Woody plants of public gardens in Ussuryisk city (Primorye Territory)

The species and quantitative composition of woody-shrub plants in public gardens in Ussuriysk (Primorye Territory) have been studied. A total of 63 taxa from 41 genera and 21 families have been recorded. Among them, by the number of species the rose family is the leader (28,6% of the total number of species), 10 families are represented by only one genus and species. The largest genus is the genus Acer L., 6 species of which are used in landscaping in the studied public gardens. The composition of woody plants is dominated by aboriginal species (69,8% of their total number), among introduced species there are plants of East Asia (9 species), North America (4 species), as well as plants of Eurasian (3 species) and European (3 species) origin. Life forms (biomorphs) are dominated by summer-green trees over 10 m in height (23 species), summer-green shrubs over 2 m in height (13 species) and summer-green shrubs 1-2 m in height (12 species). Most often in the landscaping of public gardens in the Ussuriysk city there are Siberian elm (Ulmus pumila L.), Asian white birch (Betula platyphylla Sukacz.), common ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolia (L.) Maxim.), ash-leaved maple (Acer negundo L.) and Manchu ash (Fraxinus mandshurica Rupr.). Keywords: PUBLIC GARDEN, LANDSCAPING, ARBORIFLORA, LIFE FORM (BIOMORPH), USSURIYSK, PRIMORYE TERRITORY, RECREATION ZONE

Looking into the flora of Dutch Brazil: botanical identifications of seventeenth century plant illustrations in the Libri Picturati

The Libri Picturati includes a collection of plant illustrations from seventeenth century Dutch Brazil that is kept in the Jagiellonian library in Krakow since World War II. While many studies focused on the artistic details and history of these images, we identified the flora depicted. We used contemporary textual sources (e.g., Historia Naturalis Brasiliae), monographs and taxonomist’ assessments. We checked origin, life form, domestication and conservation status and the plant parts that are represented. We identified 198 taxa, consisting mostly of wild, native rainforest trees and 35 introduced species. Fertile branches are the most represented, although some loose dry fruits and sterile material were also painted, which sheds light into the collection methods by naturalists in Dutch Brazil. Several species are no longer abundant or have become invasive due to anthropogenic influences since colonialism. Through this botanical iconography, we traced the first records of the sunflower and the Ethiopian pepper in Brazil, as well as the dispersion and assimilation of the flora encountered in the colony by Indigenous, African and European peoples. We emphasized the relevance of combining visual and textual sources when studying natural history collections and we highlighted how digitalization makes these artistic and scientific collections more accessible.

Looking into the flora of Dutch Brazil: botanical identifications of seventeenth century plant illustrations in the Libri Picturati

The Libri Picturati includes a collection of plant illustrations from seventeenth century Dutch Brazil that is kept in the Jagiellonian library in Krakow since World War II. While many studies focused on the artistic details of these images, we identified the flora depicted. We used contemporary textual sources (e.g., Historia Naturalis Brasiliae), monographs and taxonomist’ assessments. We checked origin, life form, domestication and conservation status and the plant parts that are represented. We identified 198 taxa, consisting mostly of wild, native rainforest trees and 35 introduced species. Fertile branches are the most represented, although some loose dry fruits and sterile material were also painted, which sheds light into the collection methods by naturalists in Dutch Brazil. Several species are no longer abundant or have become invasive due to anthropogenic influences since colonialism. Through this botanical iconography, we traced the first records of the sunflower and the Ethiopian pepper in Brazil, as well as the dispersion and assimilation of the flora encountered in the colony by Indigenous, African and European peoples. We emphasized the relevance of combining visual and textual sources when studying natural history collections and we highlighted how digitalization makes these artistic and scientific collections more accessible.

To the Importance of the Manuscript Jegor 279 for Research in the Field of Czech Church Slavonic Literature

The aim of the article was to draw attention to the manuscript Jegor 279 originating from the second quarter of the 15th century, which shows textual parallels with the Uspenskij sbornik from the turn of the 12th and 13th centuries. From the group of texts documented in parallel, we pointed to those of the Czech Church Slavonic origin (Life of St Vitus) and the Great Moravian origin (Life of St Methodius, The encomium of St Cyril and St Methodius). In another place in the manuscript Jegor 279, the oldest known Russian Church Slavonic text of the Life of St Anastasia is also documented.

Seed dispersal interactions promoting plant invasions.

Animal dispersers are essential for many non-native plants since they facilitate seed movement and might promote seed germination and seedling establishment, thereby increasing their chances of invasion. This chapter reviews the published literature on seed dispersal of non-native plant species by native and/or non-native animals. The following questions are addressed: (i) Are interactions between non-native plants and their animal dispersers evenly studied worldwide? (ii) Which are the distinctive traits (i.e. geographical origin, life form, dispersal strategy and propagule traits) of non-native plants that are dispersed by animals? (iii) Which are the most studied groups of dispersers of non-native plants around the world? (iv) Does the literature provide evidence for the Invasional Meltdown Hypothesis (non-native plant-non-native disperser facilitation)? (v) What is the role of animal dispersers at different stages of the non-native plant regeneration process? Our dataset of 204 articles indicates that geographical distribution of the studies was highly heterogeneous among continents, with the highest number coming from North America and the lowest from Asia and Central America. Most of the non-native plants involved in dispersal studies were woody species from Asia with fleshy fruits dispersed by endozoochory. More than the half of the animal dispersal agents noted were birds, followed by mammals, ants and reptiles. The dominance of bird-dispersal interactions over other animal groups was consistent across geographical regions. Although most of the studies involved only native dispersers, interactions among non-native species were detected, providing support for the existence of invasional meltdown processes. Of the total number of reviewed articles reporting seed removal, 74% evaluated seed dispersal, but only a few studies included seed germination (35.3%), seedling establishment (5.4%) or seed predation (23.5%). Finally, we discuss some research biases and directions for future studies in the area.

Flora agrocenoz dolin rzecznych w środkowowschodniej Polsce

The paper deals with segetal flora in the Liwiec, Tyśmienica, and Wilga river valleys and with the impact of those locations on biodiversity and migra-tion of species from seminatural communities to arable fields. The studies were conducted between 2014 and 2018 on cereals, root crops, and stubble fields.To this end, the following research objectives were designated: 1. Inventory of flora in the agrocoenoses of the Liwiec, Tyśmienica, and Wilga river valleys. 2. Multidimensional comparative analysis of inventoried vascular plants, including: species occurrence, their geographical and historical origin, life-form, plant propagation, and type of ecological strategy. 3. Assessment of habitat conditions in designated permanent research plots in the transects located in the river valleys. 4. Statistical comparative analysis of habitat conditions in river valleys and permanent research plots. 5. Analysis of flora in permanent research plots in terms of plant sociolog-ical and ecological groups and their development strategies. 6. Statistical assessment of biodiversity in permanent research plots. 7. Analysis of the floristic richness of plant communities in terms of habitat conditions of the valleys of the Liwiec, Tyśmienica and Wilga rivers.

A COMPREHENSIVE INVENTORY AND ECOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT OF ALIEN PLANT INVASION IN MIZORAM, INDIA

Invasion by alien plants has a detrimental effect on the natural forest plant community, leading to the loss of native species. An inventory of alien plants facilitates in determining the potential threats to the natural plant biodiversity. This present paper evaluates the alien plants in Mizoram (an Indo-Burma hotspot region) and provides the first authentic inventory of alien plants of Mizoram along with their diversity, ecological aspects, origin, and status of invasion. Extensive field surveys were done during July 2018 to September 2019 in different protected areas of Mizoram. We adopted Random Sampling Technique using nested quadrats in a plot size of 400 m2 (20 m × 20 m), within which a quadrate size of 5 m × 5 m was laid for shrubs and 1 m × 1 m was laid for herbs. Plant specimens were collected, dried, poisoned with 0.1% Mercuric Chloride (MgCl2); voucher specimens were prepared and deposited in Central National Herbarium, Botanical Survey of India (CAL) after proper identification.The results revealed the occurrence of 163 alien plant species under 135 genera belonging to 51 families in Mizoram. Maximum species were represented by family Asteraceae with 29 species followed by Leguminosae (19 species), Convolvulaceae (9 species), Euphorbiaceae (7 species) and Amaranthaceae (7 species). The 57.66% of the alien species reported from Mizoram were of American origin followed by 11.65 % from African, 7.36% from Mexican and 5.52% from Australian origin. Life form analysis revealed the presence of 58.64 % herbs, 15.43 % trees and 9.87% shrubs. Out of the whole alien plants recorded, 91 species used in traditional medicines, 43 species as ornamental, 15 species were edibles, nine species used as timber and four species used as green manure. The study also recommends the ten most obnoxious species, five neo-invasive plants, which have the greatest potential threats to the native flora. The process and probable causes of invasion in the state were also discussed briefly, which may be utilized in the preparation of conservation or forest management policies.

Seed dispersal interactions promoting plant invasions.

Animal dispersers are essential for many non-native plants since they facilitate seed movement and might promote seed germination and seedling establishment, thereby increasing their chances of invasion. This chapter reviews the published literature on seed dispersal of non-native plant species by native and/or non-native animals. The following questions are addressed: (i) Are interactions between non-native plants and their animal dispersers evenly studied worldwide? (ii) Which are the distinctive traits (i.e. geographical origin, life form, dispersal strategy and propagule traits) of non-native plants that are dispersed by animals? (iii) Which are the most studied groups of dispersers of non-native plants around the world? (iv) Does the literature provide evidence for the Invasional Meltdown Hypothesis (non-native plant-non-native disperser facilitation)? (v) What is the role of animal dispersers at different stages of the non-native plant regeneration process? Our dataset of 204 articles indicates that geographical distribution of the studies was highly heterogeneous among continents, with the highest number coming from North America and the lowest from Asia and Central America. Most of the non-native plants involved in dispersal studies were woody species from Asia with fleshy fruits dispersed by endozoochory. More than the half of the animal dispersal agents noted were birds, followed by mammals, ants and reptiles. The dominance of bird-dispersal interactions over other animal groups was consistent across geographical regions. Although most of the studies involved only native dispersers, interactions among non-native species were detected, providing support for the existence of invasional meltdown processes. Of the total number of reviewed articles reporting seed removal, 74% evaluated seed dispersal, but only a few studies included seed germination (35.3%), seedling establishment (5.4%) or seed predation (23.5%). Finally, we discuss some research biases and directions for future studies in the area.

The impact of artistic circles on the way of using and arrangement apartments in multi-family residential buildings in Poland in the 1950s and 1960s

This article (part I) presents the activities of artistic circles - architects - and their impact on the ways of using and arrangement of the living area. The way of using apartment is understood as:1) The way of arranging basic living functions by inhabitants (sleeping, resting, preparing and eating meals, receiving guests, studying, personal hygiene);2) The relationships between inhabitants and an apartment dependent on education, occupational structure, origin, life style, inherited cultural patterns, fashion as well as a group of physical characteristics and apartment attributes);3) The rights of family members to use the apartment space, including the right to intimacy and having own private space, as well as the representative needs.The aim of this article is to show the evolution of design thinking in the field of functional and spatial layouts of apartments and indicating the main trends of these changes. The selected functional layouts of apartments (including the remarks of the author of the design), representative of the given period of time, have been analyzed with respect to social and political conditions. In summary, the most important tendencies, which may be observed in respect of discussed changes, have been indicated. These include: expanding the living-room area of the apartment by designing a kitchen closer to the living-room or even combining a kitchen with a living -room; the differentiated approach to the issues of creating sleeping areas due to the understanding of children’s individual needs to have their own living space; the concern to upgrade the quality of hygiene in an apartment - by creating separate restrooms and designing bathrooms with a space for a washing machine.