scholarly journals The distribution and status of Sage Skipper Muschampia proto (Ochsenheimer, 1808) (Lepidoptera, Hesperiidae) at the limit of its range in the north-western Balkans

2020 ◽  
Vol 43 ◽  
pp. 211-220
Author(s):  
Toni Koren ◽  
Matea Martinović ◽  
Dubravko Dender

We analysed the status and distribution of the Sage Skipper Muschampia proto (Ochsenheimer, 1808), a rather rare and local Hesperiidae species at the edge of its range in the north-western part of the Balkan peninsula, mainly Croatia and Bosnia & Herzegovina. In order to determine the species’ presence in the region, we mapped the occurrence of its hostplant, Jerusalem Sage Phlomis fruticosa Linnaeus (Lamiaceae). We also summarized all the available knowledge on M. proto in the Balkan Peninsula and provided a literature overview for each country this species has been recorded in so far. In Croatia, the distribution of M. proto is very limited and is located only in the wider surroundings of Dubrovnik city. In the present paper, we also provide the first and only record of M. proto in Bosnia & Herzegovina, from a single locality close to the Croatian border in the Dubrovnik area. Due to its limited distribution in both countries, we propose that the conservation status of the species should be changed from none to vulnerable.

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 97-110
Author(s):  
Vladimir Stupar

Hungarian oak (Quercus frainetto) has dominant or co-dominant role in many thermophilous deciduous forest communities in the Balkan Peninsula. However, recent field research in the north-western margin of its range has revealed that some stands have a pronounced mesophilous character, which was also supported by data from the literature. This paper aims to analyze this mesophilous community of Hungarian oak which is found in north-western Serbia, north-eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) and eastern Croatia. Numerical analysis, which included classification and ordination of all 474 available relevés of Hungarian oak forests from the western and central Balkans, along with the 43 relevés of mesophilous forests of oak-hornbeam from B&H, have shown that 83 mesophilous Hungarian oak relevés are floristically and ecologically more similar to mesophilous forests of sessile oak-hornbeam (Erythronio-Carpinion) than to xero-thermophilous forests of Qeurcion confertae. The new association Carpino betuli-Quercetum frainetto ass. nova hoc loco was described, floristically and ecologically characterized and assigned to mesophilous oak-hornbeam forests of Erythronio-Carpinion. The study also discusses the syntaxonomical issues of Quercion confertae and its central association Quercetum frainetto-cerridis, considering the problem of the lack of good diagnostic species for both syntaxa, and introduces possible ways of dealing with these issues.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 686
Author(s):  
Angela Carluccio ◽  
Francesca Capezzuto ◽  
Porzia Maiorano ◽  
Letizia Sion ◽  
Gianfranco D’Onghia

Baited lander represents a low impact technique, an alternative to the traditional trawl sampling for collecting data on fish diversity and abundance, especially for threatened species such as Chondrichthyes living in sensitive habitats. In this study, distribution and abundance of cartilaginous fish were compared between two geographic areas, the southern Adriatic Sea and the north-western Ionian Sea, with two low impact sampling gears, an experimental bottom longline and a baited lander. Species diversity was evaluated by applying ecological indices and difference in mean abundances were tested using multivariate analysis. A total of 13 species of cartilaginous fish were collected. Significant differences in the assemblage recorded in the same area using different sampling tools were detected and no significant differences were detected among different areas explored with the same method. Using longline, the most abundant species collected in both areas was Galeus melastomus, while using lander, the most observed species were Dalatias licha in the southern Adriatic Sea and Hexanchus griseus in the north-western Ionian Sea. According to IUCN classification, of the 13 species collected, 2 are near threatened and 5 are threatened. A better governance of sensitive habitats coinciding with the essential fish habitat for these species would ensure them a better conservation status.


2015 ◽  
Vol 36 ◽  
pp. 51-59
Author(s):  
Вера [Vera] Астрэйка [Astrėĭka]

The Baltic elements in the grammar of traditional local dialects of north-western BelarusThe article analyzes a number of grammatical features typical for the North-West dialect zone of the Belarusian language. These peculiarities are interpreted as a possible result of Slavic-Baltic contacts in the region. Some phenomena can be explained as a Baltic (mainly (great)Lithuanian) substratum in North-West Belarusian dialects.The factor of areal neighborhood has to be taken into consideration too. Such phenomenon as language support has effect just in connection with the last one. A lot of the appropriate lingual facts are in restricted and inconsistent use. However, it is possible to be said about more or less significant (now or/and before) tendencies of regional lingual development. These tendencies has not got the status of a structural (= constitutional) lingual regularity. As a rule the wide and compact areas are characterized of some lingual facts (= lexemes), which illustrate the given transformations in the system of Belarusian dialects. Baltic influence upon the North-West Belarusian dialects grammar is detected on as the formal level so the structural one. And it is not noticeable at all times. The definite changes in the sphere of morphology and syntax can provoke different modifications in the other parts of a language system (word building, semantics). The results of this process are the evidences of ethnic and language assimilation of native Balts by Slavs in the region. That comes in support of forming the singular North-West Belarusian regiolect (= the regionally marked variety of a dialect language). Балтийские грамматические элементы в говорах северо-западной БеларусиВ статье анализируется ряд грамматических черт, характерных для говоров северо-западной диалектной зоны беларусского языка. Эти особенности квалифицируются автором как весьма вероятное следствие славяно-балтского языкового взаимодействия в соответствующем регионе. Отдельные явления есть основания рассматривать в качестве возможного проявления балтского (главным образом (пра-) литовского) субстрата в северо-западных беларусских говорах. Фактор ареальной смежности здесь также должен быть принят во внимание. В связи с последним следует упомянуть и действие феномена языковой поддержки. Многие соответствующие языковые факты имеют существенные ограничения в употреблении, в говорах выступают не всегда последовательно и регулярно. В некоторых случаях, однако, можно говорить о действии более или менее выраженных (в настоящем и/или прошлом) тенденций регионального языкового развития, которые пока не приобрели статус структурно значимой (= конститутивной) языковой закономерности. Широкие и компактные ареалы образуют, как правило, лишь отдельные языковые факты (= лексемы), иллюстрирующие данные трансформации в системе традиционных беларусских говоров. Балтское влияние на грамматический строй беларусских говоров северо-западной диалектной зоны выявляется как в плане формального выражения, так и на внутриструктурном уровне. Оно не всегда может быть заметно на первый взгляд. Определенные сдвиги в сфере морфологии и синтаксиса могут повлечь за собой изменения в других областях языковой системы (словообразовании, семантике). Результаты этого процесса являются ярким свидетельством того, что на отмеченной территории действительно имела место этноязыковая ассимиляция неславянского (= балтского) населения и происхо- дило формирование своеобразного северо-западного беларусского региолекта (= регионально обусловленной разновидности диалектной речи).


Author(s):  
Paul Huddie

The year 2014 marked the 160th anniversary of the beginning of the Crimean War, 1854–6. It was during that anniversary year that the names of Crimea, Sevastopol, Simferopol and the Black Sea re-entered the lexicon of Ireland, and so did the terms ‘Russian aggression’, ‘territorial violation’ and ‘weak neighbour’. Coincidentally, those same places and terms, and the sheer extent to which they perpetuated within Irish and even world media as well as popular parlance, had not been seen nor heard since 1854. It was in that year that the British and French Empires committed themselves to war in the wider Black Sea region and beyond against the Russian Empire. The latter had demonstrated clear aggression, initially diplomatic and later military, against its perceived-to-be-weak neighbour and long-term adversary in the region, the Ottoman Empire, or Turkey. As part of that aggression Russia invaded the latter’s vassal principalities in the north-western Balkans, namely Wallachia and Moldavia (part of modern-day Romania), collectively known as the Danubian Principalities. Russia had previously taken Crimea from the Ottomans in 1783....


Forests ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 78
Author(s):  
Katarina Tumpa ◽  
Zlatko Liber ◽  
Zlatko Šatović ◽  
Jasnica Medak ◽  
Marilena Idžojtić ◽  
...  

Common or English yew (Taxus baccata L., Taxaceae) is a conifer species, native to Europe, northern Africa, Asia Minor and Caucasus. It is a dioecious, wind-pollinated and animal-dispersed tree, known for its high-quality wood and medicinal properties, albeit poisonous. The species is rare and has been legally protected at the European and national levels. In addition, its low population density and disjunct character of distribution have reinforced the need for its protection as regeneration is mostly lacking. The aim of this study was to phenotypically characterise the north-western Balkan yew populations. Phenotypic diversity was examined for seven populations, using morphometric analysis of nine phenotypic traits of needles. Descriptive and multivariate statistical analyses were conducted to evaluate the inter- and intrapopulation variability. In addition, to test correlations between geographic, climatic and phenotypic data, Mantel test was used. We identified a geographic structure across studied populations that exhibited high levels of variability on intra- and interpopulation levels. Two groups of populations have been defined and are consistent with previously described genetic divergent lineages from separate refugia. In addition, a significant correlation between phenotypic and geographic data were revealed, i.e., isolation by distance (IBD). However, the Mantel test revealed no significant correlation between morphometric and environmental data. In conclusion, our data reveal that the historical events and persistent IBD acted in combination to produce the morphological patterns observed in common yew populations in the north-western part of the Balkan Peninsula. Finally, we suggested conservation measures to be implemented on a stand level, with habitat preservation as the main goal. In addition, ex situ conservation should be considered, both in the form of collections and urban planting, as both provide additional gene pool reserves.


Author(s):  
Janusz Bugajski

The term Western Balkan is both geographic and political. It was initially employed by US and European policymakers to describe the part of the Balkan Peninsula that remained outside of both the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union (EU) since the early 1990s. It included all seven states that were formed during the collapse of Yugoslavia (Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia) together with Albania, which was emerging from international isolation. During the 1990s, several of these emerging countries had experienced wars generated by nationalist politicians to establish “ethnically pure” territories and to restore or enlarge national statehood during the disintegration of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY). Following the EU’s Thessaloniki Summit in June 2003, commitments were made to include all the Western Balkan states in the European Union, and since that time Slovenia (in 2004) and Croatia (in 2013) have become EU members. NATO also underscored its commitments to integrating the region, and Slovenia (in 2004), Croatia (in 2009), Albania (in 2009), and Montenegro (in 2017) all entered the alliance. The remaining states have experienced persistent problems in qualifying for EU and NATO entry. In many cases, reforms remain incomplete and some states confront prolonged disputes over governmental powers, administrative borders, and even their sovereign status. Incomplete, conflicted, or contested states present serious challenges for the region’s institutional absorption into both NATO and the EU.


1999 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 463 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Brandle ◽  
K. E. Moseby ◽  
M. Adams

Species in the Pseudomys australis complex were historically widely distributed in a variety of habitats over southern Australia. By 1990 the group had apparently declined to a single species in the centre of its former range in the north-western Lake Eyre Basin, in gibber plain areas. In the past, the species has been collected only after exceptional annual rainfall. This study sought to define the current distribution of P. australis and to determine its preferred habitats during the usual prolonged dry periods. Allozyme electrophoresis on blood and tissue samples were used to investigate the genetic distinctiveness of geographically separated populations. The known distribution has been extended along a belt of gibber habitats running from north-west of Lake Eyre on the Northern Territory border to south of Lake Eyre South, and a discrete population inhabiting gibber tableland west of Lake Torrens. Pseudomys australis was extant in low-lying patches of deep cracking clay associated with minor drainage features and small depressions of cracking clay ‘gilgai’ common on some gibber plains. The former type sustained significantly denser populations, which we suggest represent ‘source’ habitats or ‘refugia’ during droughts. Many of the 16 localities at which the species was recorded are geographically separated; however, electrophoretic analyses showed high levels of allozyme heterozygosity and no evidence of speciation.


2011 ◽  
Vol 80 (3) ◽  
pp. 245-252 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristjan Jarni ◽  
Marjana Westergren ◽  
Hojka Kraigher ◽  
Robert Brus

<em>Fraxinus angustifolia </em>Vahl is a species native in the north-western Balkans, where it has a divided range. Most of its range is located in flood-prone riparian sites in the Pannonian plain but the species is also found on humid sites along some rivers in the Submediterranean region. We analysed morphologic variation within and between five populations (14 trees/population) located in the Subpannonian and Submediterranean region of Slovenia. Thirty two characters were assessed on ca. 80 leaves from each tree which were divided depending on exposure to sunlight (sun and shade leaves), and 8 traits on each fruit (ca. 50 fruits/tree). A hierarchically designed experiment using analysis of variance confirmed the significant contribution of all the analysed hierarchical levels of variation to the total variation. The results show that the differences between the trees in a single population are the greatest factor of variability of leaves, followed by differences between populations and differences which are the result of variation in exposure to sunlight. Leaves in shade positions are typically larger than those in sunny positions, and they have broader and shorter-pointed leaflets; in this feature they are very similar to the leaves of <em>F. excelsior</em>. Stepwise discriminant analysis showed that the traits which refer to the leaflet number and length are the best differentiating traits between individual populations. The Submediterranean population Dragonja stands out with the smallest leaves and the population Lijak from the same region is the most similar to Dragonja for most morphological traits. In general, phenotypic differences between the Subpannonian and the Submediterranean populations of <em>F. angustifolia </em>are minor and indistinct. Based on the differences ascertained by the study, we can only confirm the presence of <em>F. angustifolia </em>subsp. <em>oxycarpa </em>(Bieb. ex Willd.) Franco et Rocha Alfonso in this part of its natural range.


Weed Research ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 49 (6) ◽  
pp. 602-612 ◽  
Author(s):  
U ŠILC ◽  
S VRBNIČANIN ◽  
D BOŽIĆ ◽  
A ČARNI ◽  
Z DAJIĆ STEVANOVIĆ

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