Differentiation of forest vegetation across bioclimatic sector border (western part of the West Sayan Ridge)

A detailed description of the forests of the northern and southern macroslopes of western part of the West Sayan Ridge has been performed and differences in their forest vegetation have been analyzed. Along the West Sayan Ridge watershed, the important botanical and geographical boundary of the Altai-Sayan Mountains occurs. Its northern macroslope belongs to the humid bioclimatic sector; bioclimatic conditions throughout the southern macroslope vary in its different parts: the central and eastern parts are resided in the semihumid sector, while the western one is settled in the «rain shadow», where vegetation is similar to the semiarid sector one. The West Sayan background vegetation type is forest. The work is based on 120 complete geobotanical relevés made by the authors in 2019 using standard methods on test plots of 20 × 20 m. These plots had been uniformly distributed on a 300-kilometer transect crossing the northern and southern macroslopes of West Sayan’s western part. After all, 9 basic units of forest communities have been revealed, 6 of them are found to be altitudinal zone forests. These plant community positions in ecological-phytocenotic and floristic classification hierarchy have been ascertained. The altitudinal allocation and areas of altitudinal zone forests have been characterized and analyzed; the scheme of altitudinal zonation has been specified; the pictures in the text illustrate those results. In West Sayan’s western part, the northern and southern macroslopes are shown to have different altitudinal zone boundary marks and a different set of forest communities: six types of forests follow each other from north to south throughout 300 km. The significant hierarchical level of syntaxonomic differences of altitudinal zone forests on northern and southern macroslopes supports the presence of a bioclimatic barrier. In ecological-phytocenotic classification hierarchy these differences are reflected by the rank of classes of formations (deciduous, dark coniferous, and light coniferous forests substitute each other); in floristic classification hierarchy – the rank of classes (the forests of Brachypodio–Betuletea, Asaro–Abitetea, Vaccinio–Piceetea, and Rhytidio–Laricetea substitute each other from north to south).

Diversity of insect galls associated with Eucalyptus alba & E. urophylla in altitudinal zones in Timor Island, Indonesia

Puspasari LT, Buchori D, Ubaidillah R, Triwidodo H, Hidayat P. 2021. Diversity of insect galls associated with Eucalyptus alba & E. urophylla in altitudinal zones in Timor Island, Indonesia. Biodiversitas 22: 2667-2679. We investigated the galling insects associated with two species of Eucalyptus, namely E. alba Reinw. and E. urophylla S.T. Blake in different altitudinal zones in Timor Island, Indonesia. This is the first report for Indonesia of the diversity patterns and community structures of galling insects in these two species of eucalyptus and the type of galls they produce. Surveys and data collection were carried out between October 2017 and June 2018 at different altitudes of secondary forest in Timor Tengah Selatan district, Timor. We visited five altitudinal zones (± 829 m asl., ± 942 m asl. ± 1,621 m asl., ± 1992 m asl., and ± 2457 m asl.) and selected 25 eucalyptus plants of 3 to 5 m in height in each altitudinal zone from which to collect insect galls. The galls were observed on leaves, upper leaves (shoots), outer leaves, symptomatic twigs and stems. The galls were taken to the laboratory for rearing of the insects they contained. A total number of 12 gall types were found in E. alba and 15 in E. urophylla from which 28 insect morphospecies were identified belonging to 16 families and five orders. The order Hymenoptera was represented by ten families: Bethylidae, Torymidae, Eulophidae, Eupelmidae Eurytomidae, Pteromalidae, Encyrtidae, Mymaridae, Braconidae and Scelinonidae while the order Diptera was represented by three families: Fergusoninidae, Cecidomyiidae and Chaoboridae. Galling species diversity ranged from 1.71 to 2.38 on the Shannon-Wiener index and 0.75 to 0.87 on the Simpson index and showed that the galling-insect communities were species-rich and composed of galling formers and very few inquilines. In the study, communities are categorized and structured according to different types of galling insects, including those that induce galling, those that are parasitoid, and those that are inquiline. Within the category of gall-forming insects in the two species of eucalyptus, Eulophidae is found to be the dominant family. Our field data makes an important contribution to basic knowledge of insect galling patterns in eucalyptus forests and constitutes baseline data for the implementation of pest control.

Effects of elevation gradient and aspect on butterfly diversity on Galičica Mountain in the Republic of Macedonia (south–eastern Europe)

The patterns of butterfly diversity and community changes in relation to elevation are an interesting and well–covered topic in ecology, but the effects of aspect have rarely been evaluated. Here we studied the changes in butterfly species richness and communities along the elevation gradient and aspect of Galičica Mountain. As expected, species richness changed with altitude, showing a bimodal pattern with two peaks and a declining trend towards higher altitude. Changes were well–correlated with the area in each altitudinal zone, while the effects of productivity were less clear. Butterfly communities at higher altitudes were the most distinct when grouped according to β diversity estimates, followed by mid– and low–altitude communities. Indicator species were found in mid–altitudes and for the combination of low–mid and mid–high altitudes, but not among aspects. Overall, aspect produced a less conclusive effect on species richness and community composition. South and north accounted for most of these differences despite dominant western and eastern and exposition of the mountain slopes. The community temperature index declined with altitude and on the northern aspect, showing these areas hosted more cold–adapted species. Notes on butterfly conservation are provided as 23 species known from historical surveys have not been recorded recently. Data published through GBIF (Doi: 10.15470/jacl7y).

Relation of dead wood course within the development cycle of selected virgin forests in Slovakia

Following measurements of dead wood (20 to 40 years) at various developmental stages of the life cycle of selected virgin forests of the 1^st to 7^th altitudinal zone the relation of its course was derived. The dynamics and course of dead wood in the life cycle of virgin forests were best represented by a polynomial of the third degree. An analysis confirmed that virgin forests consisting of stable tree species with approximately the same physical age (Boky) showed small differences between maximal increase and decrease in necromass during the whole development cycle. Virgin forests at sites rich in nutrients consisting of several tree species with various physical age had high values of necromass during their whole development cycle. Spruce stands at the upper forest boundary also had a relatively high ratio of necromass at the advanced optimum stage.

Nutritional quality of kermes oak (<i>Quercus coccifera</i> L.) acorns as affected by altitude in a typical Mediterranean area

The impact of altitudinal zone on the nutritional quality of kermes oak (Quercus coccifera L.) acorns was assessed in Xirovouni Mountain shrublands in northwestern Greece. Whole acorns were collected during autumn 2011 from 15 sites located at three altitudinal zones (i.e. lower, middle, upper). Kermes oak acorn samples were manually separated into kernel and hull and analysed for chemical composition (crude protein, CP; neutral detergent fibre, NDF; acid detergent fibre, ADF; lignin), in vitro dry matter (DM) digestibility (IVDMD), in vitro NDF digestibility (IVNDFD), digestible energy (DE), and minerals (i.e. Ca, P, K, Mg, Mn, Fe, Zn, Cu). Altitude had a negative correlation with CP, IVDMD, and IVNDFD and positively correlated to cell wall contents in both kernel and hull. Acorns growing under higher temperatures (at lower altitude) have more digestible cell wall compared to acorns growing under lower temperatures (at higher altitude) due to increased CP content and decreased cell wall content. It seems that environmental factors affect the nutritional value of acorns. Thus, goat farmers should take this into account when collecting acorns to feed their animals.

Diversity and Distribution of liverworts across habitats and altitudinal gradient at Pachmarhi Biosphere Reserve (India)

The present study elucidates the distribution of liverworts (Marchantiophyta) in various habitats and across the altitudinal gradients at Pachmarhi Biosphere Reserve (PBR), central India. The liverwort diversity was assessed in selected habitats at each site viz. soil, wet rocks, dry rocks, soil covered rocks, stony walls (terricolous habitats) and epiphytic habitat. Three altitudinal gradients were considered for distributional assessment. In all, 41 liverworts belonging to 21 genera and 15 families were encountered. Among the three altitudinal zones, 17 taxa were found at lower altitudinal gradient (400-800 m) whereas 12 liverworts were found at the higher altitudinal gradient (1001-1400 m). Maximum taxa (33) were present at the middle altitudinal zone (801- 1000 m). The sites at middle altitudes furnished amicable conditions for the growth of bryophytes. In general, rocks, both moist and dry formed the most pertinent habitat for the liverworts. Evidently, the middle altitudinal gradient emerged as the altitudinal range harbouring maximum liverworts.

Disturbance-induced changes in the plant biomass in forests near Plešné and Čertovo Lakes

Two forested catchments in the Bohemian Forest (&Scaron;umava Mts.) were investigated according to the species composition of herb layer and aboveground plant biomass. The bark-beetle gradation was observed in the Ple&scaron;n&eacute; Lake catchment during this study. The community dynamics depends mainly on the altitudinal zone of the site. Variability in the species composition was more pronounced in the sites of natural broadleaved mixed forests than in the sites of natural Norway spruce forests. Three processes were recorded after the tree layer damage: tree regeneration (very rapid), appearance of some species typical of the clear-cuts (only limited, mainly after windthrows) and disappearance of some species (limited, probably for a short time only). The aboveground biomass was variable. Some relations to the canopy decline were observed for Vaccinium myrtillus. The stock changes depend on the population features of this species and can differ (increase or decrease) according to individual localities.