Connectivity assessment and prioritization of urban grasslands as a helpful tool for effective management of urban ecosystem services.

Urban grasslands are usually managed as short-cut lawns and have limited biodiversity. Urban grasslands with low-intensity management are species rich and can perform numerous ecosystem services, but they are not accepted by citizens everywhere. Further, increasing and/or maintaining a relatively high level of plant species richness in an urban environment is limited by restricted plant dispersal.

Plant-Fungal Interactions: A Case Study of Link.

Link is a cosmopolitan species, and it has been described as both an in vitro and in vivo antagonist of many fungal pathogens of plants. However, there are no clear reports about the interactions between and various plant species, and about the effects of culture filtrates produced by this fungus on plants. Therefore, we assessed the interactions between and different plant species, such as sugar beet ( L.

Arsenic Uptake by Two Tolerant Grass Species: and Growing in Soils Contaminated by Historical Mining.

The study focused on two grass species and abundant in the sites of former As mining and processing in the Sudetes. Arsenic uptake from soils was examined to assess a risk associated with its accumulation in grass shoots and to check its dependence on soil fertilization. The research involved a field study and greenhouse experiment.

Accumulation of Arsenic by Plants Growing in the Sites Strongly Contaminated by Historical Mining in the Sudetes Region of Poland.

The uptake of As by various plants growing in highly enriched sites was examined in order to identify potential As accumulators and to assess the risk associated with As presence in plant shoots. Representative samples of 13 plant species, together with soil samples, were collected from various sites affected by historical As mining: mine and slag dumps, tailings and contaminated soils with As concentrations in a range 72-193,000 mg/kg. Potentially and actually soluble As forms, extracted with 0.

Influence of variation in the volumetric moisture content of the substrate on irrigation efficiency in early potato varieties.

Potato is a plant with high water requirements. This factor affects not only the weight of potato tubers but also their quality parameters. In order to achieve quantity and quality goal, it is helpful if we apply the principles of precision agriculture, which also contributes to sustainable management of environmental resources.

Arsenic accumulation by red fescue (Festuca rubra) growing in mine affected soils - Findings from the field and greenhouse studies.

Soils strongly enriched in arsenic in historical mining sites pose the environmental risk. Phytostabilization is a reasonable method for their remediation. A suitability of red fescue (Festuca rubra L.

Oxytree Pruned Biomass Torrefaction: Process Kinetics.

Oxytree is a fast-growing energy crop with C4 photosynthesis. In this research, for the first time, the torrefaction kinetic parameters of pruned Oxytree biomass ( in Vitro 112) were determined. The influence of the Oxytree cultivation method and soil class on the kinetic parameters of the torrefaction was also investigated.

Oxytree Pruned Biomass Torrefaction: Mathematical Models of the Influence of Temperature and Residence Time on Fuel Properties Improvement.

Biowaste generated in the process of Oxytree cultivation and logging represents a potential source of energy. Torrefaction (a.k.

Nitrogen balance of crop production in Ukraine.

Lands of Ukraine are intensively used. Usage of insufficient amounts of fertilizers leads to destruction of soil organic matter, causing complete loss of soil fertility. In 2015, the total nitrogen balance in Ukraine was negative.

Ecotoxicity of pore water in soils developed on historical arsenic mine dumps: The effects of forest litter.

Arsenic release from dump soils in historical mining sites poses the environmental risk. Decomposing forest litter can affect mobilization of As and other toxic elements, change their speciation in pore water and influence the toxicity to biota. This study examined the chemistry and ecotoxicity of pore water acquired from four soils that developed on the dumps in former As mining sites, in the presence and absence of forest litter collected from beech and spruce stands.

CHARACTERISTICS AND PROGNOSIS OF THE INTERNAL EXPOSURE DOSES OF THE UKRAINIAN POLISSYA RURAL POPULATION IN THE REMOTE PERIOD AFTER THE ACCIDENT AT THE CHERNOBYL NUCLEAR POWER PLANT (MONITORING STUDY).

Objective: Estimation of the forest ecosystem influence on the formation of annual effective internal exposuredoses (137Cs) of the Ukrainian Polissya population in the remote period after the Chernobyl accident and predictivemodeling of the internal exposure doses of the region residents.

Materials And Methods: Dosimetric control of the population (adults and children of school age, for 80 people inthe group on average in the settlement) of the Kyiv region was conducted during 2003-2011 with the Scriner-3Mspectrometer according to «Methodical recommendations for conducting measurements using whole body countersfor dosimetric certification of settlements» [9]. Gamma-spectrometric analysis of the samples was conducted by thespectrometric method (DSTU 3743-98) with SEG-005, the BEDG-63 detector.

Flower strip networks offer promising long term effects on pollinator species richness in intensively cultivated agricultural areas.

Background: Intensively cultivated agricultural landscapes often suffer from substantial pollinator losses, which may be leading to decreasing pollination services for crops and wild flowering plants. Conservation measures that are easy to implement and accepted by farmers are needed to halt a further loss of pollinators in large areas under intensive agricultural management. Here we report the results of a replicated long-term study involving networks of mostly perennial flower strips covering 10% of a conventionally managed agricultural landscape in southwestern Germany.

Varroa chemosensory proteins: some are conserved across Arthropoda but others are arachnid specific.

The tight synchronization between the life cycle of the obligatory parasitic mite Varroa destructor (Varroa) and its host, the honeybee, is mediated by honeybee chemical stimuli. These stimuli are mainly perceived by a pit organ located on the distal part of the mite's foreleg. In the present study, we searched for Varroa chemosensory molecular components by comparing transcriptomic and proteomic profiles between forelegs from different physiological stages, and rear legs.

Effect of anthropogenic factors, landscape structure, land relief, soil and climate on risk of alien plant invasion at regional scale.

We compared the effectiveness of explanatory variables representing different environmental spheres on the risk of alien plant invasion. Using boosted regression trees (BRT), we assessed the effect of anthropogenic factors, soil variables, land relief, climate and landscape structure on neophyte richness (NR) (alien plant species introduced after the 15th century). Data on NR were derived from a 2 × 2 km grid covering a total area of 31,200 km of the Carpathian massif and its foreground, Central Europe.

Chemosensing of honeybee parasite, Varroa destructor: Transcriptomic analysis.

Chemosensing is a primary sense in nature, however little is known about its mechanism in Chelicerata. As a model organism we used the mite Varroa destructor, a key parasite of honeybees. Here we describe a transcriptomic analysis of two physiological stages for the Varroa foreleg, the site of primary olfactory organ.

Trace metals transfer during vine cultivation and winemaking processes.

Background: The study was focused on Zn, Cu and Pb transfer in the system of soil-grape-must-juice-wine in a Chardonnay grape variety from Ukrainian vine growing regions. The analyses of soil, grape, must, pomace, juice and wine were done at the study plot in the south-west of Crimea.

Results: Commercial white wines of Chardonnay from different vine growing regions in Ukraine were analysed for trace metals content.

Pesticide exposure assessment for surface waters in the EU. Part 2: Determination of statistically based run-off and drainage scenarios for Germany.

Background: In order to assess surface water exposure to active substances of plant protection products (PPPs) in the European Union (EU), the FOCUS (FOrum for the Co-ordination of pesticide fate models and their USe) surface water workgroup introduced four run-off and six drainage scenarios for Step 3 of the tiered FOCUSsw approach. These scenarios may not necessarily represent realistic worst-case situations for the different Member States of the EU. Hence, the suitability of the scenarios for risk assessment in the national authorisation procedures is not known.

Two novel viruses associated with the Apis mellifera pathogenic mite Varroa destructor.

Varroa destructor infestation of Apis mellifera colonies carries and/or promotes replication of honey bee viruses like the Deformed wing virus, the Varroa destructor virus-1, the Acute bee paralysis virus, the Israeli acute bee paralysis virus and the Kashmir bee virus that have been well described and characterized; but viruses exclusively associated with Varroa were not found. To look for viruses that may associate with- or infect V. destructor we performed deep sequencing (RNA-seq) of RNA extracted from honey bees and mites in Varroa-infested untreated colonies.

Pesticide exposure assessment for surface waters in the EU. Part 1: Some comments on the current procedure.

In 2001, the European Commission introduced a risk assessment project known as FOCUS (FOrum for the Coordination of pesticide fate models and their USe) for the surface water risk assessment of active substances in the European Union. Even for the national authorisation of plant protection products (PPPs), the vast majority of EU member states still refer to the four runoff and six drainage scenarios selected by the FOCUS Surface Water Workgroup. However, our study, as well as the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), has stated the need for various improvements.

Identification and gene-silencing of a putative odorant receptor transcription factor in Varroa destructor: possible role in olfaction.

The ectoparasitic mite Varroa destructor is one of the major threats to apiculture. Using a behavioural choice bioassay, we determined that phoretic mites were more successful in reaching a bee than reproductive mites, suggesting an energy trade-off between reproduction and host selection. We used both chemo-ecological and molecular strategies to identify the regulation of the olfactory machinery of Varroa and its association with reproduction.

Physiological and proteome studies of responses to heat stress during grain filling in contrasting wheat cultivars.

Experiments to explore physiological and biochemical differences of the effects of heat stress in ten wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivars have been performed. Based on the response of photosynthesis rates, cell membrane lipid peroxide concentrations and grain yield to heat, six cultivars were clustered as heat-tolerant (cv.

Improved tolerance to drought stress after anthesis due to priming before anthesis in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) var. Vinjett.

Drought stress occurring during the reproductive growth stage leads to considerable reductions in crop production and has become an important limiting factor for food security globally. In order to explore the possible role of drought priming (pre-exposure of the plants to mild drought stress) on the alleviation of a severe drought stress event later in development, wheat plants were subjected to single or double mild drought episodes (soil relative water content around 35-40%) before anthesis and/or to a severe drought stress event (soil relative water content around 20-25%) 15 d after anthesis. Here, single or double drought priming before anthesis resulted in higher grain yield than in non-primed plants under drought stress during grain filling.

[Characteristics of soil microbial community under different vegetation types in Wuyishan National Nature Reserve, East China].

By using Biolog Ecoplate system, this paper studied the structure and functional diversity of soil microbial community under different vegetation types in Wuyishan National Nature Reserve, aimed to probe into the effects of vegetation type on the diversity of soil microbial community. The results showed that the soil chemical properties, soil enzyme activities, and average well color development (AWCD) were higher in natural forest than in planted forest, and were the lowest in abandoned field. The AWCD reflecting soil microbial activity and functional diversity was increased with increasing incubation time, but there existed significant differences among different vegetation types.

Multiple heat priming enhances thermo-tolerance to a later high temperature stress via improving subcellular antioxidant activities in wheat seedlings.

Seedlings of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) were firstly twice heat-primed at 32/24 °C, and subsequently subjected to a more severe high temperature stress at 35/27 °C. The later high temperature stress significantly decreased plant biomass and leaf total soluble sugars concentration.

TRI12 based quantitative real-time PCR assays reveal the distribution of trichothecene genotypes of F. graminearum and F. culmorum isolates in Danish small grain cereals.

Quantitative real-time PCR assays, based on polymorphisms in the TRI12 gene of the trichothecene pathway, were developed to identify and quantify the trichothecene genotypes producing 3-acetyl-deoxynivalenol (3ADON), 15-acetyl-deoxynivalenol (15ADON) or nivalenol (NIV) in the Fusarium graminearum species complex, Fusarium culmorum, Fusarium cerealis and Fusarium pseudograminearum. These assays were applied on a total of 378 field samples of cereal grain of wheat, barley, triticale, rye and oats collected from 2003 to 2007 to study the trichothecene genotype composition in Danish cereals. The three genotypes, 3ADON, 15ADON and NIV were found in all five cereal species, great annual variation in the occurrence of the trichothecene genotypes was evident with considerable variation between the samples.