Encalypta brevipes and E. brevicolla: new records from North America,Iceland, Great Britain and Europe

Abstract

Encalypta brevipes Schljak. is reported in North America from north-western-most Oregon, United States; from Iceland; and in Europe from the Alps in southeastern France, and the High Tatra Mountains in Czechoslovakia. Encalypta brevicolla (B.S.G.) Bruch ex Aongstr. is reported from southernmost coastal Oregon, United States and east-central Scotland, Great Britain.     

Chlorophyll-phosphorus relationship in acidified lakes of the High Tatra Mountains (Slovakia)

Concentrations of total phosphorus (TP) and chlorophyll a (CHLA) were measured in 28 lakes in the High Tatra Mountains (Slovakia) from 1983 to 1990. The relationship between log CHLA and log TP in the Tatra lakes is similar to relationships developed for lakes in other regions, but variation is higher. A part of this variation is caused by acidification of the lakes. In the lakes with pH between 4.9 and 6.3 the CHLA concentrations are often extremely low while TP concentrations decreased, but not as drastically.     

Sull'embriologia di Leontopodium Nivale (Ten.) Huet ex Hand. Mazz.

Abstract

Embryology of « Leontopodium nivale » (Ten.) Huet ex Hand.-Mazz. — As in « Leontopodium alpinum » Cass. var. a typicum Fiori e Paoletti, from different alpine localities, no cases of apomixis have been observed (Maugini 1962) while Sokolowska-Kulczycka (1959) has noticed this phenomenon in the same species collected on the Tatra mountains, an embryological research on « Leontopodium nivale » (Ten.) Huet ex Hand. Mazz. has been undertaken. The material, collected in the alpine garden of Campo Imperatore (Abruzzo), has shown that the development of the female gametophyte occurs as in Leontopodium alpinum, according to the normal monomegasporial type which leads to the formation of an 8-nucleate gametophyte which at maturity is almost always poliantipodate. In « Leontopodium nivale » there is no trace of apomixix, but many cases of degeneration, particularly in the mature gametophyte, have been observed.     

Radiometric dating of sediment records from mountain lakes in the Tatra Mountains

Sediment cores from nine different lakes in the Tatra Mountains, collected as part of the EU funded AL:PE, MOLAR and EMERGE projects investigating natural environmental records stored in remote mountain lake sediment sequences, were dated radiometrically by ²¹⁰Pb and ¹³⁷Cs. At five sites, D?ugi Staw G?sienicowy and Zielony Staw G?sienicowy on the Polish side of the Tatra Mountains and Starolesnianske pleso, Ni?né Terianske pleso, and L’adové pleso on the Slovak side of the Tatra Mountains, the cores were sectioned at close intervals and analysed in detail to produce a high resolution chronology. For the remaining four sites, Zmarzly Staw G?sienicowy (Poland), and Vel’ké Hincovo pleso, Vy?né Temnosmre?inské pleso, Vy?né Wahlenbergovo pleso (Slovakia), it was sufficient to establish a low resolution sketch chronology and only a few samples were analysed from each core. At L’adové pleso, multiple cores were collected in order to establish spatial distribution of sediments over the bed of the lake. Cores from all sites had good records of the fallout radionuclides from which it was possible to construct reliable chronologies of the recent sediments.     

A comparison of Dichodontium flavescens (Dicks.) Lindb. and D. pellucidum (Hedw.) Lindb. (Bryopsida)

Abstract

Fifty-three herbarium samples of the genus Dichodontium, originating from 15 countries in Europe and North America, were examined to critically assess new distinguishing characters between D. flavescens and D. pellucidum. The examination, including SEM, revealed some new characteristics in the gametophyte, notably leaf shape, leaf length: width ratio, and width of the nerve, permitting accurate determinations even on sterile material. D. flavescens is recognized here as a distinct species.     

Lophozia silvicola new to Great Britain

Abstract

1. Lophozia silvicola Buch is reported for the first time from Great Britain, having been found in Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire and North Devonshire.

2. The species is described and figured, and its relationship to its nearest neighbour, L. ventricosa, discussed, with special reference to oil-bodies.

3. It is shown that the distribution of L. ventricosa in Britain must be reinvestipted.     

Beetle assemblages on willow trees: do phenolic glycosides matter?

Herbivorous beetles were sampled in central Slovakia and in the Tatra Mountains of northern Slovakia from seven different Salix species which are partly characterized by smooth leaves containing phenolic glycosides and partly by hairy leaves containing tannins. The collection included about 8000 individuals representing 129 species. Of the 129 species, 77 species are able to use the willows as hosts; the remaining 52 ‘tourist’ species comprise less than 3% of the collected individuals. The data on species richness and abundance did not generally support the ‘feeding specialization’ hypothesis. The proportion of specialized (= monophagous and oligophagous) beetles feeding on willows of both morphological and biochemical groups was in the same range. Host plants of the two groups could support high diversity and high evenness values, even when leaf characteristics and plant chemicals largely influenced species assemblage. The region in which the willow trees grow had a considerable impact on host plant use. Generalist beetle species predominated in central Slovakia. By contrast, in the Tatra Mountains, specialist feeders which are able to use phenolic glycosides to their advantage were predominant. The number of species and the total density of individuals collected from willows containing phenolic glycosides (S. fragilis and S. purpurea) did not usually vary between the two regions. In contrast, fewer species and individuals were found in the Tatra Mountains when they settled on willow species containing tannins (S. caprea and S. cinerea). Also, the phylogenetic status of host plants affected species assemblages. In central Slovakia willow species of the subgenus Vetrix (S. purpurea, S. caprea and S. cinerea) generally showed a higher beetle diversity (H_s) than species of the subgenus Salix (S. fragilis, S. alba and S. triandra), although both subgenera comprise species of both morphological and biochemical groups. Furthermore, when the analysis was restricted to beetles of central Slovakia, which should be most adapted to their host plants (i.e. catkin feeders and phyllophages in the adult and larval stage), the phylogenetic status was found to be more important than any single leaf character measured.     

Chemical composition of the Tatra Mountain lakes: Response to acidification

Data from two surveys of the Tatra Mountain lakes (Slovakia and Poland) performed in the autumns of 1984 (53 lakes) and 1993 or 1994 (92 lakes) were used to estimate spatial variability in water chemistry in this lake district during the period of maximum European acid deposition. The ionic content of the lakes was generally low, with conductivity (at 20°C) ranging from 1.1 to 4.7 mS m^?1 and 23% of the lakes had a depleted carbonate buffering system. Major factors governing differences in lake-water chemistry were bedrock composition and amount of soil and vegetation in their catchment areas. Compared to lakes in the predominantly granitic central part of the Tatra Mountains, lakes in the West Tatra Mountains had higher concentrations of base cations and alkalinity due to the presence of metamorphic rocks in the bedrock. Concentrations of phosphorus, organic carbon, organic nitrogen, and chlorophyll-a were highest in forest lakes and decreased with decreasing density of vegetation and soil cover in the catchment areas. Concentrations of nitrate showed an opposite trend. Several exceptions to these general patterns in chemical and biological composition were due to exceptional geology or hydrology of the lake catchments.     

Numerical syntaxonomy of the tall-forb and tall-grass communities in the Tatra Mountains

The tall-forb and tall-grass subalpine and alpine vegetation belonging to the Mulgedio-Aconitetea from the Tatra Mountains was subjected to reclassification with Complete Linkage Clustering. The communities are classified into 3 alliances: Adenostylion, Calamagrostion villosae and Trisetion fusci. It was concluded that the orders Adenostyletalia and Calamagrostietalia villosae should be fused into one unit. Synecological relations of the communities was clarified using a series of Detrended Correspondence Analyses.Abbreviations CLC = Complete Linkage Clustering - DCA = Detrended Correspondence Analysis     

The effect of fish predation on Cyclops life cycle

Two populations of Cyclops abyssorum tatricus studied in neighbouring alpine lakes in Tatra Mountains (southern Poland) differed in their life cycles. In the lake with planktivorous fishes, Cyclops was typically monocyclic, with highly synchronized reproduction during two winter months, while in the fishless lake its reproduction was asynchronous and continued for six months. Direct and indirect effects of fish predation on Cyclops life cycles are discussed.     

Reproductive phenology in the leafy hepatic Lophozia silvicola Buch in southern Finland

Abstract

Reproductive phenology was described in the leafy dioecious hepatic Lophozia silvicola Buch during three successive growing seasons in an old-growth forest population in southern Finland. The sequence of phenological events was quantified by a maturity index M _i, which was calculated on the basis of the rankings of the developmental stages and the numbers of individual shoots in each stage. The developmental cycle of antheridia was correlated with the temperature during the growing season, with maturation from July to August. Gametangia maturation from initials to gametangia dehiscence takes about 10 months including a probable pause during winter. Antheridia in early developmental stages were present in the population under study throughout the growing season. The timing of the developmental cycle of archegonia varied among years. Fertilization was estimated to occur in early to mid-summer on the basis of the presence of dehisced antheridia and the subsequent emergence of 'swollen venter' archegonia. Maturation of archegonia and the proportion of sporophyte-bearing shoots were correlated with mean rainfall and relative humidity during the week preceding each sampling. Total shoot number per sample, an indication of population density, was correlated with numbers and proportions of females and sporophyte-bearing shoots in the samples. The proportion of sex-expressing shoots in the population was on average 26%. The proportion of females was on average 8%, while the proportion of males was 17%, the difference between them being significant. The female to male sex ratio varied between the samples, with a mean of 0.61 indicating male-biased overall sex ratio in the population studied.     

Grimmia agassizii (Sull. & Lesq.) Jaeg. in Britain

Abstract

The marked differences between Plagiochila spinulosa (Dicks.) Dum. and P. killarniensis Pears. pointed out by Paton (1977) are confirmed and added to by further ones. As a result the two species are placed in different sections Spinulosae and Zonatae, respectively. For each of the two species the full synonymy including new synonyms and new lectotypifications and a comprehensive list of studied specimens and a distribution map are presented. In appendix, P. porelloides (Torrey ex Nees) Lindenb. is recorded from Madeira, a species new to Macaronesia.     

The trace fossil Nummipera eocenica from the Tatra Mountains,Poland: morphology and palaeoenvironmental implications

Jach, R., Machaniec, E. & Uchman, A. 2011: The trace fossil Nummipera eocenica from the Tatra Mountains, Poland: morphology and palaeoenvironmental implications. Lethaia, Vol. 45, pp. 342–355. The tubular trace fossil Nummipera eocenica Hölder 1989 occurs in a single stratigraphical horizon in Eocene nummulitic limestones of the Tatra Mountains, Poland. The wall of N. eocenica is built of Discocyclina and Nummulities (larger foraminifera) tests, very rarely of the Ditrupa (Polychaeta) tube fragments, bivalve shell fragments, echinoid spines and coralline algae. Morphotype are distinguished on the basis of wall composition and structure. Morphotype A is dominated by fusiform Discocyclina tests, which were preferentially selected by the trace makers for construction of a well‐constructed and resistant wall. Morphotype B contains more robust tests of Nummulites, while morphotype C is dominated by saddle‐shaped tests of Discocyclina. Nummipera eocenica was produced during a period of seafloor stabilization caused by a deepening. The succession of the morphotypes B, A reflects diminishing energy and increasing water depth. Probably morphotype C represents even lower energy environment than morphotype A. The trace fossil is interpreted as a domichnion, which wall was constructed for protection. The trace maker can be considered between polychaetes and crustaceans; however, comparisons to the closest recent analogues, the polychaete Diopatra cuprea or alpheid shrimps, are not satisfactory. □Bartonian, burrow, Carpathians, large foraminifera, trace fossils.     

Identifying century-old long-spined <Emphasis Type="Italic">Daphnia</Emphasis>: species replacement in a mountain lake characterised by paleogenetic methods

Mountain lakes often harbour morphologically or genetically unique populations of zooplankton species, including cladocerans. Daphnia lacustris Sars, predominantly found in Fennoscandia but also known from two Central European lakes in the Tatra Mountains, is one of such taxa. This Daphnia species often forms morphotypes with extremely long tailspines. Historical literature from a century ago documented similar morphs from another lake in the Tatra mountain range, presently inhabited by the phenotypically very different D. galeata. Using a paleogenetic approach (partial sequencing of the mitochondrial gene for 12S rRNA from preserved ephippial eggs in the lake sediment), we tested the hypothesis that Daphnia species composition changed in the lake due to anthropogenic disturbances, and that long-spined morphs were actually another relict population of currently extinct D. lacustris. Ephippia with extremely long spines were successfully retrieved from sediment cores. Despite being morphologically very well preserved, intact eggs were found in less than 2% of analysed ephippia. Genetic analyses, benefiting in most cases from amplification of short 12S fragments using internal primers, proved that long-spined ephippia belonged to D. longispina, which apparently coexisted with D. galeata in the mid-twentieth century. Our results confirm that paleogenetic methods are useful for studying the recent population structures of zooplankton species forming dormant egg banks but lacking reliably identifiable remains in sediments, and show that the extreme development of tailspines in mountain-lake Daphnia is associated with as-yet unclear environmental factors rather than taxonomic status.     

LC–MS/APCI identification of glucoside esters and diesters of astaxanthin from the snow alga Chlamydomonas nivalis including their optical stereoisomers

HPLC methods (LC–MS/APCI and chiral HPLC) were used for the identification of astaxanthin derivatives from the red snow alga Chlamydomonas nivalis collected in Austrian Alps, Slovak High Tatra Mountains and Bulgarian Pirin. We observed a striking difference in the composition of astaxanthin optical isomers in C. nivalis collected in geographically distinct regions. Furthermore, algae from the Pirin Mountains differed in the dominance of astaxanthin diglucoside diesters, suggesting an alternative strategy to enhance cell viability at low temperatures.     

A nature reserve as a repository of genetic richness – The case of European larch from the Gorce Mountains

Conservation of valuable populations must be based on a thorough understanding of their genetic variation, especially for species negatively affected by human activities. We investigated the population of larch from the nature reserve in the Gorce Mountains, which was established to preserve a unique stand of Larix decidua subsp. polonica, a remnant of one of the largest native complexes of this species. The chloroplast marker ll-TaqI was used to investigate whether the gene pool of the analysed population was contaminated with the alien larch species. We used eleven nuclear DNA microsatellite markers (nSSRs) to examine this population’s genetic diversity and verify the hypothesis about historical use of the larch from the reserve as a source of reproductive material for the Tatra Mountains. The link between the reserve population and the European larch’s ancestral groups was also verified. No contamination of the studied pool of individuals by alien species was found. The study showed high genetic variability in larch from the Gorce Mountains (H_E = 0.689, H_O = 0.671). The differentiation between the Gorce and Tatra National Park populations was F_ST = 0.038 (p < 0.001). Trees from the reserve and the national park formed two distinct genetic groups. We rejected the hypothesis that the nature reserve was the source of the regeneration material used in the Tatra Mountains. The study proved the uniqueness of the reserve population, and confirmed the appropriateness of the protection measures taken.     

The snow alga Chloromonas kaweckae sp. nov. (Volvocales,Chlorophyta) causes green surface blooms in the high tatras (Slovakia) and tolerates high irradiance

Seasonally slowly melting mountain snowfields are populated by extremophilic microalgae. In alpine habitats, high-light sensitive, green phytoflagellates are usually observed in subsurface layers deeper in the snowpack under dim conditions, while robust orange to reddish cyst stages can be seen exposed on the surface. In this study, uncommon surface green snow was investigated in the High Tatra Mountains (Slovakia). The monospecific community found in the green surface bloom consisted of vegetative Chloromonas cells (Volvocales, Chlorophyta). Molecular data demonstrated that the field sample and the strain isolated and established from the bloom were conspecific, and they represent a new species, Chloromonas kaweckae sp. nov., which is described based on the morphology of the vegetative cells and asexual reproduction and on molecular analyses of the strain. Cells of C. kaweckae accumulated approximately 50% polyunsaturated fatty acids, which is advantageous at low temperatures. In addition, this new species performed active photosynthesis at temperatures close to the freezing point showed a light compensation point of 126 ± 22 μmol photons · m⁻² · s⁻¹ and some signs of photoinhibition at irradiances greater than 600 μmol photons · m⁻² · s⁻¹. These data indicate that the photosynthetic apparatus of C. kaweckae could be regarded as adapted to relatively high light intensities, otherwise unusual for most flagellate stages of snow algae.     

Biotransformation of pentacyclic terpene isolated from Alstonia scholaris (R.BR.)

Abstract

Betulin (1) a pentacyclic triterpene was isolated from medicinal plant Alstonia scholaris (R.BR.) and its structural modification by five filamentous fungi was investigated using flask shake and stirred bioreactor methods. Screening-scale and preparative-scale biotransformation with a standard two-stage protocol yielded betulinic acid (2). Out of five fungal strains (Microsporum canis, Trichophyton tonsurans, Aspergillus niger, A. niger NIAB-280 and Penicillium spp.) only two strains, M. canis and T. tonsurans, showed significant yield of (2). Samples withdrawn from fermentation medium were extracted with ethyl acetate and purified using column chromatography. Compound 2 was extracted from fermentation medium after 5–10 days. Flasks and the bioreactor were stirred at 250 rpm and 28°C. The yield of (2) gradually increased with incubation time. A stirred bioreactor was found to be convenient and simple for compound 1 oxidation. A validated analytical HPLC method was employed to confirm the biotransformation of compound 1 to 2.     

Restoring <Emphasis Type="Italic">Daphnia lacustris</Emphasis> G.O. Sars, 1862 (Crustacea,Anomopoda): a cryptic species in the <Emphasis Type="Italic">Daphnia longispina</Emphasis> group

While molecular markers have revealed several distinct species within the Daphnia longispina group, there is a need to reconcile these species with traditional nomenclature. Here we show that one such species, called D. longispina in recent literature based on molecular markers, can reliably be associated with the described taxon Daphnia lacustris G.O. Sars, 1862. Both mitochondrial and nuclear molecular markers readily distinguish this species from others in the D. longispina group. D. lacustris is absent in the region from which D. longispina was first described (Denmark), and the designation D. longispina must be reserved for another widespread species represented by Danish lineages. While the diagnosis of D. lacustris (and other species of the D. longispina group) by molecular markers is unequivocal, distinguishing it morphologically from other species is still problematic. The presently known distribution range of D. lacustris includes most of Norway, northern Finland and a single lake in the Polish Tatra Mountains. Its typical habitat is oligotrophic lakes without intense fish predation. Guest editor: Piet Spaak Cladocera: Proceedings of the 7th International Symposium on Cladocera