The significance of anthropochory in Hercinothrips femoralis (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) – Short Communication

After the first record of the banded greenhouse thrips, Hercinothrips femoralis (Reuter, 1891) in Slovakia in 2008, a peculiar occurrence in an extreme subalpine environment of Podbanské (High Tatra Mts.), Slovakia, during the summer of the same year was observed. Since this species of exotic thrips is known to be almost sedentary, the mode of dispersal was hypothesized to be related to passive transport via weather currents. According to our observations of unintentional dispersal a test was conducted to research a previously unidentified introduction pathway of this species. Our preliminary results show that passive transport by humans plays a crucial role in the dispersal of H. femoralis.

Ozone phytotoxicity in the Western Carpathian Mountains in Slovakia

In this work, the response of temperate coniferous forests to ozone air pollution (O3) in the mountain environment of the High Tatra Mts. (Western Carpathians) was analyzed. The modelling of stomatal O3 flux is a complex method for the estimation of phytotoxicity of O3 pollution to forest vegetation. Stomatal flux-based critical levels (CLef) for effects of O3 on radial growth take into account the varying influences of O3 concentration, meteorological variables, soil properties, and phenology. The application of the model DO3SE (Deposition of Ozone for Stomatal Exchange) at five experimental plots with altitudes varying from 810 to 1,778 m a.s.l. along vertical and spatial profile in the High Tatra Mts. revealed the high phytotoxic potential of O3 on spruce forests during the growing season 2014. The accumulated stomatal O3 flux above a threshold of Y (1 nmol m−2 s−1), i.e. POD1 (Phytotoxic Ozone Dose) ranged from 13.6 mmol m−2 at the Kolové pleso site (1,570 m a.s.l.) to 16.2 mmol m−2 at Skalnaté Pleso site (1,778 m a.s.l.). CLef for POD1 (8 mmol m−2) recommended for the protection of spruce forests were exceeded at all experimental plots from early July. Similarly, AOT40 index suggests vulnerability of mountain forests to O3 pollution. AOT40 values increased with altitude and reached values varying from 6.2 ppm h in Stará Lesná (810 m a.s.l.) to 10.7 ppm h at Skalnaté Pleso close to the timber line (1,778 m a.s.l.). Concentration-based critical level (CLec) of 5,000 ppb h was exceeded from June to August and was different for each experimental site.

Erratum to “Vegetation state and extreme drought as factors determining differentiation and succession of Carabidae communities in forests damaged by a windstorm in the High Tatra Mts” by Zbyšek Šustek & Jaroslav Vido

The original version of the article was published in Biologia 68 (6): 1198–1210 (2013), DOI: 10.2478/s11756-013-0268-1. Unfortunately, the original version of this article contains a mistake in Acknowledgements on page 1209. Here we display the corrected version of the Acknowledgements.

Vegetation state and extreme drought as factors determining differentiation and succession of Carabidae communities in forests damaged by a windstorm in the High Tatra Mts

Succession of Carabidae communities in spruce forests in the High Tatra Mts damaged by the windstorm of November 2004 exhibited two trends. The first trend includes the communities differentiation according to the state and management of damaged sites into three groups: (1) the site with fallen timber in situ shows only quantitative and reversible changes in rapport to the intact stand, (2) the sites with extracted timber, where less tolerant forest species disappeared, more tolerant forest species were favored and non-forest mountain species appeared, (3) the sites with extracted timber, additionally burned in July/August 2005, where number of the forest species and their abundance declined and temporal invasions of xenocoenous open-landscape species occurred. This differentiation is explained by autecology of individual species and state of vegetation. In 2010, the communities in burned and unburned sites started to converge due to partial restoration of the vegetation cover, but they continued to strongly differ from the site with timber in situ. The second trend includes a striking decline of the number of species and individuals and cumulative biomass in all sites in 2008 and a slow increase of these parameters up to 2011. The extreme dry summer of 2012 caused a decline of these parameters about to the levels from 2009. This trend represents a long lasting consequence of the extremely dry year 2007 and an immediate response to the drought in 2012. The Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI24) and Standardized Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI24) fitted best these changes.

Expansion of the liverwort Tetralophozia setiformis in the Polish Tatra Mts (Western Carpathians)

The article presents the spread of the liverwort <em>Tetralophozia setiformis</em> in the Polish Tatra Mts (Western Carpathians). In the years 1814-1957 only four localities of this plant have been found in High Tatra Mts. Since the 90-ties, an increase in recording of <em>T. setiformis</em> has been noticed, including the first locality in Western Tatra Mts. Currently, there are 17 localities of <em>T. setiformis</em> in the Polish Tatra Mts. In many of them, the plant occurs abundantly; it also remains in the places of its first records. The species has a narrow ecological scale. It is attached to rock blocks, mostly of north exposition. It creates small, single-species turfs plaited in mossy pillows of alpine grasslands of Oreochloo distichae-Juncetum trifidi racomitrietosum lanuginosi hung among rocks.

Changes in lepidopteran assemblages in Temnosmrečinská dolina valley (the High Tatra Mts, Slovakia) over the last 55 years

Lepidopteran assemblages in Temnosmrečinská dolina valley (High Tatra Mts, Western Carpathians, Slovakia) were investigated. Recent data about the occurrence of lepidopteran species are compared with those which were obtained 55 years ago. Lepidoptera were monitored at seven sites comprising the subalpine to alpine zone of the valley. Fifteen of the originally recorded species were not found, however, the occurrence of six new species was recorded. In total, 61 summer lepidopteran species are known from the Temnosmrečinská dolina valley. The comparison of the recent lepidopteran assemblages shows a decline in species richness, abundance and frequency at individual monitoring sites. It seems that the changes are caused by plant community succession in the valley — overgrowth of dwarf pine, transformation of meadow communities to Calamagrostigetum and overgrowth of peat-bogs, resulting in loss of food resources for adult Lepidoptera.