Distance decay 2.0 - A global synthesis of taxonomic and functional turnover in ecological communities.

Aim: Understanding the variation in community composition and species abundances (i.e., β-diversity) is at the heart of community ecology.

Ecological differentiation, speciation, and rarity: How do they match in agg. (Asteraceae)?

agg. is a complex group of outcrossing perennials distributed throughout Central Europe. Recent morphological study revealed six morphotypes corresponding to five previously distinguished subspecies, together with Alpine and Pannonian morphotypes of subsp.

A higher-level classification of the Pannonian and western Pontic steppe grasslands (Central and Eastern Europe).

Questions: What are the main floristic patterns in the Pannonian and western Pontic steppe grasslands? What are the diagnostic species of the major subdivisions of the class (temperate Euro-Siberian dry and semi-dry grasslands)?

Location: Carpathian Basin (E Austria, SE Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Slovenia, N Croatia and N Serbia), Ukraine, S Poland and the Bryansk region of W Russia.

Methods: We applied a geographically stratified resampling to a large set of relevés containing at least one indicator species of steppe grasslands. The resulting data set of 17 993 relevés was classified using the TWINSPAN algorithm.

In situ effects of urban river pollution on the mudsnail Potamopyrgus antipodarum as part of an integrated assessment.

The freshwater mudsnail (Potamopyrgus antipodarum) is sensitive to toxicity of both sediment and water and also to the endocrine disrupting compounds (EDC) at environmentally relevant concentrations. This study determined effects of in situ exposure of P. antipodarum as a part of a complex assessment of the impact of a city metropolitan area with large waste water treatment plant (WWTP) for 0.

[How can the Williams-Beuren syndrome be recognized?].

In a girl with Williams-Beuren's syndrome psychological examination revealed mental retardation with a special mental profile, angiography revealed peripheral pulmonary stenoses, echocardiography a slight stenosis in the supravalvular aortal area and anthropometry typical facial signs. Indirect signs of hypercalcaemia were clinical signs of poor progress during infancy. The authors emphasize that accurate analysis of basic clinical signs and the natural development of the disease are the key to its diagnosis.