Iconic Arable Weeds: The Significance of Corn Poppy (), Cornflower (), and Field Larkspur () in Hungarian Ethnobotanical and Cultural Heritage.

There are an increasing number of initiatives that recognize arable weed species as an important component of agricultural biodiversity. Such initiatives often focus on declining species that were once abundant and are still well known, but the ethnographic relevance of such species receives little recognition. We carried out an extensive literature review on the medicinal, ornamental, and cultural applications of three selected species, , and , in the relevant Hungarian literature published between 1578 and 2021.

Disentangling the ecosystem service 'flood regulation': Mechanisms and relevant ecosystem condition characteristics.

Riverine floods cause increasingly severe damages to human settlements and infrastructure. Ecosystems have a natural capacity to decrease both severity and frequency of floods. Natural flood regulation processes along freshwaters can be attributed to two different mechanisms: flood prevention that takes place in the whole catchment and flood mitigation once the water has accumulated in the stream.

Berries, greens, and medicinal herbs-mapping and assessing wild plants as an ecosystem service in Transylvania (Romania).

Background: Wild edible plants as well as medicinal herbs are still widely used natural resources in Eastern Europe that are frequently accessed by the local population. Ethnobotanical studies rarely give insight to the specific ecosystems in which wild food and medicinal plants grow in a spatially explicit way. The present work assesses the potential of different ecosystems to provide wild plants for food and medicinal use based on 37 selected plant species, gives an estimate on the actual use of wild plants, and allows insights into the motivation of local people to collect wild plants.

Practical application of spatial ecosystem service models to aid decision support.

Ecosystem service (ES) spatial modelling is a key component of the integrated assessments designed to support policies and management practices aiming at environmental sustainability. ESTIMAP ("Ecosystem Service Mapping Tool") is a collection of spatially explicit models, originally developed to support policies at a European scale. We based our analysis on 10 case studies, and 3 ES models.

Phenological patterns of flowering across biogeographical regions of Europe.

Long-term changes of plant phenological phases determined by complex interactions of environmental factors are in the focus of recent climate impact research. There is a lack of studies on the comparison of biogeographical regions in Europe in terms of plant responses to climate. We examined the flowering phenology of plant species to identify the spatio-temporal patterns in their responses to environmental variables over the period 1970-2010.

Flowering phenological changes in relation to climate change in Hungary.

The importance of long-term plant phenological time series is growing in monitoring of climate change impacts worldwide. To detect trends and assess possible influences of climate in Hungary, we studied flowering phenological records for six species (Convallaria majalis, Taraxacum officinale, Syringa vulgaris, Sambucus nigra, Robinia pseudoacacia, Tilia cordata) based on phenological observations from the Hungarian Meteorological Service recorded between 1952 and 2000. Altogether, four from the six examined plant species showed significant advancement in flowering onset with an average rate of 1.

The impending peak and decline of petroleum production: an underestimated challenge for conservation of ecological integrity.

In the last few decades petroleum has been consumed at a much faster pace than new reserves have been discovered. The point at which global oil extraction will attain a peak ("peak oil") and begin a period of unavoidable decline is approaching. This eventuality will drive fundamental changes in the quantity and nature of energy flows through the human economic system, which probably will be accompanied by economic turmoil, political conflicts, and a high level of social tension.

Alien species in a warmer world: risks and opportunities.

Climate change and biological invasions are key processes affecting global biodiversity, yet their effects have usually been considered separately. Here, we emphasise that global warming has enabled alien species to expand into regions in which they previously could not survive and reproduce. Based on a review of climate-mediated biological invasions of plants, invertebrates, fishes and birds, we discuss the ways in which climate change influences biological invasions.