Beginning Of 1990s Research Articles

Risk of urban flash floods in the Guadalajara Metropolitan Area, Mexico

The Guadalajara Metropolitan Area (GMA), in western Mexico, has experienced a rapid demographic and urban growth in recent decades. As a result of land use changes, an Urban Heat Island (UHI) has developed and intensified, which reflects not only in air surface temperature increases, but also in higher atmospheric moisture content and more intense precipitation events. Storms have become more frequent since the beginning of 1980s, which makes them one of the major meteorological hazards for the city. Such an increase in strong storms appears to be related to the urbanization process which in turn, has increased the vulnerability of the GMA to intense rains. The urban expansion towards the higher parts of the region has led to more water runoff and flash flood events in the low-level parts of the metropolitan area. An analysis by means of observed meteorological data and a rainfall – runoff methodology shows that the combined effect of increased precipitation and vulnerability results in a higher risk of urban flash floods. The loss of natural vegetation, the main roads that act as water channels that converge into the central part of the city, an insufficient drainage system and the lack of prevention actions have resulted in more frequent urban flash floods. All of these vulnerability factors are associated with an inadequate urban expansion process. The model of flood risk may be used to define adaptation measures to face a changing climate.

The Prospect for Turkish Foreign Policy in Africa Under AK Party Governments

The AK party government coming to the power at the beginning of 2000s has drastically changed the main orientation of Turkish foreign policy. Immediately after the Cold War Turkey followed a foreign policy within the trajectory Western Alliance, but Turkey developed a private concern Ottoman-remnant territory excluding this traditional foreign policy. This assertive and ambitious policy has been called as Neo-Ottomanism by academic circle influenced from the Western literature. As a part of this territory Africa continent has commonly shared culture, history and religion with Turkey. From this perspective, Turkey’s existence in Africa was perceived different form the colonialist and imperialist West in consequence of Turkish people establishing relations on the equal basis and mutual gain (win-win) principles. In this respect, this different stance of Turkey in Africa threaten the Western imperialism in continent. In this context, this study aims to focus on the changing foreign policy dynamics of Turkey together with the Turkey-Africa relations in recent two decades.

Environmental Exposure to Brominated Flame Retardants: Unraveling Endocrine and Mammary Gland Effects That May Increase Disease Risk.

Brominated flame retardants (BFR) are molecules added to consumer products to reduce fire hazards. They were banned in North America and Europe because of their persistence and biomagnification. However, BFR are still released in the environment due to continued use of products manufactured before restriction, and from waste and recycling processes of those products. As a result, they remain sources of chronic environmental and human exposure worldwide. BFR are well-characterized endocrine disruptors. They have been associated with a wide range of alterations in endocrine and reproductive systems both in humans and experimental models in vivo and in vitro. Paradoxically, the effects of BFR on mammary glands, whose development and carcinogenesis are mainly under hormonal dependency are poorly known. There is increasing weight of evidence that exposure to endocrine disruptors promotes breast cancer, especially if the exposure occurs during sensitivity windows. For the mammary gland, these windows include the perinatal life, puberty, and pregnancy, as important remodeling of the organ happens during those periods. The peak of exposure to BFRs happened during late 1990s and beginning of 2000s in most countries. Women who were pregnant at that time are reaching menopause while their daughters are 20-30 years old. It is thus important to better understand the effects of BFRs on mammary gland development and breast cancer to determine whether these women are more at risk. Thus, this review aims to propose a comprehensive review of data reporting the effects of exposure to BFR on female endocrine and reproductive systems, with a particular focus on mammary gland development and of a potential increased risk of breast cancer.

For friends and citizens only? Banal notions of nationhood in official and semi-public discourses on foreign national flags in post-1990 Lithuania

ABSTRACT This article explores tacit, habitual notions of nationhood within political and popular discourses that underlie the ways that ethnic minorities in Lithuania perceive themselves. This is achieved by examining official and semi-public discourses surrounding the use and status of foreign national flags in Lithuania. The main findings of the article are twofold. First, doxastic perceptions of national identity that emerged in the official discourses during the 1990s rather than those since the beginning of 2000s appeared to be present within semi-public discourses in 2015. Second, official discourses appear either less aware of, or avoid, issues of ethnic tension in Lithuania – questions that, on the contrary, were very important to focus group discussants.

Features of the Daily Life Workers of the Vinnytsia Instrumental Plant in the Lite of Periodicals the End of 1940s – Beginning of 1980s

The purpose of the article is to study the main aspects and features of the daily life of employees of the Vinnitsa Tool Plant, to reveal the established priorities, values and beliefs that exist in the "Soviet way of life" based on the analysis of Soviet periodicals. The methodology of research is basis of the research is formed by the general scientific principles of consistency, historicism and scientific objectivity. A phenomenological approach was used, which allowed us to talk about material goods in connection with the perception, experiences and behavioral strategies of a person. The study is based on the use of special-historical methods, such as problem-chronological, comparative-historical, historical-systemic, historical-psychological and descriptive. The scientific novelty of the work lies in the fact that the authors for the first time analyzed the specifics of the everyday life of Soviet people of the indicated period on the example of a specific enterprise using the periodical press as a source. Conclusions. The Soviet press as a whole provides enough information to study the everyday life of Soviet people at the end of 1940s and early 1980s. It contains a lot of materials about undoubted positive changes in the everyday life of ordinary Soviet citizens. On the example of publications about the Vinnitsa Tool Factory in the regional and central press, one can trace such basic trends as the gradual solution of the housing problem, the provision of workers with food, the improvement of working and rest conditions, the organization and conduct of their leisure. However, the level of completeness and objectivity of the information available on the pages of Soviet periodicals does not always correspond to the real picture of life in the USSR. The press, which took an active part in the formation of public opinion and served for the authorities as one of the methods of manipulating public consciousness, used methods of suppressing and distorting truthful data, especially in those cases when they ran counter to the slogans about the dominance of socialist ideals in everyday life, welfare and bright future. The activities of the Soviet media were carried out in accordance with the program guidelines of the ruling party. From the pages of the newspapers, the upbringing of a "Soviet man" was promoted, for whom the social must necessarily dominate over the personal, who is confident in the advantages of the socialist way of life, who has a sense of pride in his native plant and his Motherland. Temporary difficulties in the social sphere or negative phenomena were explained first by the grave consequences of the war, and later by the remnants of capitalism. The guardianship of the authorities and the security of all citizens were declared, and the guarantee of work, a certain minimum of education, health care, and the necessary benefits of life gave a ghostly confidence in the future. The mass media, in essence, carried out a gross interference in a person's personal space, the imposition of the reality that was carefully formed by ideological propaganda, the construction of moral convictions inherent in the "builders of communism".

Hyperinflation and banks

In this paper we consider a triangular inter-dependence between hyperinflation, financial repression, and the financial crisis in FRY in the 1990s. When all three vertices of the triangle are present, the crisis propagates and is amplified along its edges. We focus, especially, on the less studied link between the financial crisis and financial repression in FRY. Setting administrative limits on interest rates under conditions of hyperinflation leads to deeply negative real interest rates. The situation in FRY was further aggravated by credit allocation to privileged participants. Under such circumstances, all dinar components of bank balance sheets quickly became worthless, credit activities of banks died down and real quantities of dinars in circulation became negligible. The situation improved only after the removal of the outside repression (i.e. removal of sanctions), reorganization of the entire financial sector and the entrance of foreign banks into the Serbian market at the beginning of 2000s.

Применение шкалы готовности технологий в государственном финансировании НИОКР в странах ОЭСР

The article describes evolution of Technology Readiness Level (TRL) scale and analyzes prospects of using TRL methodology as an instrument of public financing of R&D and innovation in OECD. It is noted that TRL was first applied at the end of 1960s by NASA, where it was used as a means of measuring progress in technology development. In the beginning of 2000s, it has become a widespread project management tool. Advantages and limitations of the TRL scale application in R&D project management are revealed in the article. In 2010s, several countries and regions started using TRL methodology in different capacity – as an instrument of public funding of national innovation systems. EU also announced plans to build TRL into the foundation of its new innovation policy. The plans were partially implemented in the subsequent EU Framework program Horizon 2020. Application of TRL scale was limited to tender documents and applications for project funding. It was not applied in the program budget planning or in assessment of project results. The authors claim that in order to use TRL methodology in public funding at full length, it is necessary to create certain conditions. The most important of them are: a} clear definition of the stages (types) and results of scientific and technical activities in accordance with the TRL methodology and linking them with the instruments of public support; b) development and application of appropriate number of industry-specific TRL scales; c) wider usage of TRL methodology and other indices of readiness in planning, implementation and integral evaluation of the results of R&D projects; d) introduction of TRL methodology into national systems of accounting and reporting on R&D projects and development of science, technology and innovation sphere.

From the History of Latinization in Karakalpakstan for the Years of Independence

In the article, at the beginning of 1990s in Independent Uzbekistan began work on transferring the records of the population of this country to the Latin alphabet. At the end of 1993, the project of the Latin alphabet was approved. According to this Charter, the gradual transition of the new national Uzbek Alphabet began on September 1, 1995, and the tasks for its full completion were defined until 2000. In the conditions of Uzbekistan, the alphabet was approved, the spelling plan was developed, on the basis of which new textbooks and educational tools for the 1st classes of preschool institutions and schools were prepared and published. In the preparation of the Karakalpak alphabet based on Latin script in Karakalpakstan, a working group consisting of scientists, methodists, teachers was actively working in the terminology Department under the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Karakalpakstan and as a result, in February 1994 a new alphabet of Karakalpak language was approved. Also, amendments and additions were introduced to the regulations adopted in September 1994 and the alphabet consisted of 32 letters. In 1995, Uzbek and a little later Karakalpak alphabet was revised. The terminology consists of 8 specialists, the alphabet has been improved by introducing changes and additions depending on the sound of the letters of the accepted alphabet. According to the law of October 8, 2009, some letters were replaced. In order to re-examine the alphabet of Karakalpakstan based on Latin script by the Jokargy Kenges of the Republic of Karakalpakstan, the relevant commission was formed. This issue was studied by the commission and some changes were made in order to improve the Latin alphabet and spelling rules of the new spruce. In 2016, the next reform of the Karakalpak alphabet was carried out. The reform of 2009 year abolished the rules on the spelling of certain letters.

The Geography of Demilitarisation: Do Regional Economic Disparities Affect the Spatial Distribution of Military Base Closures?

Abstract Very few researchers have focused on the question of: if and to what extent, regional economic disparities affect military base closures. In this paper, we aim to explain regional patterns of military base closures in the Czech Republic, a country that has experienced a sharp decline in military employment and expenditures since the beginning of 1990s. Three groups of predictors of closure were considered: local (size, age, location and hierarchical position of the military base); regional (wages, unemployment, city size, the initial level of militarisation of the district); and national-level predictors (geostrategic priorities and restructuring of the Czech Armed Forces). Our research is informed by the theory of public choice and its application to the decision-making processes concerning military base closures and realignments. We employed a combination of regression models to determine which group of the above-mentioned factors affected the spatial distribution of military bases in the period 1994–2005. While geostrategic factors (such as distance from the border with West Germany) and restructuring of the army (type of a military base) were the most important, regional economic disparities showed no significant correlation with the intensity of military base closures/downsizing. We did not demonstrate that military bases in economically lagging regions had been systematically protected in the Czech Republic.

네트워크 확장성이 제품품질 및 고객화에 미치는 영향에 관한 연구

As for the biggest change in the home appliance market in recent years, in terms of the reflection of the users’ needs continuously, the products in which a product and a service are integrated are released, and for this, the products in which network expandability is integrated come into being in home appliances. In addition, the products in which the network is integrated are utilized as essential elements of smart home, and through this, the providers make efforts to develop more customer-oriented products and services. Moreover, as for research on Product-Service integration System(PSS), many studies have been conducted, which analyzed specific examples, starting from the conceptual model of Product-Service integration by various researchers since the beginning of 2000s. Thus, this study constructed a Research Model that connects to the users’ recognition of the product quality, customization, customer satisfaction and repurchase intention based on network expandability, the biggest factor of change in Digital Home Appliances in order to build up a product-service model based on the users’ product usability. In addition, based on the results of the analysis, a product-service classification model was presented. As for analysis samples, a survey was conducted on 12 products with 1,773 users who purchased home appliances in the past three years. Based on the analysis results, the implications of this study are that the network expandibility of home appliances is strengthening users

Regional Variation in Restorative Treatment Need among Finnish Young People.

Aim To evaluate the regional variation in restorative treatment need among Finnish young people based on the socioeconomic factors. Materials and Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted in 20 garrisons of the Finnish Defence Forces in January and July 2011. The study population comprised 13,819 Finnish conscripts born in the beginning of 1990s, including females. A computer-based survey was done together with clinical oral examination to gather background information, e.g., educational status. Furthermore, average annual income of the conscript's residence municipality was achieved from the Statistics of Finland. The zip code of the place of residence of each conscript was later extracted from the Mildoc® system. Georeferenced place of residence and income status were merged as information on provinces' level in a dataset. The association between the outcome variable and explanatory variables was determined by using the generalized linear mixed model, and geomaps were constructed. Results Mean D value was 1.41 ranging from 0.89 (Kymenlaakso) to 2.33 (Kainuu). Higher education and high-income level were protective factors for restorative treatment need. Restorative treatment need was also low in those areas with high (OR: 0.70, 95% CI: 0.56–0.87) and medium (OR: 0.79, 95% CI: 0.70–0.89) yearly income compared to low yearly income. The high odds for the need of restorative treatment were discovered in Northern Ostrobothnia (OR: 2.26, 95% CI: 1.53–3.33) followed by Central Ostrobothnia (OR: 2.08, 95% CI: 1.17–3.70), Uusimaa (OR: 1.55, 95% CI: 1.16–2.08), and Central Finland (OR: 1.54, 95% CI: 1.10–2.16) compared to Varsinais-Suomi. Conclusion In conclusion, there is a significant regional variation in restorative treatment need among Finnish young people in their twenties based on the socioeconomic factors.

Death on the Borders: Humanitarian Device, Body Disposal and Reception Practices in the City of Catania

According to IOM, there have been 20.000 dead or missing migrants in the Mediterranean since 2014. According to the NGO United, there have been 44.000 dead people on the European borders since the beginning of 1990s. more than the 75% of these people goes missing in the sea (UNCH 2016). In Italy only a small part (around 15%) of retrieved bodies can be identified and sometimes repatriated. In most cases, the bodies are buried with no names in coastal cemeteries. In the face of the expeditious disposal of the bodies, linked to public health issues and to the working of the devices that connotate the border regime (Hotspots), those communities that accommodate these corpses face the need to “integrate” someone else’s death in their own universe of sense thanks to specific practices of “hospitality” dedicated to the defunct. Through a project that maps buried migrants in the cemetery of Catania and in collaboration with the local committee of Red Cross and the municipality of Catania, since 2017 we have started, with the program Mecmi, an ethnography of the practices of body disposal and of burial rituals dedicated to more than 260 corpses.

에스파냐-라틴아메리카] 에스파냐, 라틴아메리카사: 위기 극복은 가능한가?

The beginning of 1990s saw the advent of the first researchers of the Spanish and Latin-American history, and the number of researchers was on the slow but steady increase. At the beginning of 2000s the number of them was seven or eight. However, the circumstances facing the academic circle of the Spanish and Latin-American history in Korea seem to be gloomy. In the first twenty years of the 21th century there was not a single new-comer to this sphere of the historical science. The first generation of the researchers are closer to their retirement age, and amongst the existing scholars the youngest one is already in his mid-fifty. It is certain that from now onwards the number of the researchers will be on the decrease. Without a way out of such a situation the academic circle of the Spanish and Latin-American history in Korea will cease to exist in a decade. What is a way out of this gloomy difficult situation? Unfortunately, there seems to be no way out. It is too an unrealistic to expect the coming of a new generation of those students majoring in the Spanish and Latin-American history in the foreseeable future. One of the best possible solutions will be that the existing scholars do their utmost in producing their academic performances and encouraging the public interests in the Spanish and Latin-American history in Korea.

Typical Bourgeois Intellectuals and Great Friends of the Soviet Union: Latin American Writers in the USSR during the Khrushchev Thaw

The author studies the Latin American writers’ visits to the USSR from 1954 till beginning of 1960s realized via the Foreign Commission of the Union of Soviet Writers. After Stalin’s death, the activity of all departments of the Commission expanded significantly; the lists of those invited from abroad now included writers who were absolutely loyal to the USSR as well as new and yet unknown names. As a result, the staff of the Foreign Commission had to face an unprecedented pluralism. Based on the Commission’s Spanish and Portuguese translators’ reports, stored in the Russian State Archive of Literature and Art, the study analyses the criteria based on which the stay of a guest was perceived as favorable or undesirable for continuing cooperation in order to improve the image of the USSR in foreign literary circles. The study also analyses somewhat of a loyalty marker, reflecting the guests’ perception of the results of the 20th Congress of the CPSU and the state of Soviet-Chinese relations as sensitive topics important for the political self-determination of communist writers. The study of these new sources allows us to conclude that when choosing new foreign partners, the Foreign Commission often relied on the advice of its’ faithful friends, and the protégés of the latter did not always withstand the test of compatibility with the Soviet regime. At the same time, there was no specific criteria for the new friends’ selection. The translators, who were the first to report on the visit, were invited from outside, sometimes just for one particular job; they did not receive clear instructions from the Commission and were guided by their own ideas about the importance of the writer in their care and the expediency of cooperation with him. Later their opinion could not be taken into account; presumably, it was the journalistic and novelistic production of the invited writers published as a result of the visit to the USSR that was of greater importance to decide whether they were worth further attention. The study reviews Soviet Writers’ Union cooperation with P. Neruda, F. González-Urízar, N. Parra, V. Teitelboim, A. Cassigoli, F. Coloane (Chile), J. Amado, M. Rebelo, E. de Moraes, G. Figueiredo, H. Silveira (Brazil), I. Abirad, J.C. Pedemonte, M. Rosencof (Uruguay), N. Guillen, C. Leante, O. Hurtado, Samuel Feijoo (Cuba), E. Barrios Villa (Bolivia), C.A. Leon (Venezuela).

MAINSTREAMING HUMAN RIGHTS THROUGH THE ENLARGEMENT POLICY: THE CASE OF THE WESTERN BALKAN COUNTRIES

The EU enlargement has been considered as the EU’s most efficient foreign policy instrument in terms of its ability to transform communist countries into functional democracies and open market countries. Since the beginning of 1990s, the promotion of human rights has become prominent topic either for the consolidation of human rights within the EU or outside. The argument of this paper is that the EU enlargement policy has influenced Western Balkan countries to improve their domestic legislation in the area of human rights. The paper demonstrates, firstly, how has evolved the EU human rights actorness from the establishment of the EE Community and secondly, discuss strategies and instruments used by the EU to export its norms and values in the Western Balkan countries. The paper addresses the following research question: how, whether and to what extent, the EU has promoted human rights in the Western Balkan countries. Throughout this paper, a doctrinal legal research has been used to analyze EU primary and secondary sources. The value of this paper lies in its comprehensiveness in drawing a complete picture of EU role in promoting human rights in Western Balkan countries through enlargement policy and to discuss the impact of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights in the candidate countries.

A Study on State Duties under UNGPs Ensuring Human Rights in the Ship-Recycling Industry

The adverse human rights impact in the South Asian ship-recycling yards is not uncommon for international shipping industry since beginning of 2000s. Even if preventive measures under the Basel Convention has been established to ensure human rights in these beaching yards, the deteriorated conditions over human rights have rarely experienced improvements for workers and residents. Thus, this paper slightly deviates from current international instruments regulating ship-recycling activities, and then focus on the state duties under IHRL to ensure human rights through UNGPs. Particularly, UNGPs, in order to ensure human rights under the current regime of IHRL including the UDHR and other legal instruments, provides principles which can be applied in relation to business activities of transnational corporate. In particular, as state duties, the UNGPs prescribes state duty to protect against human rights abuses caused by the business activities and to ensure access to effective remedy for the victims. While the UNGPs has not created new obligations of states since it is not an international legal instrument, these obligations should be looked upon derived from the existing international human rights law. Therefore, this paper will examines the state duties under the UNGPs focusing on how to ensure these duties in the ship-recycling industry of South Asia where especially human rights abuses have been severe. These includes development of a new treaty for implementation of the UNGPs for a long-term and domestic measures ensuring effective remedy to the victims for a short- to mid-term.

MLVA25-Typed Yersinia pestis ssp. central asiatica biovar altaica Genotype Structure in Gorno-Altai Mountain Natural Plague Focus

The aim of the work was to study the genetic diversity and spatial-temporal genotype structure of Yersinia pestis subspecies central asiatica biovar altaica in the Gorno-Altai natural plague focus, using MLVA25-typing.Materials and methods. MLVA25-typing of 330 strains of Y. pestis ssp. central asiatica bv. altaica, isolated in the Gorno-Altai mountain natural plague focus during 1961–2015 was carried out. The phylogenetic tree was constructed with the help of UPGMA and MST algorithms.Results and discussion. The analyzed strains have been differentiated into 34 MLVA types based on cluster analysis. The formed major groups of strains show pronounced spatial confinedness. Three chorological groupings of the plague agent with peculiar genotype characteristics have been identified. Each of the groupings is circulating among the main carrier (Ochotona pallasi) population and within the limits of the similarly-named mesofocus, respectively (Ulandryksky, Tarkhatynsky and Kuraisky). MLVA25 structure of Y. pestis in Ulandryksky and Kuraisky mezofoci show stability over time; there are no significant changes from the time of their first detection in 1961 and 1999, respectively. The dramatic changes in MLVA25 structure are observed in Tarkhatynsky mesofocus, which is known from 1972. Mass expanding of the MLVA25 types which were very rare before took place there from the beginning of 1990-s, along with elimination of the types absolutely dominant up to 1980s. Most likely the changing of dominating genotypes is attributable to the bottleneck effect, arising from the sharp decline of the focal epizootic activity in the mid 1980s.

The Joint Efforts of Indonesian and Australian Governments in Countering Terrorism: Intelligence Cooperation

Terrorism has become a global threat particularly since the 9/11 September tragedy. In Indonesia, acts of terrorism have become a great concern among many stakeholders of the Indonesian government particularly in the aftermath of the Bali Bombing incidents in the beginning of 2000s. The incidents took many lives, and many of them were Australian citizens. As a result, Australia offered Indonesia assistance in the form of cooperation in a variety of areas, including infrastructure and forensics training for police officers. This article aims to analyze the depth and dynamics of Indonesia – Australia intelligence cooperation that contribute to reduce the acts of terrorism in Indonesia. Employing the perspectives of international cooperation and human security, the article argues that the primary driving factor that facilitates Indonesia and Australia cooperation in the areas of counterterrorism and intelligence that the countries face the same terrorism threats that, if not anticipated comprehensively, would endanger the security stability in respective countries and in the Asia-Pacific region.

The Determinants of Inflation in Emerging Markets and Developing Countries: A Literature Review

A vast literature exists on the determinants of inflation in developed countries whereas the one in emerging markets and developing countries has gained attention at the beginning of 1990s. In this respect, the current paper overviews the empirical studies in order to provide underlying knowledge and common facts on this topic that are valuable for further research and policymakers. The patterns emerge from the results of the existing literature can be summarized as follows. First, inflation is mainly a monetary phenomenon either due to direct or indirect drivers in these countries. However, the significance of the effects from the monetary aggregates are dependent on the countries and periods under study. Secondly, inflation persistence is a major determinant in explaining inflation, suggesting a backward-looking behavior in inflation dynamics for these countries. Lastly, the importance of domestic determinants in understanding inflation has shifted towards external ones implying a greater role for global determinants in the last two decades.

‘Tell me where the birds have gone’ – Reconstructing historical influence of major environmental drivers on bird populations from memories of ornithologists of an older generation

Historical perspective is important to understand the mechanisms of current environmental impacts on biodiversity. It may be achieved through long-term monitoring schemes aiming to record biodiversity changes over time. However, even the monitoring of bird populations, a taxon with the broadest spatial coverage and the longest time series among all organisms, does not usually cover more than 30–50 years. It is thus possible that the population status recorded by the monitoring schemes resulted from impacts preceding the monitoring data. In European birds for example, most studies use the beginning of 1980s as a baseline, even though major environmental changes likely acted earlier and its possible that many species have already depleted populations at that time. To fill this knowledge gap, we performed a unique survey among ornithologists of an older generation who performed bird observations in the Czech Republic from 1950s or 1960s up to now. They were asked to fill in a questionnaire to record relative abundance of each species in the region of their expertise during three time periods: 1950s/1960s, 1980s, and 2010s. Comparison of relative abundance between 1950s/1960s and 1980s should reflected population change prior to the time period typically set a as baseline, whereas population change between 1980s and 2010s aimed to assess the reliability of the ornithologists’ assessment by comparison with objective atlas mapping data. As expected, ornithologists of an older generation reported major population declines between 1950s/1960s and 1980s, especially among species depending on insects in their diet corresponding with steep intensification of land use for agriculture. Species associated with wetlands increased their populations, likely due to a higher nutrient input into water bodies. Interestingly, bird populations showed opposite pattern to the currently observed climate change impact, probably due to the modest climate change over these time periods. Importantly, population change between 1980s and 2010s estimated by the ornithologists corresponded well with the change based on atlas mapping data between the same time periods. Such a high level of congruence indicates suitability of memories of older generation naturalists for inferring indicators of historical biodiversity changes. We urge for performing of such assessments in other regions and for other taxa before this source of information will be lost forever.