Pannonian Biogeographic Region Research Articles

Unusual early peaks of airborne ragweed (Ambrosia L.) pollen in the Pannonian Biogeographical Region.

Early peaks of airborne ragweed (Ambrosia L.) pollen concentrations were observed at several monitoring stations in Hungary in June 2017 and 2018, onemonth before the usual start of the pollen season at the end of July. Backward trajectories were calculated to simulate potential sources of pollen collected at different locations in the Pannonian Biogeographical Region. In a collaboration between aerobiological and phenological networks, a nationwide campaign was conducted to collect field data of ragweed blooming. During field surveys, ragweed plants having extremely early blooming were found most abundantly in a rural site near Vaja (North-East Hungary) and other locations in Hungary. Field observations matched with source areas identified by trajectory analyses; i.e., early-flowering ragweed plants were found at some of these locations. Although similar peaks of airborne pollen concentrations were not detected in other years (e.g., 2016, 2019-2021), alarming results suggest the possibility of expanding seasons of ragweed allergy.

Survival and growth of microscopic fungi derived from tropical regions under future heat waves in the Pannonian Biogeographical Region

Warming and heat waves are predicted by different climate models in the near future in the Pannonian Biogeographical Region (PBR). These climatic effects may have impact on the prevalence and distribution of certain fungal species of this area. In this study the effects of predicted climate scenarios were tested on fungi being endemic or unintentionally introduced by global trade from regions of warm temperate climate. Common fungal species were selected for the study and exposed to heat waves during 7 days according to two climate scenarios: one moderately (RCP 4.5, Tavg = 27 °C, Tmax = 35 °C, RH: 100%) and one strongly pessimistic (RCP 8.5, Tavg = 30 °C, Tmax = 40 °C, RH: 100%) that include predictions for the Central Hungarian Region for July 2050. According to our results, Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus tubingensis and Fusarium strains introduced from tropical regions tolerated heat waves, unlike Penicillium and Talaromyces spp. and endemic Cladosporium spp. which were unable to grow under the RCP 8.5 treatment. The effects of climate change on fungi raise new issues not only from economic and health perspectives, but also in relation with plant protection and environment. Our results suggest that heat waves driven by climate change promote the colonization and growth of the tested strains of non-native fungi more likely than that of the native ones.

Investigation of the Secondary Succession of Abandoned Areas from Different Cultivation in the Pannonian Biogeographic Region

Areas abandoned for various reasons are widespread on Earth, with a significant proportion in some regions of Europe. Our knowledge of vegetation dynamics in abandoned lands is incomplete, in part because research comparing types abandoned from different cultivars is limited. This paper compared the textural and structural changes of previously extensively treated vineyards, arables, and grasslands over a 30-year timescale in secondary succession studies. Based on the botanical surveys, it can be said that the total species number and diversity of abandoned vineyards and arable lands did not increase linearly in the four age groups studied. The way of secondary succession of former vineyards and arable lands showed many similarities. In these types, rapid regeneration of natural vegetation can be observed, the rate of which can only be reduced by the abundance of a few strong competitor species. However, the abandonment of extensively grazed and mowed grasslands has reduced species numbers and diversity, which may reduce the resilience of such grasslands to environmental factors. In abandoned lands, the mosaic landscape and previous extensive small-plot farming appear to have a positive effect on the rate of secondary succession and regeneration, as the species-rich vegetation patches provide a suitable propagule source for regeneration.

A regulation-oriented approach for allergenicity categorization of plants

Plant species have different degrees of allergenicity. Existing systems categorizing plants according their allergenicity were reviewed to find a method that could serve as the basis for the regulation of green areas. The categorization of plants by their allergenicity serves different purposes: informing allergic patients, warning consumers in horticultural stands, or evaluating urban green areas. The regulation of allergenic plants in trade and their use in urban greening is a new, emerging application of allergenic categorization. Our review showed that the existing systems cannot be used for this purpose, because they cannot fulfill the main requirements of regulation: the methods were often not described, and this affected reproducibility and there was a lack of evidence on allergenicity. To overcome these issues, a new, evidence-based categorization (CARE-S) was developed using genetically determined factors of plants: immunogenicity, morphology, and pollen production. 529 plant taxa were categorized, mostly those common in urban areas in the Pannonian Biogeographical Region. The new system can be applied in other biogeographic areas and on new plant varieties by an online calculator tool. An adaptation strategy of CARE-S in regulations is also proposed. Additional benefits of CARE-S: 1: promoting the development of low-allergenic cultivars, 2: identifying overlooked allergens, recommending their use in clinical tests, 3: calling attention to plant taxa which need more research in allergology or botany; 4: providing a legal tool to prevent the introduction and dispersal of (new) allergenic plants. As a further step the authors suggest developing another tool, epidemiological allergenicity, derivated from CARE-S, aiming to characterize the geographically-determined effects of plants on human populations.

Potential Risk of Pollen from Genetically Modified MON 810 Maize Containing Cry1Ab Toxin to Protected Lepidopteran Larvae in the Pannonian Biogeographical Region-A Retrospective View.

Simple SummaryThe Cry1Ab toxin content in different plant organs is highly variable by genetic events and cultivars. This applies particularly to the pollen, which is the main route of exposure of protected lepidopteran larvae. Thus, uncertainties appear regarding safety assessments on the basis of analytical and biological studies: (a) genetic events and cultivars produce various Cry1Ab toxin contents; thus, risk analyses based on single pollen counts may be erroneous; (b) analytical problems have been identified explaining the high variability of the documented pollen toxin content; (c) stinging nettle patches subject to maize pollen sedimentation are frequent nearby maize field edges, where protected nymphalid larvae may feed; (d) substantial maize pollen sedimentation (300–600 pollen grains/cm2 in the dominant wind direction) occurs on the leaves of stinging nettle; (e) July and August are the critical months for the young larvae of Nymphalis io, which are the most sensitive for pollen containing Cry1Ab toxin; (f) the exposure of these larvae to maize pollen containing >100 ng of Cry1Ab toxin/g results in <40% mortality and extended developmental times in younger stages. This is a definite hazard, which is a sufficient legal ground for habitat conservation of this protected species in Hungary.A credible risk analysis of maize pollen containing Cry1Ab toxin must include the assessment of (i) pollen production and its Cry1 toxin content; (ii) distribution of the pollen grains in the surroundings; (iii) pollen-catching capacity of the weeds on field edges; (iv) the lifestyle of protected lepidopteran larvae living on weeds; (v) Cry1 toxin sensitivity of non-target caterpillars; and (vi) Cry1 toxin resistance of individual non-target populations. The concentration range of 5–4300 ng Cry1Ab toxin/g dry pollen determined in MON 810 pollen batches is too diverse for handling it as a single set in any mathematical modeling. Within the work carried out mainly with the DK-440 BTY cultivar, the seed samples officially received from the variety owner produced significantly different (250–470 vs. 5–15 ng/g) Cry1Ab toxin concentrations in the pollen. Nymphalis io L1-L3 larvae were nearly six times more sensitive for Dipel than Nymphalis c-album. Feeding on the back side and in a leaf nest, Vanessa atalanta may be subject to lower pollen exposures. N. io larvae may actively attempt to avoid patches with high pollen contamination. Cry1Ab toxin resistance also partially emerged in N. io populations reared in the Pannonian Biogeographical Region (Hungary).

Effects of the Invasive Tree Species Ailanthus altissima on the Floral Diversity and Soil Properties in the Pannonian Region

Tree-of-heaven (Ailanthus altissima) is one of the most dangerous and widespread invasive woody plant species in Europe. Despite the fact that A. altissima is in the focus of an increasing number of research projects, the impact of its mass spread on native vegetation, its diversity, and changes in soil quality are still incomplete. The current study addresses the effects of this invasive species on plant diversity and soil parameters simultaneously. The main objective of our research is to determine the impact of cover and mass of A. altissima on the diversity of each forest layer; the examined soil parameters and on other selected environmental variables. For botanical and pedological investigations we selected nine A. altissima-dominated sites in Central Europe, in the Pannonian Biogeographical Region. Based on our results, it can be stated that fully grown A. altissima-dominated stands can displace other taxa by their shading and allelopathy, thereby reducing canopy layer diversity. The increase in the species richness of the shrub layer had a positive correlation with the diversity of the floor layer and also with the humus and ammonia content of the soil. As the diversity of shrub layer and floor layer positively correlated with many soil parameters, the diverse vegetation of these layers can represent a potential opportunity for the regeneration of areas infected with A. altissima.

N immobilization treatment revisited: A retarded and temporary effect unfolded in old‐field restoration

AbstractAimThere is increasing recognition that plant–soil feedbacks drive species co‐existence; therefore the below‐ground compartment should be better considered in ecological restoration. Addition of carbon is a restoration measure that relies on indirect plant–soil relationships by immobilizing soil nitrogen in microbial biomass to manipulate competitive hierarchies between plant species. The aim of the present work was to evaluate the impact of six years of carbon amendment in old‐field restoration in the long term, 20 years after the first application.LocationOld‐fields and reference sand steppe on dry calcareous sandy soil in Fülöpháza, Kiskun LTER site (46°53′ N, 19°24′ E), Hungary, Pannonian biogeographic region, Europe.MethodsWe applied carbon amendment in the form of sucrose and sawdust on three abandoned agricultural fields between 1998 and 2003. Vegetation was surveyed in 1998–2006 and re‐sampled in 2008, 2010 and 2018 on permanent 2 m × 2 m coenological relevés for carbon‐amended, control and reference plots (n = 144). We used principal response curves (PRC) to describe vegetation development trajectories and linear mixed‐effects models to test changes in cover of vascular plants and cryptogams, nitrogen requirement groups and restoration species groups with time and treatment.ResultsCarbon amendment resulted in lower soil nitrogen availability, and lower cover of vascular plants and cryptogams compared to control, but these differences became visible only four to five years after the first application and disappeared three years after the cessation of treatment. Minor treatment effects on the cover of oligotrophic, mesotrophic and target species were found.ConclusionsCarbon amendment did not speed up the recovery of sand grasslands; however, the reduction of cover (vegetation and cryptogam) can be a window of opportunity for other species to colonize that can be used as a complement to other treatments. Long‐term monitoring is especially important in evaluating restoration interventions that focus on indirect above‐ground–below‐ground linkages.

The potential current distribution of the coypu (Myocastor coypus) in Europe and climate change induced shifts in the near future

The coypu (Myocastor coypus) is a semi-aquatic rodent native to South America which has become invasive in Europe and other parts of the world. Although recently listed as species of European Union concern in the EU Invasive Alien Species Regulation, an analysis of the current European occurrence and of its potential current and future distribution was missing yet. We collected 24,232 coypu records (corresponding to 25,534 grid cells at 5 × 5 km) between 1980 and 2018 from a range of sources and 28 European countries and analysed them spatiotemporally, categorising them into persistence levels. Using logistic regression, we constructed consensus predictions across all persistence levels to depict the potential current distribution of the coypu in Europe and its change under four different climate scenarios for 2041–2060. From all presence grid cells, 45.5% showed at least early signs of establishment (records temporally covering a minimum of one generation length, i.e. 5 years), whereas 9.8% were considered as containing established populations (i.e. three generation lengths of continuous coverage). The mean temperature of the warmest quarter (bio10), mean diurnal temperature range (bio2) and the minimum temperature of the coldest month (bio6) were the most important of the analysed predictors. In total, 42.9% of the study area are classified as suitable under current climatic conditions, of which 72.6% are to current knowledge yet unoccupied; therefore, we show that the coypu has, by far, not yet reached all potentially suitable regions in Europe. Those cover most of temperate Europe (Atlantic, Continental and Pannonian biogeographic region), as well as the coastal regions of the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. A comparison of the suitable and occupied areas showed that none of the affected countries has reached saturation by now. Under climate change scenarios, suitable areas will slightly shift towards Northern regions, while a general decrease in suitability is predicted for Southern and Central Europe (overall decrease of suitable areas 2–8% depending on the scenario). Nevertheless, most regions that are currently suitable for coypus are likely to be so in the future. We highlight the need to further investigate upper temperature limits in order to properly interpret future climatic suitability for the coypu in Southern Europe. Based on our results, we identify regions that are most at risk for future invasions and provide management recommendations. We hope that this study will help to improve the allocation of efforts for future coypu research and contribute to harmonised management, which is essential to reduce negative impacts of the coypu and to prevent further spread in Europe.

From European priority species to characteristic apophyte: Epipactis tallosii (Orchidaceae)

Epipactis tallosii is considered as one of the highly threatened European orchid species due to its local distribution and small isolated populations that are characterized by decreasing trends. The species is now enlisted in the endangered (EN) category of the Red List. Nevertheless, during the last decade, multiple new populations of the species were found in Hungary, while our field surveys indicated that E. tallosii populations regularly occur in poplar (Populus) plantations. Here we conducted a thorough field survey of poplar plantations, by visiting 182 plantations in Hungary and surrounding countries in the Pannonian Biogeographic Region. We found E. tallosii in 23% of the visited plantations, and counted a total of c. 4000 generative shoots. Moreover, we documented the occurrence of the species to four countries, where it has not been reported before: Croatia, Romania, Serbia and Ukraine. Alien and indigenous/mixed poplar plantations were similarly likely to harbour populations of E. tallosii. Our study suggests that the distribution area and number of populations of E. tallosii is much larger than previously assumed, and that poplar plantations serve as suitable habitat islands in the agricultural landscapes for this orchid. In the light of our results, we suggest the reassessment of the IUCN category of E. tallosii and to re-categorize it as Near Threatened (NT).Citation: Suveges K., Loki V., Lovas-Kiss A., Ljubka T., Fekete R., Takacs A., Vincze O., Lukacs B. A. & Molnar V. A. 2019: From European priority species to characteristic apophyte: Epipactis tallosii (Orchidaceae). – Willdenowia 49: 401–409. doi: https://doi.org/10.3372/wi.49.49310Version of record first published online on 4 December 2019 ahead of inclusion in December 2019 issue.

The application of a neural network-based ragweed pollen forecast by the Ragweed Pollen Alarm System in the Pannonian biogeographical region

Ragweed Pollen Alarm System (R-PAS) has been running since 2014 to provide pollen information for countries in the Pannonian biogeographical region (PBR). The aim of this study was to develop forecast models of the representative aerobiological monitoring stations, identified by analysis based on a neural network computation. Monitoring stations with 7-day Hirst-type pollen trap having 10-year long validated data set of ragweed pollen were selected for the study from the PBR. Variables including forecasted meteorological data, pollen data of the previous days and nearby monitoring stations were used as input of the model. We used the multilayer perceptron model to forecast the pollen concentration. The multilayer perceptron (MLP) is a feedforward artificial neural network. MLP is a data-driven method to forecast the behaviour of complex systems. In our case, it has three layers, one of which is hidden. MLP utilizes a supervised learning technique called backpropagation for training to get better performance. By testing the neural network, we selected different sets of variables to predict pollen levels for the next 3 days in each of the monitoring stations. The predicted pollen level categories (low–medium–high–very high) are shown on isarithmic map. We used the mean square error, mean absolute error and correlation coefficient metrics to show the forecasting system’s performance. The average of the Pearson correlations is around 0.6 but shows big variability (0.13–0.88) among different locations. Model uncertainty is mainly caused by the limitation of the available input data and the variability in ragweed season patterns. Visualization of the results of the neural network forecast on isarithmic maps is a good tool to communicate pollen information to general public in the PBR.

Trait‐based approach confirms the importance of propagule limitation and assembly rules in old‐field restoration

Community assembly theory is suggested as a guiding principle for ecological restoration to help understand the mechanisms that structure biological communities and identify where restoration interventions are needed. We studied three hypotheses related to propagule limitation, stress‐dominance, and limiting similarity concepts in community assembly in a restoration field experiment with a trait‐based null model approach. The experiment aimed to assist the recovery of sand grassland on former arable land in the Kiskunság, Pannonian biogeographic region, Europe. Treatments included initial seeding of five grassland species, carbon amendment, low‐intensity mowing, and combinations in 1 m by 1 m plots in three old fields from 2003 to 2008. The distribution of 10 individual plant traits was compared to the null model and the effect of time and treatments were tested with linear mixed effect models. Initial seeding had the most visible impact on species and trait composition confirming propagule limitation in grassland recovery. Reducing nutrient availability through carbon amendment strengthened trait convergence for length of flowering as expected based on the stress‐dominance hypothesis. Mowing changed trait divergence to convergence for plant height with a strengthening impact with time, supporting our hypothesis of increasing dominance of limiting similarity with time. Our results support the idea that community assembly is simultaneously influenced by propagule limitation and multiple trait‐based processes that act through different traits. The limited impact of manipulating environmental filtering and limiting similarity compared to seeding, however, supports the view that only targeting the dispersal and environmental filters in parallel would improve restoration outcome.

Reviewing historical traditional knowledge for innovative conservation management: A re-evaluation of wetland grazing

Wetlands are fragile, dynamic systems, transient at larger temporal scales and strongly affected by long-term human activities. Sustaining at least some aspects of human management, particularly traditional grazing, would be especially important as a way of maintaining the “necessary” disturbances for many endangered species. Traditional ecological knowledge represents an important source of information for erstwhile management practices. Our objective was to review historical traditional knowledge on wetland grazing and the resulting vegetation response in order to assess their relevance to biodiversity conservation.We studied the Pannonian biogeographic region and its neighborhood in Central Europe and searched ethnographic, local historical, early botanical, and agrarian sources for historical traditional knowledge in online databases and books. The findings were analyzed and interpreted by scientist, nature conservationist and traditional knowledge holder (herder) co-authors alike.Among the historical sources reviewed, we found 420 records on traditional wetland grazing, mainly from the period 1720–1970. Data showed that wetlands in the region served as basic grazing areas, particularly for cattle and pigs. We found more than 500 mentions of habitat categories and 383 mentions of plants consumed by livestock. The most important reasons for keeping livestock on wetlands were grazing, stock wintering, and surviving forage gap periods in early spring or mid-late summer. Besides grazing, other commonly mentioned effects on vegetation were trampling and uprooting. The important outcomes were vegetation becoming patchy and remaining low in height, tall-growing dominant species being suppressed, litter being removed, and microhabitats being created, such as open surfaces of mud and water.These historical sources lay firm foundations for developing innovative nature conservation management methods. Traditional herders still holding wetland management knowledge could contribute to this process when done in a participatory way, fostering knowledge co-production.

Identification of Floral Relicts Based on Spatial Distance of Isolation

The identification of climatic relicts is seldom straightforward. These species are threatened owing to current climatic trends, which underlines the importance of carrying out ecological and biogeographic investigations of them. Here we introduce a novel approach to improve the identification of climatic relicts. We are focusing on thermophilic relict plants of the Pannonian biogeographic region from the Holocene Thermal Maximum (HTM). We argue that a minimal mean annual temperature difference (MATD) of the HTM compared to the recent climate allowed a continuous northward expansion for the taxa investigated. We measured latitudinal distances between the recent occurrences of relicts and those of the main distribution found further south. Regarding estimates for MATD (1.0–2.5 °C), we only consider species with a distribution which has a 150–350 km North-South gap, since a latitudinally directed distance can be translated into temperature, showing a poleward cooling trend. Of the 15 selected species, 12 were recorded with values of 1.0–1.7 °C MATD, and three with values of 1.8–2.5 °C, some of which are presumably interglacial species. Woody species are over-represented among them (four species), using the Hungarian flora as a reference. The proposed method allows the prediction of potential climate-related changes in the future distribution of species, constrained by the topographic features of their habitats.

Morphometric Characteristics and COI Haplotype Diversity of Arctodiaptomus Spinosus (Copedoda) Populations in Soda Pans in Hungary

Arctodiaptomus spinosus (Daday, 1891) is a characteristic species of the soda pan zooplankton in the Great Hungarian Plain. The biogeographical distribution of the species is interesting, since its range expands from the Pannonian Biogeographic region to the other side of the Carpathians, occurring in saline lakes in Eastern Anatolia, Armenia, Iran and in temporary waters in Ukraine. Our investigations focused on the morphometric characteristics and the COI haplotype diversity of four Hungarian populations in the Kiskunság area. We detected substantial morphological differences between the Böddi-szék population and the rest of the sampling sites, however considerable differences were not observable in the COI haplotypes in the populations. The 20 animals investigated for COI haplotypes belonged to the same haplotype network. Tajima’s D indicated departures from the neutral Wright–Fisher population model and suggested population expansion. The genetic composition of Arctodiaptomus spinosus populations in the Kiskunság area is rather uniform.

Diversity and distributional pattern of soil microarthropods (Protura) across a transitional zone in Ukraine

AbstractThe biodiversity of transitional zones is unique, due to mixing and co-occurrence of biotic elements. Despite this, our basic knowledge on distributional patterns of soil microarthropods in areas where biogeographic regions overlap is insufficient. We studied the biogeographic patterns of Protura across three natural landforms in Ukraine within the Transcarpathia (Transcarpathian Lowland, Transcarpathian foothills, and Volcanic Ukrainian Carpathian), which are influenced by adjacent biogeographic areas (mainly Alpine and Pannonian). We hypothesised that these overlaps have brought about an increase in Protura diversity, due to inclusion of faunal elements from diverse origins and differing in geographical histories. Distinct differences in the species composition of Protura were found among lowland, foothill, and mountain sites within Transcarpathia. Mountain sites mainly have Protura species with a wide continental distribution, while species of the foothills mainly stem from the Pannonian biogeographic region. The highest number of proturan endemics was associated with the Transcarpathian foothills. We conclude that the Transcarpathian region can be defined as a biogeographical transition zone for soil microarthopods, exemplified by Protura, and that foothill sites such as the volcanic-tectonic mountain Chorna Hora is a local hotspot of diversity and endemism, representing the most valuable parts of Transcarpathia with respect to diversity and endemism.

Fragmentation of hardwood floodplain forests \u2013 how does it affect species composition?

The present study focuses on how spatial patch characteristics, such as patch area, shape and isolation, affect the natural species composition of hardwood floodplain forests. The natural species composition is defined according to species groups obtained using phytocoenological methods. The aim of the study was to establish the relationship between fragmentation indices and the number and proportion of species in each functional species group stated in this paper. This study is based on a dataset of 118 phytocoenological relevés sampled using the standard methodology of the Zürich-Montpellier School, ordered within the suballiance Ulmenion (mixed oak-elm-ash forests along the great rivers). The study area is situated in Central Europe, in the northern part of the Pannonian biogeographic region. The digital map of hardwood floodplain forests was rasterized to 25 m cell size. The FRAGSTATS software was used to obtain fragmentation indices, and generalised linear models tested the influence of forest patch fragmentation indices on species composition. Our analyses confirm that large hardwood floodplain forests are essential for natural species composition conservation, and that large fragment areas are highly susceptible to non-native species penetration. We also determined that small, compact fragments contain very valuable remnants of well-preserved natural hardwood floodplain forests with a high proportion of specialised Ulmenion species. However, disruption to hardwood floodplain forest natural borders engenders a greater threat to its natural species composition than decline in patch area, because disruption results in increased Shape index, increased contact with the surrounding environment, greater edge effect and a higher proportion of alien species in the forest community.

Birds and plants: Comparing biodiversity indicators in eight lowland agricultural mosaic landscapes in Hungary

This study compares biodiversity indicators based on plant and bird communities in eight mosaic landscapes in Hungary, dominated by a mixture of agro-ecosystems and grasslands. The eight landscapes were selected to represent the diversity of the mixed agricultural landscapes of South-East Europe, where a mosaic pattern of intensively managed farmlands and high nature value semi natural grasslands is still relatively prevalent. Bird communities were described using several assemblage-level (species number, total abundance, and Shannon diversity of the assemblage, based on 15 pre-selected key farmland bird species), as well as species-level (presence/absence of the 15 bird species) indicators, which were checked against a synthetic landscape quality indicator describing the degradation of the local plant communities with respect to an ideal baseline (vegetation-based natural capital index, NCI). The authors were interested if and how the assemblage- and species-level bird indicators can describe landscape quality in South-East European agricultural mosaic landscapes.It was found that assemblage-level bird indicators were poorly associated to the landscape quality measured in terms of NCI: only total abundance correlated significantly with NCI. On the other hand, species-level indicators were much more successful in predicting landscape quality. Six (Alauda arvensis, Emberiza calandra, Falco tinnunculus, Motacilla flava, Limosa limosa, Vanellus vanellus) of the 15 farmland bird species studied showed significant positive correlation with NCI, while three species (Emberiza citrinella, Galerida cristata, Sylvia communis) exhibited negative correlations. We also found that it was possible to draw conclusions about the landscape quality in an agricultural landscape based on the bird communities better, than to predict the bird assemblages from vegetation condition.The negative correlations for species that indicate good quality habitats in Western Europe, underline the context specificity of biodiversity indicators: whereas the conditions preferred by these species can be considered relatively natural in Western Europe, they correspond to relatively degraded habitats in South-East Europe. The nine farmland bird species which showed a significant connection to NCI can be seen as potential candidates for a regional Farmland Bird Index customized for agricultural landscapes in South-East Europe, in the Pannonian biogeographic region, or in Hungary.

Seed collection data encompassing half of the vascular flora of the Pannonian Ecoregion stored by the Pannon Seed Bank

Seed bank collections have multiple benefits: store genetic material for conservation and research, and their data can also provide valuable scientific information. The Pannon Seed Bank was established during an EU LIFE+ project between 2010 and 2014 with the target to collect and store seeds of approx. 50% of the wild native vascular flora of the Pannonian Biogeographic Region, seed accessions of at least 800 storable species. This task was fully achieved by the end of the project, as altogether 1,853 seed accessions of 910 species are stored. The aim of the present paper is to provide access to the collection data and metadata of the Pannon Seed Bank as it was completed by the end of the project. The collection campaign involved about 40 experts and covered the whole country. Collection and storing applied standard methodology, based on the ENSCONET project. The collection data published in this paper can be used manifold. Geographical data on species occurrences are major input for nature conservation ...

Diet of otters (Lutra lutra) in various habitat types in the Pannonian biogeographical region compared to other regions of Europe.

Knowledge of the effect of habitat type and region on diet and feeding behaviours of a species facilitates a better understanding of factors impacting populations, which contributes to effective conservation management. Using spraint analysis and relative frequency of occurrence data from the literature, we described the dietary patterns of Eurasian otters (Lutra lutra) in 23 study sites within the Pannonian biogeographical region in Hungary. Our results indicated that diet composition varied by habitat type and is therefore context dependant. The differences among habitat types were however lower than expected. We noticed a decline in the fish consumption with a concomitant increase in trophic niche breadth and amphibian consumption in rivers, ponds (fish farms), backwaters, marshes and small watercourses. The main differences in diet were not attributed to the consumption of primary and secondary food types (fish and amphibians), but rather to differences in other, less important food types (mammals, birds). Using hierarchical cluster analysis, rivers and ponds could clearly be separated from other habitat types. We found the main fish diet of otters in most of these areas consisted of small (<100 g), eurytopic, littoral and non-native, mostly invasive species. Dietary studies from 91 sites in six European biogeographical regions showed that fish are consumed most frequently in the Atlantic and Boreal, less in the Continental and Pannonian, and least in the Alpine and Mediterranean regions. Comparative analysis indicated that the Mediterranean region (with frequent crayfish consumption) and Alpine region (frequent amphibian consumption) cluster separate from the other regions.

Dispersal of the Central European Population of the Eurasian Spoonbill Platalea leucorodia

Summary. Using the Hungarian spoonbill colour-ringing scheme database, which spans 12 years of 11 cohorts (2003–2013), we clarify dispersal patterns of spoonbills in the Carpathian Basin, a part of the Pannonian biogeographical region. We found that during the course of one year, approximately 25% of adult spoonbills disperse and are seen 100 km beyond their natal area. However, this rate is roughly 20% if we analyse only the core of the breeding season (May and June). The extent of dispersal in the Hungarian population is greater than that in the Atlantic population, where the proportion of birds showing natal site fidelity is higher. This finding could be explained by increased unpredictability in the Carpathian Basin in the temporal and spatial distribution of food resources and in the water- supply of wetlands, as well as in conditions at breeding locations there. These factors may also explain the high dispersal rate of adults in continental wetland habitats compared to coastal ones. Furthermore, the...