Over 40 years with jumping spiders: on the 70th birthday of Wanda Wesołowska

Professor Wanda Wesołowska (maiden name Nowysz)—an internationally recognised expert in the taxonomy of jumping spiders (Araneae: Salticidae)—was born in Włocławek (Central Poland) on 11 August 1950. Wanda spent her youth and received her primary and secondary education in Szczecin (NW Poland). After finishing school in 1968, she entered the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, where she studied biology. Wanda graduated with a MSc degree in 1973. Her thesis was devoted to birds and was titled “Observations on the water and marsh birds on the storage-reservoir on the Vistula river near Włocławek during migration seasons”. This research was published as a scientific paper (Nowysz-Wesołowska 1976). Thus, Wanda began her scientific career with research on birds, an interest that is not uncommon among arachnologists (e.g., Pontus Palmgren, Michael I. Saaristo and Eugène Simon). This passion was shared with her future husband Tomasz Wesołowski. While still a student, Wanda undertook several regional field trips and published four papers on birds, with most of them being co-authored with Tomasz (Nowysz & Wesołowski 1972, 1973a,b; Nowysz 1973). Recently, Wanda and Tomasz celebrated the 40th anniversary of their marriage with another joint paper devoted to the ecology of the fluke Leucochloridium and its effect on the behaviour of the snail Succinea putris (Wesołowska & Wesołowski 2014). Wanda and Tomasz have one daughter, Olga, who currently works at the Department of Biophysics and Neurobiology at the Wrocław Medical Unversity (Poland), and a grandson, Mikołaj.

THE AVIFAUNA OF MARSH BIRDS IN THE RESERVOIRS OF THE KARATAU MOUNTAIN SYSTEM

The Karatau mountain range is a low-mountain system, does not have natural water sources in the form of lakes. Artificial water objects – water reservoirs – are the only large water bodies where most species of water birds are often found or locating during migration. One of the strategic important water bodies for agriculture of the Karatau mountain range is the Koskorgan reservoir. In addition, the Syrdarya River, one of the largest rivers in Kazakhstan, is the most important waterway in the researched region. During the spring flood of the river, temporary water bodies form on a vast territory, which also contributes to an increase in the species diversity of the avifauna of the region. These two water objects served to research the fauna of water birds. We have researched the main species of avifauna, both nesting and found during migrations.

Ecohydrological Changes and Resilience of a Shallow Lake Ecosystem under Intense Human Pressure and Recent Climate Change

In this work we present the complicated situation of a faunistically and floristically valuable ecosystem of the Rakutowskie Lake wetlands complex, which is part of the Special Protection Area for Birds of “Błota Rakutowskie” (PLB40001) and “Błota Kłócieńskie” Habitats Directive Sites (PLH040031) included in the Natura 2000 network. Numerous ornithological observations have drawn our attention to the problem of rapidly progressing overgrowth of the lake and significant fluctuations in its water surface area. These fluctuations, especially in the spring period, significantly limit safe reproduction possibilities of very rare species of water–marsh birds. A multidirectional and comprehensive spectrum of research works allowed us to determine the genesis of the ecosystem and show that the shallow lake is undergoing the final stage in its evolution. The economic aspect of human activity (changes in land use and land development works) has contributed to serious degradation of the ecosystem. Climate changes observed in recent years (increased air temperature and, consequently, higher evaporation) additionally deepen and accelerate this process. The research made it possible to determine how the ecosystem functions today, but it is also an attempt to determine our predictions about its future.