijetkih i zaštićenih svojti koje rastu na njima. Istraživanje je provedeno tijekom 2011. godine na južnim broncima Papuka, uz samu granicu Parka prirode Papuk pri čemu je utvrđeno ukupno 240 svojti vaskularne flore iz 143 roda i 52 porodice. Zabilježeno je 29 novih svojti za ovo područje. Najzastupljenija je porodica mahunarki (Fabaceae), a od životnih oblika dominiraju hemikriptofiti. Visok udio fanerofita ukazuje na uznapredovale procese prirodne sukcesije. Prema analizi flornih elemenata, na suhim travnjacima dominiraju biljke euroazijskog flornog elementa, što u biogeografskom pogledu potvrđuje pripadnost istraživanog područja eurosibirsko-sjevernoameričkoj regiji. Zabilježene su i dvije ugrožene (EN), šest osjetljivih (VU) i 15 strogo zaštićenih vrsta (ZZ), što ukazuje na osobitu vrijednost i potrebu za zaštitom i očuvanjem ovakvih staništa., Continental dry grasslands in the area of Papuk are from the biological and landscape point of view very valuable habitats and are among the most threatened types of vegetation in our country, as well as in other parts of Europe. They are characterized not only by a high biodiversity, but also many rare and endangered species grow on them, such as orchids (Orchis spp., Ophrys spp.), carnations (Dianthus spp.) and others. Due to the absence of traditional farming (grazing and mowing) the areas of dry grasslands significantly reduced in the last fifty years. Due to progressive succession they are in constant dynamics and under threat of extinction. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to collect new and complement existing knowledge of such habitats, in order to prevent their further loss and loss of rare and protected taxa that grow on them. The study was conducted during the vegetation period of 2011 in the southern part of Papuk Mt. near the border of Nature Park Papuk, where a total of 240 vascular plant taxa have been recorded and classified into 143 genera and 52 families. New 29 taxa were recorded for the first time for this area. The most numerous is the family of legumes (Fabaceae), and in the life form spectrum hemicryptophytes dominated. A high proportion of phanerophytes indicates advanced processes of natural succession. According to the analysis of floral elements, dry grasslands are dominated by plants of Eurasian floral element, which biogeographically confirms the affiliation of the study area to the Euro-Siberian-North American region. On the researched area two endangered (EN), six vulnerable (VU) and 15 strictly protected species (ZZ) were recorded, which indicates a particular value and the need for protection and conservation of these habitats.

Syntaxonomy, ecology and distribution patterns of thermophilous deciduous forests of the class Quercetea pubescentis remain understudied in the Western Balkans. Some oak forest types have not been investigated to date in large parts of the region and classification of many traditionally distinguished types has not been critically revised based on numerical data analysis. This is particularly true for the acido-thermophilous communities dominated by Quercus petraea, that are transitional between thermophilous and meso-acidophilous oak forests and were traditionally classified mostly to the class Quercetea robori-petraeae. Numerical analysis of nearly 3000 relevés allowed us to approach these issues. We classified thermophilous deciduous forests of the Western Balkans into six types reflecting the main broad-scale ecological and phytogeographical patterns in species composition within the study area: type 1 – sub-Mediterranean forests dominated by Quercus pubescens and/or Carpinus orientalis ; type 2 – sub-Mediterranean and continental Quercus pubescens forests without Carpinus orientalis ; type 3 – meso-thermophilous supra-Mediterranean and/or relict communities dominated by Ostrya carpinifolia ; type 4 – thermophilous continental forests of deep, neutral to slightly acidic soils dominated by Quercus frainetto and/or Quercus cerris ; type 5 – acido-thermophilous continental forests dominated by Quercus petraea and/or Quercus cerris ; type 6 – acido- thermophilous northern Dinaric-southern Pannonian Quercus petraea dominated forests. A detrended correspondence analysis revealed that the variation in species composition mainly follows a geographical southwest-northeast gradient, reflecting the broad-scale ecological (macroclimatic and geological) and phytogeographical (turnover of dominant tree species) gradients. There is also a significant role of light regime, which mainly reflects local management practice, level of disturbance and the hemeroby of particular sites. Contrary to most traditional classifications, we place the acidothermophilous forests of the Western Balkans (type 6) into the class Quercetea pubescentis.

Biurrun, Idoia/0000-0002-1454-0433; Rojo, Maria Pilar Rodriguez/0000-0001-5449-9386; Ermakov, Nikolai/0000-0001-7550-990X; De Sanctis, Michele/0000-0002-7280-6199; Svenning, Jens-Christian/0000-0002-3415-0862; Virtanen, Risto/0000-0002-8295-8217; Agrillo, Emiliano/0000-0003-2346-8346; Onyshchenko, Viktor/0000-0001-9079-7241; Marceno, Corrado/0000-0003-4361-5200; Willner, Wolfgang/0000-0003-1591-8386; Fernandez-Gonzalez, Federico/0000-0003-1234-4065; Jansen, Florian/0000-0002-0331-5185; Swacha, Grzegorz/0000-0002-6380-2954; Dengler, Jurgen/0000-0003-3221-660X; Guarino, Riccardo/0000-0003-0106-9416; Sopotlieva, Desislava/0000-0002-9281-7039; Venanzoni, Roberto/0000-0002-7768-0468; Chytry, Milan/0000-0002-8122-3075; Kuzemko, Anna/0000-0002-9425-2756; Danihelka, Jiri/0000-0002-2640-7867; Kuzemko, Anna/0000-0002-9425-2756; Venanzoni, Roberto/0000-0002-7768-0468; Gavilan, Rosario G./0000-0002-1022-445X; Jansen, Florian/0000-0002-0331-5185; Wohlgemuth, Thomas/0000-0002-4623-0894; Svenning, Jens-Christian/0000-0002-3415-0862; Sibik, Jozef/0000-0002-5949-862X; Casella, Laura/0000-0003-2550-3010; Lenoir, Jonathan/0000-0003-0638-9582; Attorre, Fabio/0000-0002-7744-2195; Kacki, Zygmunt/0000-0002-2241-1631; Jandt, Ute/0000-0002-3177-3669; Carni, Andraz/0000-0002-8909-4298; Jirousek, Martin/0000-0002-4293-478X; GARCIA-MIJANGOS, ITZIAR/0000-0002-6642-7782; Campos, Juan Antonio/0000-0001-5992-2753; Fanelli, Giuliano/0000-0002-3143-1212; Haveman, Rense/0000-0001-9127-4549; Acic, Svetlana/0000-0001-6553-3797; De Bie, Els/0000-0001-7679-743X; Font, Xavier/0000-0002-7253-8905; Moeslund, Jesper Erenskjold/0000-0001-8591-7149; Martynenko, Vasiliy/0000-0002-9071-3789; Jimenez-Alfaro, Borja/0000-0001-6601-9597; Ejrnaes, Rasmus/0000-0003-2538-8606; Carlon Ruiz, Luis/0000-0003-3442-8710; Angelini, Pierangela/0000-0002-5321-9757; Silc, Urban/0000-0002-3052-699X; Landucci, Flavia/0000-0002-6848-0384; Ewald, Jorg/0000-0002-2758-9324; Dziuba, Tetiana/0000-0001-8621-0890 WOS: 000368074600018 The European Vegetation Archive (EVA) is a centralized database of European vegetation plots developed by the IAVS Working Group European Vegetation Survey. It has been in development since 2012 and first made available for use in research projects in 2014. It stores copies of national and regional vegetation-plot databases on a single software platform. Data storage in EVA does not affect on-going independent development of the contributing databases, which remain the property of the data contributors. EVA uses a prototype of the database management software TURBOVEG 3 developed for joint management of multiple databases that use different species lists. This is facilitated by the SynBioSys Taxon Database, a system of taxon names and concepts used in the individual European databases and their corresponding names on a unified list of European flora. TURBOVEG 3 also includes procedures for handling data requests, selections and provisions according to the approved EVA Data Property and Governance Rules. By 30 June 2015, 61 databases from all European regions have joined EVA, contributing in total 1 027 376 vegetation plots, 82% of them with geographic coordinates, from 57 countries. EVA provides a unique data source for large-scale analyses of European vegetation diversity both for fundamental research and nature conservation applications. Updated information on EVA is available online at http://euroveg.org/eva-database. Czech Science Foundation (Centre of Excellence PLADIAS) [14-36079G] Our major thanks go to thousands of European vegetation scientists of several generations who collected the original vegetation-plot data in the field, published them or made their unpublished data available to others, and to those who spent myriad hours digitizing data and managing the contributing databases. EVA data management has been partly funded by the Czech Science Foundation (Centre of Excellence PLADIAS, 14-36079G).

The paper deals with the impact of meteorological conditions on in vitro pollen germination and pollen tube growth during the initial phases of male flowers development of pedunculate oak. Phenological observations of male flowers and pollen sampling were performed on the field trial established with grafted pedunculate oak clones. During the investigation, weather conditions (absolute minimum and maximum daily air temperature, minimum absolute relative humidity of air and amount of precipitation) were recorded by an automatic meteorological station installed at the field trial. Influence of meteorological conditions on pollen germination and pollen tube growth was studied in the following stages of male flower: (i) during the last ten days of flower buds dormancy, (ii) during their swelling, (iii) during the bud burst and beginning of male catkins elongation, (iv) during the final stage of male catkins elongation. Pollen germination after incubation times of 2, 4, 6 and 24 hours ranged from 0, 0 to 8, 9 % ; from 0, 0 to 55, 6 % ; from 0, 0 to 59, 3 % and from 5, 9 to 90, 7 %, respectively. Pollen tube lengths after the same incubation times ranged from 15, 3 to 45, 0 μm, from 17, 0 to 88, 3 μm, from 20, 9 to 101, 9 μm and from 39, 9 to 241, 1 μm, respectively. High temperatures and low relative air humidity during the bud burst and beginning of male catkins elongation reduced pollen germination and pollen tube growth. Weather conditions did not significantly affected pollen germination and pollen tube growth during the swelling of flower buds, as well as in the final stage of male catkins elongation.

Istraživanje fenologije cvjetanja klonova hrasta lužnjaka provedeno je u proljeće 2010. godine. Pokusna ploha na kojoj je istraživanje obavljeno osnovana je u proljeće 2008. godine u rasadniku Brestje (UŠP Zagreb, Šumarija Dugo Selo). Pokusna je ploha osnovana s klonovima podrijetlom iz već postojećih proizvodnih klonskih sjemenskih plantaža (KSP) hrasta lužnjaka na području uprava šuma podružnica Vinkovci, Našice i Bjelovar. Istraživanjem je utvrđena protoginija kod velike većine klonova. Od meteoroloških prilika koje negativno utječu na receptivnost ženskih cvjetova posebno se ističu veliko kolebanje dnevne temperature zraka i nagli pad relativne vlažnosti zraka. Negativan utjecaj meteoroloških prilika na trušenje polena nije utvrđen. Velika kolebanja dnevne temperature zraka, uz istodobni pad relativne vlažnosti zraka, prekida receptivnost ženskih cvjetova, što ujedno umanjuje i dužinu trajanja njihove receptivnosti. Zbog utjecaja nepovoljnih meteoroloških prilika razdoblje receptivnosti ženskih cvjetova nije bilo ujednačeno s razdobljem trušenja polena, što uvelike umanjuje mogućnost međusobnoga slučajnoga oprašivanja klonova podrijetlom iz istraživanih KSP. To se uglavnom odrazilo na našičke klonove zato što su bili vrlo ujednačeni s obzirom na početak receptivnosti ženskih cvjetova i trušenje polena, što nije bio slučaj kod vinkovačkih i bjelovarskih klonova. Klonovi podrijetlom iz KSP Vinkovci i Bjelovar imali su bolju mogućnost međusobnoga slučajnoga oprašivanja u odnosu na našičke klonove, zahvaljujući onomu dijelu klonova koji je poslije započeo s otvaranjem pupova i receptivnošću ženskih cvjetova te na taj način izbjegao utjecaj nepovoljnih meteoroloških prilika. Unatoč dobromu potencijalu međusobnoga oprašivanja našičkih klonova te sposobnosti vinkovačkih i bjelovarskih klonova da djelomično izbjegnu nepovoljan utjecaj meteoroloških prilika, ne možemo reći da su klonovi podrijetlom iz istraživanih KSP 2010. godine imali mogućnost proizvodnje sjemena koje nosi zadovoljavajuću razinu genetske raznolikosti. Stoga preporučujemo otvaranje rasprave o rekonstrukciji postojećih KSP i njihovu popunjavanju klonovima podrijetlom iz svih KSP. Tako rekonstruirane KSP ne bi bile pod tako izraženim negativnim utjecajem meteoroloških prilika, a ujedno bi zadržale dobar potencijal međusobnoga oprašivanja onoga broja klonova koji bi osigurao proizvodnju genetski kvalitetnoga sjemena., The knowledge of the flowering biology of forest trees, and thus also of Pedunculate Oak, is exceptionally important when planning to mass-produce genetically high-quality seeds at clonal seed orchards (CSO) for the purpose of reforestation and restoration of forest cultures. The production of genetically high-quality seeds at CSOs, which assumes a high degree of genetic diversity, can only be guaranteed if 20 to 60 clones of different genotypes contribute to pollination (transferring of pollen from stamen to stigma). However, for a successful fertilization, which would guarantee the desired quality and quantity of seeds, phenological synchronization of the clone flowering within CSOs is also important. The beginning of pedunculate oak bud burst is under significant genetic control, which opens up the possibility to make the right selection of plus trees, with the goal of achieving a permanent phenological synchronization of flowering and flushing of clones with which the CSOs have been established. However, the effect of poor weather, such as heavy rainfall, too high or too low relative humidity of air, low temperatures, frosts, hail, etc., can sometimes disrupt favorable phenological synchronization of clones, also lowering the quality and quantity of seeds produced. The objectives of this study were (i) to determine the phenological synchronization of clone flowering within CSOs, (ii) to look into the possible effect of weather on the duration of receptivity of female flowers and pollen shedding, (iii) to determine the degree of correspondence between particular phenophases of flushing and flowering. The study has been conducted at the experimental field founded in the spring of 2008 within Rasadnik Brestje (Forest Administration Zagreb, Forest Office Dugo Selo). The experimental field has been founded by planting ramet in accordance with the experimental design of randomized section system with repetitions (sections). Each clone is represented with one ramet in each section. Ramets originate from the clones of pedunculate oak, from which clonal seed orchards were founded in the regions under respective Forest Administrations (FAs) Vinkovci (VK), Našice (NA) and Bjelovar (BJ). Phenological observations of flushing and flowering were performed simultaneously, twice a week, until the leaves were fully developed on all clones, i.e. until all male flowers ceased to shed pollen or until all female flowers ceased to be receptive. The phenology of flushing was monitored in accordance with the methodology which distinguishes 7 phenophases in the flushing of pedunculate oak, while the phenology of flowering was monitored according to the methodology developed on the example of cork oak (Quercus suber L.). In this study, during the phenological monitoring of flowering, special attention was given to phenophases of male flower development, which describe the beginning and the end of pollen shedding, i.e. to phenophases of female flowers, which describe the beginning and the end of their receptivity. Microclimatic conditions during flowering (from April 7 to May 23) in 2010 were measured via automatic meteorological station set up at the experimental field. From a total of 145 clones, 103 were flowering at the experimental field in 2010, 8 of which only with male flowers, 31 only with female flowers, and 63 with both male and female flowers. Protogyny was established for the clones flowering with both male and female flowers, except for the clone VK 43 where protandry was established. The receptivity of female flowers of protogynous clones occurred on average 7 days before the male flowers began shedding pollen, while the VK 43 clone started releasing pollen a day before female flowers started to be receptive. Generally speaking for all the clones represented at the experimental field and flowering in 2010, pollen shedding started on April 15, and ended on May 22. The receptivity of female flowers started on April 13, and ended on May 13. From the moment the first clone started shedding pollen untill shedding stopped, 37 days have elapsed, while the receptive period of female flowers lasted 30 days. The receptive period of female flowers for the clones in the region of FA BJ and VK started on April 14, while this period started on April 13 for the clones in the region of FA NA. The end of the receptive period for BJ clones was recorded on May 13, for NA clones on April 20, and for VK clones on May 11. The receptive period of BJ female flowers lasted for 29 days, of NA for 9 days, and of VK for 28 days. There were two »critical» periods (the first from April 19 to 22, and the other on May 3) during which a sudden termination of receptivity in female flowers was recorded in a great number of clones. During the first period with a more pronounced effect, the termination of receptivity occurred in almost all of the clones within all three CSOs where flowers started to be receptive before April 22. The average duration of the receptive period of female flowers in all of the clones that stopped being receptive in this period amounted to 4.2 days. In the second and less pronounced period, there was a termination of receptivity of female flowers in a half of VK clones, whose receptivity mostly began after April 22. The average duration of the receptive period of female flowers, where clones stopped being receptive after May 3, amounted to 9.2 days. Considering the duration of the receptive period of female flowers, statistically significant difference has been determined among the clones whose receptivity of female flowers ended before April 22 and the clones whose female flowers stopped being receptive after April 22. The above-mentioned critical periods occurred in both cases after a sudden drop in the relative humidity of air, which was recorded on April 19 and 29, and low values of minimum air temperatures, which were recorded on April 19, 28 and 29. Shortly before or during the occurrence of »critical» periods, precipitation was also recorded. The shedding of pollen started on April 19 for the clones in the region of FA BJ and NA, while the clones in the region of FA VK started shedding pollen on April 15. BJ clones stopped shedding pollen on May 20, NA clones on May 3, and VK clones on May 13. Pollen shedding lasted 31 days in BJ clones, 14 days in NA clones, and 28 days in VK clones. Similarly to the receptivity of female flowers, two »critical» periods, when a significant number of clones stopped shedding pollen, can also be noted (the first from April 27 to 29, and the second on May 10). During the first period, most of the NA clones stopped shedding pollen. During the second period, a sudden halt in shedding pollen was recorded in almost all VK clones that started shedding pollen after May 3. The duration of pollen shedding does not differ with respect to »critical« periods when cessation of shedding occurred, and it amounts to 5.6 days for all the clones, on average. The abovementioned »critical« periods, in both cases connected with shedding of pollen, occurred during a period with high temperatures and low relative humidity of air, without precipitation. Phenological synchronization of flowering is the result of bud-burst synchronization in clones within CSOs and weather conditions, at the moment of receptivity of female flowers and shedding of pollen. In that respect, a combination of phenological synchronization of flowering and unfavorable weather conditions, which caused the sudden termination and short receptive period of female flowers, was most drastically reflected through the clones from CSO NA. Only a smaller number of clones from CSO NA could have participated in mutual pollination in 2010, while in CSOs VK and BJ most of the clones had this opportunity thanks to the unsynchronized bud burst, which had in turn enabled a number of clones to avoid unfavorable weather conditions. Based on the comparison between an average number of days that clones needed to enter each of the studied phenophases of flushing and flowering, it has been determined that the onset of the receptive period of female flowers occurred almost at the same time with phenophase of flushing L4 (first leaves are developed still mostly in the bud), the onset of pollen shedding, and the termination of receptive period of female flowers at the same time with phenophase L6 (the leaves are formed but still longitudinally curved), while the flushing phenophase L7 (the leaves are fully formed and smooth) coincided with the termination of receptivity of female flowers. The results showed that the phenological synchronization of flowering in 2010 was significantly affected by unfavorable weather conditions, which shortened the duration of the receptive period of female flowers to a greater degree, while they had no significant effect on the duration of pollen shedding period. Such course of events most severely affected the clones originating from CSO NA, which had started the period of receptivity of female flowers and pollen shedding of male flowers approximately at the same time, in contrast to the clones originating from CSOs Vinkovci and Bjelovar, which started their receptive periods of female flowers and pollen shedding periods of male flowers at different times.

The Eastern Adriatic region, encompassing Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, is considered an important area of natural populations of wild grapevines (Vitis vinifera ssp. sylvestris). The wild grapevine arises in the Eastern Adriatic region in a contact zone of the EU-Mediterranean and the sub-Mediterranean characterized by typical karst relief. This study focuses on the chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) analysis of wild grapevines and the biodiversity of accompanying woody species to better understand the genetic variation of the sylvestris populations of the Eastern Adriatic region and to investigate how this variation fits within today’s wild grapevine distribution in the European continent. The allelic variation at nine cpDNA microsatellite loci of wild individuals was used to characterize haplotype diversity in 53 individuals from four population sites. All individuals were grouped into two chlorotypes: A and D, D being the rare haplotype among wild populations on the European continent. In total, 52 woody plant species were identified. However, the studied vegetation structures have been affected by permanent human pressure on natural resources and the preservation status of the collection sites. Based on our results, we conclude that the investigated areas were probably shelter zones for wild grapevine preservation during the unfavorable glaciation era.

Viscum album L. ssp. album is semi-parasitic on deciduous trees and shrubs. In order to identify hosts and map the distribution of V. album ssp. album in Croatia and Slovenia, field research was carried out, and herbaria were surveyed. In Croatia and Slovenia, V. album ssp. album occurred on 59 taxa. In Croatia, there were 52 hosts (33 autochthonous and 15 allochthonous species, two cultivars and two hybrids). In Slovenia, there were 25 hosts (21 autochthonous and four allochthonous species). There were 18 hosts common to both countries, 34 hosts were found only in Croatia, and seven hosts only in Slovenia. The hosts belonged to 13 families. The majority of these (19 species) belong to the Rosaceae, followed by Salicaceae, Aceraceae, Betulaceae, Fagaceae, Juglandaceae, Tiliaceae, Hippocastanaceae, Ulmaceae, Oleaceae, Fabaceae, Moraceae and Viscaceae. All hosts have been previously recorded in the literature, except Alnus japonica (Thunb.) Steud., Amelanchier lamarckii F.G. Schroed. and Crataegus ...

Based on the leaf morphology, by means of various statistical methods, the interpopulation and intrapopulation variability of pubescent oak (Quercus pubescens) was assessed. The samples of 10 populations from the whole area of species distribution in Croatia were analysed. The populations, as well as the trees inside the populations, differ significantly. Apart from that, the intrapopulation variability is higher than the interpopulation one. The size of the leaf is in significant correlation with the climate characteristics while other characteristics did not show a more meaningful correlation with the climate data. A multivariate analysis showed that the populations differentiate themselves to a North and a South group due to climate differences, but also because of the influence of a genome of the Q. petraea on the genome of the researched populations in the continental part of Croatia. The results obtained will enable a better conservation of the species genetic resources.

For the territory of Croatia, the vegetation of alliance Oleo-Ceratonion was discovered first on the small islands of Obljak and Kosor near the island of Korčula, when it was described as ass. Oleo-Euphorbietum dendroidis. Shortly afterwards, this association was discovered in the wider area of Dubrovnik and on the Jabuka island, as well as on the Pelješac Peninsula. During the phytosociological research of Kornati Islands, a very well developed ass. Oleo-Euphorbietum dendroidis was discovered. The association itself is represented by the subass. coronilletosum emeroidis. By the analysis of all so far known relevés of ass. Oleo-Euphorbietum dendroidis from the eastern Adriatic Littoral, it can be seen that relevés from Jabuka and Palagruža, due to the absence of differential species of subass. corinilletosum emeroides, correspond more to the subass. typicum. This allegation is supported also by the numerical analysis of the earlier published and new relevés. The geographical separation of other relevés is clearly noticeable.

Slavonsko gorje ima vrlo važno mjesto u florističkoj i vegetacijskoj slici kontinentalnoga dijela Republike Hrvatske. Najveći dio šumskoga pokrova toga područja čine sastojine obične bukve (Fagus sylvatica L.). Cilj je ovoga rada analizirati florni sastav bukovih šuma na Psunju, Papuku i Krndiji koji dosad nije dovoljno istražen, a nakon toga na temelju vlastitih i literaturnih snimaka definirati i razgraničiti biljne zajednice bukovih šuma, te na kraju analizirati neke od ekoloških i fitogeografskih obilježja koja određuju njihov pridolazak. Tijekom terenskih istraživanja napravljeno je 88 fitocenoloških snimaka prema standardnoj srednjoeuropskoj metodi. Napravljena je numerička usporedba sa snimcima bukovih šuma sa širega geografskoga područja, te su utvrđene ove biljne zajednice: Luzulo-Fagetum, Festuco drymeiae-Fagetum (luzuletosum i caricetosum pilosae) i Cardamino savensi-Fagetum. As. Cardamino savensi-Fagetum zabilježena je prvi put u Republici Hrvatskoj, i to u vršnom dijelu Papuka na karbonatnoj podlozi. Šumske biljne zajednice istraživanoga podru- čja dolaze u finom mozaiku različitih vegetacijskih tipova koji se često izmjenjuju i čije granice najčešće nisu oštre, što značajno utječe na njihov florni sastav i otežava njihovo razgranič avanje. Za rješavanje ostalih otvorenih pitanja i bolje definiranje biljnih zajednica potrebno je istražiti i druga područja slavonskoga gorja koja nisu obuhvaćena ovim istraživanjem., The Slavonianmountains have an important place in the floristic and vegetation picture of the continental part of Croatia. For the most part, the forest cover of this region consists of common beech stands (Fagus sylvatica L.). Many authors have worked on defining plant communities of common beech in the northern part of Croatia in the last ten years. Even though this has greatly contributed to get a better understanding of them,many questions have remained open. This is so because the research wasmostly conducted on smaller geographical scale where local conditions (specific microhabitat, anthropogenic influences, etc.) significantly affected the phytosociological analyses. On the other hand, it is rather difficult to carry out the analyses on a larger geographical scale because many regions and/or vegetative types are still scarcely covered by relevés. The goal of this study is to analyze the floral composition of beech forests of Psunj, Papuk and Krndija mountains, which have not been sufficiently studied so far. The next goal is to define and draw boundaries between plant communities, and also to analyze some of the ecological and phytogeographical features. During field studies of beech forests of Psunj, Papuk and Krndija mountains, 88 relevés were made using central European Braun-Blanquet methodology. The relevés have been compared with the relevés of similar vegetation in the wider geographical region (N Croatia, N Slovenia, S Hungary). The analysis included 1509 published relevés of 13 associations from Slovene Phytosociological Database (Šilc 2006) and Croatian database of forests vegetation (Krstonošić et al. 2007) – Lamio orvale-Fagetum, Cardamine savensi-Fagetum, Isopyro-Fagetum, Vicio oroboidi-Fagetum, Hacquetio-Fagetum, Helleboro odori-Fagetum, Carici pilosae-Fagetum, Festuco drymeiae-Fagetum, Galio odorati-Fagetum, Polysticho setiferi-Fagetum, Luzulo-Fagetum, Castaneo-Fagetum i Blechno-Fagetum. The numerical analysis of the floral composition was made (cluster analysis, NMDS), as well as the analysis of ecological variables (DCA). To describe ecological conditions, Ellenberg’s indicator values were also used. Clasification was made by cluster analyses in PC-ORD (McCune&Mefford 1999). NMDS was made by R using Vegan (Oksanen et al. 2006) and DCAwas made by CANOCO 4.02 (Ter Braak and Šmilauer 2002). Slavonian hills are situated in the eastern part of Croatia, on the border of the Pannonian and Illyrian floristic area. The area is bordered by themountains of Papuk (953ma.s.l.) and Krndija in the north-west and north, and by the mountains of Psunj (989 m a.s.l.), Požeška gora (616 m a.s.l.) and Dilj (471m a.s.l.) in the south-east and east. The average annual air temperature in the researched area is around 11 °C, and it increases from the west to the east. January is the coldest month of the year, and July is the wormest. The average annual amount of precipitation decreases from the west to the east. The geological structure is quite diverse. Most of the mountain range is made of silicate and sandstone rock, while parts of Papuk and Požeška gora, and most parts of Dilj are made of limestone and marlstone. We have established three associations of beech forests that can be divided into acidophilic beech forests (Luzulo-Fagetum), submountainous beech forests (Festuco drymeiae-Fagetum luzuletosum and caricetosum pilosae) and mountainous beech forests (Cardamino savensi-Fagetum), (Fig. 2, 3, Tab. 1). Ass. Luzulo luzuloidi-Fagetum This association has already been reported in the study area. These stands are established on acid substrates on steep slopes (Fig. 4, 5). They have very poor floral composition. Furthermore, typical stands are dominated by Luzula luzuloides and this mainly occurs on the northern slopes; there are also stands dominated by Vaccinium myrtillus, which occurs in slightly warmer habitats (cf. Tab. 1 and 2). Ass. Festuco drymeiae-Fagetum In the study region of Psunj, Papuk and Krndija mountains, two groups of relevés could be distinguished, even though there is no sharp distinction between them (Fig. 2). A more acidophilic group (subass. luzuletosum), where Festuca drymeia is dominant with a significant presence of Luzula luzuloides, comes in great complexes at higher altitudes and ismore present in the western and northern part of themountains. In the southern and eastern part, it can be found in small patches. The domination of the Carex pilosa is significant for the other group (subass. caricetosum pilosae). It can be found at lower altitudes and it ismore present in the eastern and southern part of themountains. In the floristic sense, it differs from subass. luzuletosum with a greater participation of species such as Carpinus betulus, Quercus petraea, Tilia tomentosa and others. In the area of the association, in the ditches and basins, there is a significant presence of species such as Polystichum setiferum, Dryopteris filix-mas, Acer pseudoplatanus, Sambucus nigra, etc. (Tab. 1, 2, Fig. 3, 4). Having analyzed the submountainous beech forests in the region of Psunj, Papuk and Krndija mountains, the question remains whether there are two associations, or different subassociations within the same association. To solve the status and relationship with the related associations, it is necessary to make a study that will include all submountainous beech forests in a wider geographical area. The description and systematic position of this association is a topic of much debate in phytosociological literature. We are of the opinion that none of the nomenclature combinations are satisfactory. Ass. Cardamino savensi-Fagetum Beech stands grow in the upper region of Mt. Papuk (over 700 m a.s.l.) and they can be clearly distinguished from all other studied stands by their floral composition. By comparing it with the relevés of beech forests fromliterature, it has been undeniably established that this was the case of mountainous beech forests of the suballiance Lamio orvalae-Fagetum. By its floral composition and ecological characteristics, these forests are most similar to those described under the name Cardamino savensi-Fagetum in Slovenia. Slavonian mountains are a region of well-indented relief, where various base soils, soil depths, expositions, etc., occur in a very small space. Consequently, forest plant communities appear in a delicate mosaic of different vegetation types, which often alternate and whose boundaries are usually not clear-cut. The composition of beech forest flora of Psunj, Papuk and Krndija, as well as the whole area of Slavonian mountains is characterized by a smaller number of species compared to beech forests of the Dinarian region and western Croatia. For the most part, some Illyrian species (Lamium orvala, Calamintha grandiflora, Cardamine trifolia, Rhamnus fallax and Euphorbia carniolica) are missing or come up very rarely, which has also been noted in some earlier studies. Sizeable regions of beech forests of Slavonian mountains are still quite inadequately explored from a phytosociological point of view. This is mainly the case with the westernmost and north-easternmost regions (Fig. 1). In order to solve the remaining open questions and to better define plant communities, it is necessary to study these regions as well.