Medvednica Nature Park Research Articles

The occurrence of Leptospira spp. serogroup Pomona infections in wild boars

Leptospirosis is a worldwide zoonosis caused by different pathogenic serovars of the genus Leptospira, with very complex aetiology and epidemiology. Recent publications suggest that wild boar (Sus scrofa) has an important role in the epizootiology of leptospirosis, representing a potential source of infection. Wild boar populations in urban environments are increasing, posing not only agricultural and ecosystem concerns, but also a public health concern. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence, temporal patterns and risk factors of Pomona infection in wild boars from areas with pronounced human activity. A total of 159 wild boar serum samples were collected within a health monitoring project in Medvednica Nature Park over a period of six hunting seasons (2012–2016; 2018) and 25.2% samples tested positive. Seropositivity against seven different serogroups was observed, with the highest number of positive reactions to the serogroup Pomona. Annual variation in Pomona reactivity was also detected, and positive reactions were five times more common in females than in males. In most of studies, adults had a higher seroprevalence than younger categories; however, in this study,seroprevalence against Pomona was higher in piglets and subadults. The results indicate that wild boar has the potential of maintaining serovars from the serogroup Pomona in certain natural foci. Due to the expansion of wild boar populations and their intrusion into urban areas, they should be considered a potentially important source of infection for humans and domestic animals.

Utilising public sequence databases to investigate genetic diversity of stoneflies in Medvednica Nature Park

Utilising public sequence databases to investigate genetic diversity of stoneflies in Medvednica Nature Park

The potential of environmental and demographic factors in prediction of the presence of Aujeszky disease in wild boars (Sus scrofa L.)

Aujeszky disease is a viral disease, primarily of suids, caused by Suid-alphaherpesvirus 1, also known as the Aujeszky disease virus. The potential transmission of virus from wild boars to domestic pigs underlines the necessity of studying the epidemiology of Aujeszky disease in wild boars. The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential of demographic, environmental and population management predictors in predicting that ELISA tested animals will be seropositive. We used 222 wild boar blood samples, collected from 10 different hunting grounds and Medvednica Nature Park. In total, 12 predictors were used in this study, three of which were demographic (age category, sex, population density), two represented population management (hunting method, relative hunting bag) and seven environmental characteristics (altitude, watercourses, meadows, scrublands, forests, agricultural area and infrastructure area). The model selection was based on the Akaike Information Criterion, corrected AIC and Akaike weight. The model with the lowest value (ΔAIC <2 units) was selected as representing the better model fit. Predictors were selected using logistic forward stepwise regression. The age of the wild boars proved to be positively correlated with prediction of seropositive animals, while altitude and population density proved to be negatively correlated. The selected models were shown to be able to predict ADV seropositive animals with an average accuracy between 77.12 and 78.67%, and seronegative animals between 82.46 % and 85.09. The odds ratio values ranged between 12.53 and 14.52. Our results are in accordance with previous studies, and the impact of population density in the case of Aujeszky disease in wild boars remains unclear.

A Framework Proposal for the Ex Post Evaluation of a Solution-Driven PES Scheme: The Case of Medvednica Nature Park

Payments for ecosystem services are a voluntary market-based instrument to remunerate provider(s) of ecosystem services by those who benefit from them. Our research aimed to create an ex post evaluation framework to identify bottlenecks and elements hindering the success of a solution-driven PES scheme. The framework was applied to a case study to assess its feasibility and concerns the provision of health and recreational services in the Medvednica Nature Park (Zagreb, Croatia). The framework was set up through three main sources: the study of PES implementation project documentation, semi-structured interviews with visitors and key stakeholders, and web-scraping of TripAdvisor reviews of the park. The main findings confirm society’s interest in the park, but the lack of mapping, quantification, and accounting of the services analysed, the little or no demand from society to pay for their provision, and confused knowledge of the property rights of some ecosystem service providers in the area limit the success of the PES scheme. The framework was useful to describe the chosen PES scheme and to identify bottlenecks and fragilities of the system in place, allowing it to correct its application flaws and, on the other hand, to demonstrate its replicability in other contexts.

Socio-economic evaluations of nature protected areas: health first effect

The importance of protected areas rich in forest ecosystems rapidly grows. Forests in parks become recreation centres for cities near protected areas having strong health function. Thus, also Medvednica Nature Park near Zagreb, the capital of Croatia, is frequently used as lungs of the city. The research presented in this article aims to valorise the health function of the Forest Ecosystem Service (FES) in the Nature Park and develop the Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) methodology to be used for the assessment of the introduction of the entrance fee payment for the Park. The article provides a methodological framework for validation of health function of the forest ecosystem of the Medvednica Nature Park. It also brings a socio-economic assessment of the health function of the forests in the Park. The measurement results and assessments emphasize the need to raise public awareness of health benefits of FES and FES in general.

Measuring trail users’ perception of crowding in a peri-urban nature park: A best-worst scaling experiment

This paper evaluates the perception of crowding, its determinants and relationship with trail users’ experience in a peri-urban nature park. Existing crowding surveys rely heavily on a single-item 9-point crowding scale which was originally developed for backcountry areas. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was used to test the validity and reliability of this measure in detecting crowding issues and formulating visitor capacity limits. Low validity and reliability raised concerns about the applicability of this scale in similar frontcountry areas. Inability of this simple crowding measure to detect a visitor threshold brings to the fore its another important limitation – ignorance of the complexity of crowding phenomenon. The perception of crowding varies with various social, psychological and situational factors, and a best-worst scaling (BWS) experiment was designed to simultaneously evaluate different aspects of crowding in the Medvednica Nature Park, a peri-urban nature park near Zagreb, Croatia. The findings of BWS experiment revealed that occupancy of mountain huts, number of other hikers on the trail and amount of litter along the trail on average contributed most to the trail users’ sense of crowding. A latent class analysis identified a large heterogeneity in the perception of crowding; while one group of trail users (63%) was more disturbed by the direct social impacts, the others (37%) were more disturbed by the secondary impacts of other visitors, especially by the negative externalities from road traffic in the park. Older visitors had a greater tendency to primarily associate crowding with the environmental conditions. A higher impact of trail use level in the perception of crowding, younger age and more frequent use were associated with a more negative evaluation of crowding. The park management should closely monitor road traffic in the park and visitor activity on highly used trails, especially on those popular among younger trail users.

Network approach to constructing theory of participation in spatial planning

Although importance of participation in public decision making is widely recognized in policy sciences, there is no consensus on what its preferred role and meaning would be. In the practice of European spatial planning, its outcome - impacts are peripheral, and there is no distinct theoretical explanation underpinning why this is so, and how the situation may be altered. The primary aim of the study is to tackle this issue; by developing initial step towards a theoretical explanation of participation in spatial planning. The inductive analysis is based on such process for the Nature Park Medvednica, a protected area in Croatia affected with strong urbanization. The research design is based on grounded theory, an approach for developing theoretical explanations of a given phenomenon by gathering qualitative data rooted in practical case(s), where the explanation is decontextualized and thus universal enough that it can be used in other cases (i.e. generalized). However, there is a high level of inconsistency on how exactly grounded theory should be applied, which diminishes the validity of its claims. The secondary aim of the study is to provide structure to how grounded theory could be applied; by developing a series of methodological steps rooted in social network analysis, and thus enhancing its replicability. Primary data is drawn from 56 interviews, covering a 30-year process of spatial planning.On a practical level, the results demonstrate that the role of participation in spatial planning for Nature Park Medvednica does not substantially differ from other comparable cases, where it starts late in the process and has mostly a symbolic role. On a theoretical level, a series of highly general, decontextualized codes have been developed, such as classification of actors, forms of participation and of system that suppresses its prominence. The research also identifies some policy solutions on how to alter the situation; for an individual process of spatial planning, disempowered groups can substantially affect the outcome only through public political engagement, which in turn is affected by ‘calculation’ of personal costs and benefits of participation. On a more general level, the change of the role of participation in spatial planning of a given local setting can occur through the following modes: (I) change of power relations between (construction) interest groups and the administration that leads the process, and (II) change in how the ‘value’ of a spatial plan is perceived by the administration that leads the process - from a system that promotes professional expertise and human-centered values to a system which endorses participation of the ‘lay’, de-values formal expertise, and perceives that nature has a value on its own, independent from human needs.

Spatial analyses of landcover and relief diversity of the Medvednica nature park – possible implications for optimising visitor pressure

The Nature Park Medvednica, which is V protection category, according to the IUCN categorization implies recreation beside landscape preservation management in terms of natural protection, tourism and recreation, as well as scientific research, biodiversity preservation, education and sustainable exploitation of natural resources. The forests represent basic value of this area and condition its purpose and management. It has been determined that habitat diversity indices vary dependently on data spatial resolution. The habitat map M 1:25,000 showed to be the most appropriate (compared to 1:50,000 and 1:100,000 scales) for the analyses of the Park’s management and for certain areas the data of higher spatial resolution would be desirable. Data on plant diversity, and previously calculated landforms diversity per MTB 1/64 grid units were used as well. When identifying the tourist and visiting areas of the Park it is necessary to include biodiversity value of the area in order to sustainably manage among nature and cultural protection and tourist exploitation. The GIS usage in nature protection management is justifiable and very efficient, enabling the generation and collection of multidisciplinary data as well as spatial model projection obtained using these data, helping in prompt decision making, saving time and resources.

A Grounded Theory approach for deconstructing the role of participation in spatial planning: Insights from Nature Park Medvednica, Croatia

Participation in spatial planning across Europe shows disparity between its legislative requirements and implementation, which is usually confined to practices that are devoid of influence in the decision-making process. This research tries to deconstruct the role of participation in the creation of a spatial plan for Nature Park Medvednica - Croatian nationally protected forest area and a Natura 2000 site. As the spatial planning process lasted for more than thirty years, this historical perspective allows for an assessment of the participation practices with respect to changing socio-political factors.The research design is rooted in Grounded Theory (GT), where data collection and analysis evolved in parallel until theoretical saturation occurred. Data sources include 51 interviews, meeting minutes and recordings from six public hearings, historical records, project documentation and expert studies focusing on Medvednica. The theory defined in this study links participation practices to its socio-economic framework, the outcomes of the spatial planning and the perceptions on the role of actors who took part in it – all performed through the lenses of the proposed 15 assumptions and 46 formal hypotheses. The test of this theory will be its future replication in different circumstances, fields and cultural settings.Results show a strong role of general socio-political factors affecting the design of spatial planning, which in turn shapes the role of participation. The most important general contextual factors include level of centralization of the state administration, level of urbanization and the culture of participation in decision-making processes, which was mostly exercised in the first process. In the last fifteen years, the participation in spatial planning for Nature Park Medvednica was mostly exercised as a legislative requirement while having very limited effect on the actual plan, and had a symbolic importance by legitimizing the urbanization process of the once forested area.

Providing information to respondents in complex choice studies: A survey on recreational trail preferences in an urban nature park

This paper examined the recreational trail preferences of visitors in the Medvednica Nature Park, a protected forest area on the outskirts of the City of Zagreb, the capital of Croatia. A discrete choice experiment (DCE) was conducted to get the insight into relative importance of different resource, social and managerial conditions in the park. Accounting for multiple site conditions requires a relatively large number of choice attributes, which may impose too high cognitive burden on respondents. On the other hand, ignoring relevant attributes may lead to the omitted variable bias. A split sample approach was used to find the balance between the possibility of omitted variable bias and cognitive burden; one version of the questionnaire used DCE with the lower number of attributes, of which some were multidimensional, while the other version used DCE with the greater number of more specific attributes. By using partial profile design in the latter experiment, the number of attributes in the choice task was identical in both experiments. Perceived difficulty of the choice task, self-reported choice certainty and choice consistency were similar across the two experiments. Heterogeneity in preferences and scale was detected in both experiments. Indications of non-compensatory behavior, and greater error variance among less experienced trail users were found in the partial profile experiment with more specific trail attributes, but not in the experiment with multidimensional attributes. Based on the research results, important managerial implications were derived. Non-visual sensory experiences of nature, namely fresh air and soundscape, were generally more important to trail users than visual experiences. Crowding was detected as an important characteristic of trail experience; however, trail users were willing to tolerate relatively high levels of crowding.

Heavy metal bioaccumulation by wild edible saprophytic and ectomycorrhizal mushrooms.

Heavy metals cause serious problems in the environment, and they can be accumulated in organisms, especially in the higher fungi. The concentration of Ni, Cr, Pb, Cd, and Hg in 10 species of edible mushrooms in Medvednica Nature Park, Croatia was therefore determined. In addition, the similarity between the studied species was determined by cluster analysis based on concentrations of the aforementioned metals in the fruiting bodies. The contents of nickel, chromium, lead, cadmium, and mercury in the fruiting bodies of mushrooms were obtained by X-ray fluorescence spectrometry. The highest concentrations of Ni (3.62mgkg(-1)), Cr (3.01mgkg(-1)), and Cd (2.67mgkg(-1)) were determined in Agaricus campestris. The highest concentration of Pb (1.67mgkg(-1)) was determined in Macrolepiota procera, and the highest concentration of Hg (2.39mgkg(-1)) was determined in Boletus edulis. The concentration of all heavy metals significantly differed (p < 0.001) between examined saprophytic and ectomycorrhizal mushrooms. Considering anatomical part of the fruiting body (cap-stipe), a considerably higher concentration of the analyzed elements was found in the cap for all mushroom species. According to calculated bioconcentration factors, all the examined species were found to be bioexclusors of Ni, Cr, and Pb and bioaccumulators of Cd and Hg. Cluster analysis performed on the basis of the accumulation of the studied metals revealed great phenotypic similarity of mushroom species belonging to the same genus and partial similarity of species of the same ecological affiliation.

Sadržaj teških metala i bioakumulacijski potencijal nekih samoniklih jestivih gljiva

Predmetnim istraživanjem utvrđivana je koncentracija Fe, Zn i Cu u deset samoniklih jestivih vrsta gljiva Parka prirode Medvednica. Sličnost između ispitivnih vrsta gljiva ustanovljena je klaster analizom na temelju koncentracije navedenih metala u plodnom tijelu gljiva. Analiza teških metala provedena je metodom XRF – rentgenske fluoroscentne spektrometrije. Najveća koncentracija Fe od 153.96 mg kg&lt;sup&gt;–1&lt;/sup&gt; utvrđena je u Tricholoma portentosum, dok je najveća koncentracija Zn od 90.60 mg kg&lt;sup&gt;–1&lt;/sup&gt; ustanovljena u vrsti Tricholoma terreum. Najveća koncentracija Cu utvrđena je u vrsti Macrolepiota procera (78.8 mg kg&lt;sup&gt;–1&lt;/sup&gt;). Analizom teških metala u gljivama ustanovljene su značajne razlike (p&lt;0.05; p&lt;0.001) u koncentraciji Zn i Cu između saprofitskih i ektomikoriznih vrsta gljiva. Utvrđena je znatno veća koncentracija ispitivanih metala u klobuku u odnosu na stručak. Sve istraživane vrste gljiva isključene su kao mogući bioindikatori onečišćenja okoliša željezom. Klaster analiza provedena na temlju koncentracije teških metala u gljivama otkrila je veliku sličnost vrsta gljiva koje pripadaju istom rodu i djelomične sličnosti vrsta iste ekološke pripadnosti.

Geochemical atlas of the Medvednica Mt.: natural distribution of geochemical elements in stream sediments

The sample catchment basin approach applying the active stream sediment as a sampling medium is a frequently used cartographic technique for mapping geochemical data. It is particularly useful in mountainous areas with developed drainage network where each individual catchment basin can be assumed to represent an elementary map unit. Stream sediments have been widely used during the last two decades as an alternative sampling medium (vs. soils and overbank sediments) for regional geochemical exploration, mineral exploration, and geochemical mapping as well as for fingerprinting purposes and provenance studies. In this study, uninhabited slopes of the Medvednica Mt. in the close vicinity of the Croatian capital Zagreb, including the whole Medvednica Nature Park, have been selected as an appropriate geochemical environment for evaluation of geochemical baselines at the local and regional scale. The single-element geochemical maps representing the spatial distribution of 21 elements (As, Ba, Ca, Co, Cu, K, La, Mg, Mn, Na, Nb, Ni, P, Pb, Sc, Sr, Th, Ti, V, Y, and Zn) reflect both natural and anthropogenic impact on the environment at the contact of urban and natural landscapes.

Analysis of Participatory Processes in the Formulation of Spatial Plan for Nature Park Medvednica

Background and purpose: This research aims to assess the stakeholders influence on spatial planning of Nature Park Medvednica, a mountainous protected area adjacent to Zagreb, the capital city of Croatia, which tries to hold on to the pressure of the urbanization. Because of the inexistence of spatial plan which is required with the Croatian laws, its area was significantly decreased in 2009. This kind of research has not been done yet for NP Medvednica, and it will provide a contribution to the process of developing a spatial Plan for NP Medvednica. Materials and methods: The study was conducted in the framework of stakeholder analysis, for which a series of indepth interviews with stakeholders were performed, and documents concerning the spatial plan were analysed. The data gained was processed in MAXQDA software for qualitative analysis. Results and conclusions: The gathered data explains which are the disadvantages of the tree processes of the formulation of the spatial plan and is giving a possible theoretical explanation or a model which can be implied in any decision making process involving stakeholders in natural resources management in within a given political and cultural context. Description of the past and current spatial planning situation of the NP Medvednica was specified and issues and stakeholders concerning the creation of the spatial plan where identified. The key conflict areas that affect the formulation of spatial plan were detected and examined. The level of participation of stakeholders in the context of fulfilment of their own interests was assessed as well as the influence on participation processes of different stakeholder groups on the formulation of the spatial plan. In order to have proper citizens and stakeholders participation some changes in the legislation should take place.

Analysis and distributional patterns of the invasive flora in a protected mountain area - a case study of Medvednica Nature Park (Croatia)

In this paper we have analysed invasive flora of Medvednica Nature Park, Croatia with respect to their origins, life forms, systematic positions, types of seed dispersal, Ellenberg indicator values and spatial distributions using MTB 1/64 grid units for analyses. A total of 27 invasive plant species, belonging to 14 families, were recorded with &lt;em&gt;Asteraceae&lt;/em&gt; being the most frequently occurring family. Therophytes were the most common life form, as is generally true of Croatian invasive plants; however, hemicryptophytes and geophytes were more frequent in Medvednica. Here, invasive plants originated mainly from both Americas with slightly lower portion in comparison to all Croatian invasive plants, while contrary was the case when comparing those originated from Asia. The most widespread species was &lt;em&gt;Erigeron annuus&lt;/em&gt; (L.) Pers., and the species with the lowest occurrence were &lt;em&gt;Chamomilla suaveolens&lt;/em&gt; (Pursh.) Rydb and &lt;em&gt;Datura innoxia&lt;/em&gt; Mill. A multiple regression model explains 44% of the spatial variability in the invasive plants data per MTB 1/64 unit, using the number of all recorded plant species, the average elevation and the lengths of paths and roads as estimators. The latter two variables also had the most influence on the ordination axes in analyses of the spatial distribution of seed dispersal types present in each MTB 1/64 unit. Anemochory was the most frequent type of seed dispersal.

Wild edible species of Rubus at Nature Park Medvednica (NW Croatia)

The flora in the Republic of Croatia is rich with p lant species due to its climate conditions and geographical location. Edible fruit species contain ing a great amount of various vitamins, antioxidanc e and minerals are of a significant importance in creatin g biodiversity of species. Escpecially important ar e representatives of wild edible berries. In order to preserve the biodiversity it is necessa ry to protect the interesting plant material (in si tu) and to generate a collection (ex situ) ‐ gene bank to be used in breeding programmes. The adaptability to edaphic and climatic conditions is an advantage of this mat erial in breeding programme. Researches were carried out in July a nd September 2007 in the area of Nature Park Medvednica, with an aim to determine the presence of Rubus sp, their determination and their disposition in t he Nature Park Medvednica. This research has determined seven types of Rubus sp. and their location in Nature Park Medvednica is presented on corresponding map. The species Rubus discolor L. was found the most prevalent. For this reason the chemical and pomological analysis of Rubus discolor fruits were carried out. Chemical analysis included measurment of total soluble solid (TSS) and total a cidity (TA). Monitoring of pomological traits in th is experiment covered fruit weight, height and width, and number of druplets.

An evaluation of floristic diversity in Medvednica Nature Park (northwestern Croatia)

Mount Medvednica (northwestern Croatia), mostly consisting of slates and marls, rises to the north, above the Croatian capital of Zagreb, from 300 to 1,035 m a.s.l. A floristic research was carried out in the area of Medvednica Nature Park, which consists mainly of the western part of the mountain. On the whole, 1,352 taxa of vascular plants were recorded from all sources (field observations, literature and herbaria). Out of these, 48 taxa are strictly protected, 228 are protected, 67 taxa are considered threatened according to the IUCN categories, and 9 taxa are endemic for the Croatian flora. The life-form analysis of the investigated flora shows the predominance of hemicryptophytes, followed by therophytes and geophytes, while the chorological analysis has evidenced the prevalence of Euro-Asiatic, South European and cosmopolite geographical groups. The biological/chorological cross-spectrum was laid out by considering the percent of every life-form for each geographical element. In order to evaluate the floristic richness of the studied area, the α-index was calculated and then compared with the α-indices of similar regions in Croatia and several European countries. A floristic diversity map of Medvednica Nature Park is presented here for the first time.

Heavy metal concentrations in ground beetles, leaf litter, and soil of a forest ecosystem

The objective of this study was to quantify the relationships between heavy metal concentrations in soil, leaf litter, and ground beetles at four sampling sites of a forest ecosystem in Medvednica Nature Park, Croatia. Ground beetles were sampled by pitfall trapping. Specimens were dry-ashed and soil and beetle samples digested with nitric acid. Lead, cadmium, copper, zinc, manganese, and iron were analyzed using atomic absorption spectrometry. Statistically significant differences between plots were found for lead, cadmium, and iron in ground beetles. Correlations between ground beetles and soil or leaf litter were positive for lead and cadmium concentrations and negative for iron concentration. Differences in species metal concentrations were recorded. Higher concentrations of all studied metals were found in female beetles. However, a significant difference between sexes was found only for manganese. Significant differences in species metal concentrations were found for species that differ in feeding strategies and age based on breeding season and emergence of young adults.

Estimating plant species occurrence in MTB/64 quadrants as a function of DEM-based variables—a case study for Medvednica Nature Park, Croatia

Croatia is among those European countries without an Atlas of Flora produced till today as a result of constant lack of greater number of active botanists and inconsistency in gathering data in the field. Recently, a standard for collection of data, based on the Central European MTB (abbreviation of German term “Meßtischblätter” that stands for a sheet of topographic map) grid was proposed and tested in the field on the “Medvednica Nature Park” on Medvednica mountain near the city of Zagreb. Using the data collected in 97 MTB/64 quadrants (presence/absence of plant species), we tested the potential of estimating species occurrence at the proposed grid by models in a function of the Digital Elevation Model (DEM)-based variables, namely altitude, terrain slope, terrain aspect, and flow accumulation potential. Because of significant spatial variability of environmental factors within MTB/64 quadrants, each one was represented by descriptive statistics (median, 5-, 25-, 75- and 95-percentiles) of DEM-based variables. Thirty-seven plant species were selected arbitrarily, on the basis of their frequency in the studied area (40–60% of all quadrants). Three methods for development of predictive model were used and compared: discriminant analyses, logistic regression, and classification trees. Yielded results suggest that spatial modelling could be probably applied in flora mapping, which would optimise fieldwork. However, decreasing of mapping unit area is recommended, especially for rare species. For larger areas, inclusion of other environmental predictors (macroclimatic, lithological, landuse) in models is probably needed.