A new Centaurea species (Asteraceae) from Mt Sakar,South-eastern Bulgaria

A new species of Centaurea, C. sakarensis, known from a single locality north-east of the village of Lessovo on Mt Sakar, is described and illustrated. It belongs to C. sect. Acrolophus, and its morphologically closest relative is C. cariensis Boiss., a Turkish endemic from western and south-western Anatolia. The new species is currently known from a single population of about 1000 individuals, growing on open stony calcareous places, at 475 m a.s.l., and should be classified as Critically Endangered, (B1ab[i, ii, iii]+2ab [i, ii, iii]).     

Tapirus balkanicus nov. sp., nouveau tapir (Perissodactyla, Mammalia) du Turolien de Bulgarie

A new species of Tapiridae, Tapirus balkanicus, is etablished for new material of the Bulgarian Upper Miocene. The comparison with other Neogene tapirids leads us to consider the upper jaw as more characteristic than the lower one for taxonomic determination and study of phyletic relations. A new subgenus, Meyeriscus, is created for Tapirus pannonicus, the most evolved European tapirid.

Résumé

Une nouvelle espèce de tapir est décrite, Tapirus balkanicus du Miocène supérieur de Bulgarie. La comparaison avec les espèces européennes du Miocène moyen (Tapirus teilen) au Villafranchien (Tapirus arvernensis) amènent à privilégier la denture supérieure sur l'inférieure pour la détermination et les rapports phylétiques éventuels entre les espèces. Pour l'espèce la plus évoluée de tous les Tapiridés européens, Tapirus pannonicus est proposé un nom de sous-genre particulier, Meyeriscus nov.     

Thysanoptera of Bulgaria

The present checklist includes data on the species composition, geographic distribution and feeding preferences of thrips species in Bulgaria. In total, 155 species in 48 genera are listed. Of these, 125 species belong to suborder Terebrantia and include 103 species of 33 genera in family Thripidae, 14 species of two genera in Aeolothripidae, seven species of two genera in Melanthripidae and one species in Fauriellidae. In suborder Tubulifera, 30 species of 10 genera in the single family Phlaeothripidae are listed. Of the 155 Bulgarian thrips species, 87.7% are phytophagous, 4.5% are obligate predators, 5.8% are mycophagous and 1.9% are with unknown feeding preferences. Fourteen pest species are listed for Bulgaria, of which Frankliniella occidentalis, Thrips tabaci and Haplothrips tritici are of economic importance. The list provides detailed information on the horizontal and vertical distribution of Thysanoptera in 5 regions and 45 subregions of Bulgaria. The present paper also includes an evaluation of the biodiversity of Thysanoptera and the extent to which each region of the country has been studied.     

Elevational gradients during the Late-Glacial/Holocene vegetational transition in southern Bulgaria

The Late Glacial and early-Holocene vegetational history of a newly dated pollen and macrofossil diagram from Besbog, a cirque lake at 2250 m just above the forest limit in the Pirin Mountains of southwestern Bulgaria, is compared with a newly dated pollen diagram for the mire Shiroka Polyana at 1400 m in the conifer forest of the nearby Rhodope Mountains in order to investigate the chronology of major changes in the vegetation at different elevations. In the Lake Besbog record the non-arboreal pollen assemblage of the Late Glacial changed abruptly to that of Betula, Quercus and other deciduous types. The date for this change is about 11.6 ka cal b.p. The Quercus assemblage may be composed of pollen blown from intermediate elevations, to which deciduous forest had expanded because of higher summer temperatures related to high summer insolation. At Shiroka Polyana (1400 m) in the modern conifer belt, a similar change did not occur until about 8.8 ka cal b.p. The persistence of the dry steppe or steppe forest in the early Holocene at this lower site can also be attributed to high summer insolation. Thus as atmospheric temperature increased at the end of the Late Glacial, deciduous forests expanded first at intermediate elevations in the Pirin Mountains and only later in the Rhodope Mountains at lower elevations as summer insolation decreased.     

Anthracological analysis from Kovacevo, southwest Bulgaria: woodland vegetation and its use during the earliest stages of the European Neolithic

Wood charcoal analysis from Kovacevo in southwest Bulgaria, one of the earliest Neolithic sites in southeastern Europe, provided information about the first stages of anthropogenic impact on vegetation during the Early Neolithic (6159–5630 cal b.c.). Deciduous oak was the most abundant and frequently used taxon in the wood charcoal assemblages. Cornus charcoal was also abundant, probably connected with the use of its twigs as building material in wattle and daub structures. The dominant deciduous oak forest was opened during the Kovacevo I period, as shown by evidence from the Kovacevo Ia and Kovacevo Ib occupation phases. Other types of vegetation, like Black pine (Pinus nigra) woodland, riverine forests and some sub-Mediterranean elements, were used only sporadically, indicating high and sustained availability of wood resources in the oak forests. Anthropogenic impacts were gradual, a pattern that matches contemporary studies elsewhere in the region.     

Multiple differentiation centres of a non-Mediterranean butterfly species in south-eastern Europe

Aim  The analysis of the phylogeographical structures of many European species reveals the importance of Mediterranean glacial refugia for many thermophilic species, but also underlines the relevance of extra-Mediterranean glacial differentiation centres for a number of temperate species. In this context, phylogeographical analyses of species from south-eastern Europe are highly important for a comprehensive understanding of Europe as a whole.
Location  Romania and Bulgaria.
Methods  We analysed 19 allozyme loci for 615 individuals of the temperate butterfly species Erebia medusa from 28 populations.
Results  These populations had an intermediate genetic diversity, but the Bulgarian populations were significantly more diverse than the ones north of the Danube in Romania. The differentiation among populations was strong, and 52.1% of the genetic variance among populations was distributed between these two countries. The genetic differentiation was considerably stronger in Romania than in Bulgaria, but several sublineages were distinguished within each of these countries.
Main conclusions  The observed genetic structure is so strong that it is most probably the result of glacial differentiation processes in south-eastern Europe and not a post-glacial structure. The strong differentiation into the two groups north and south of the Danube suggests a separating effect by this river valley. The strong differentiation accompanied with genetic impoverishment in Romania suggests the existence of several differentiation centres: at least two small ones on the southern slopes of the southern Carpathians and one in the eastern Carpathian Basin. The considerably weaker differentiation among the Bulgarian samples and their significantly higher genetic diversity imply that gene flow occurred among different regions of Bulgaria during the last ice age.     

胶陀螺的光敏活性组分

用石油醚、氯仿、乙酸乙酯和丙酮对胶陀螺子实体进行梯度提取,得到的粗提物做光敏活性药理试验,结果表明:胶陀螺的氯仿和乙酸乙酯粗提取物有明显的光敏活性。将氯仿和乙酸乙酯的粗提物分别用不同比例的氯仿—甲醇进行反复柱层析,同时配合光敏活性药理试验,得到6个有光敏活性的组分,分别为c2、c3、c4、c5、c6和c11。将6个组分合并后继续分离,最终得到1个有橙黄色荧光点的成分,对其进行光敏活性药理试验,结果证明其为胶陀螺的光敏活性成分。     

Ecological distribution and species diversity of Aegilops L. genus in Bulgaria

The genus Aegilops has an important potential utilization in wheat improvement because of its resistance to different biotic and abiotic stresses and close relation with the cultivated wheat. Therefore, a better knowledge of the eco-geographical distribution of Aegilops species and their collection and conservation are required. A total of 297 Aegilops accessions representing nine (five tetraploid and four diploid) species were collected in different regions of Bulgaria, and the ecological characteristics of the 154 explored sites were recorded. The distribution of the diploid species (Ae. caudata L., Ae. speltoides Tausch, Ae. umbellulata Zhuk. and Ae. comosa Sibth. and Sm.) was limited to specific environments in south-central Bulgaria. Tetraploid species were present in harsher environments than diploid species and showed wider adaptation and distribution. Species–environment relationships were analysed by considering the worldwide distribution of the species and their physiological resistance to abiotic stress. Aegilops cylindrica Host was more frequently found in northern Bulgaria and at high altitudes. Its distribution was closely related to its tolerance to low temperatures. Aegilops geniculata Roth and Ae. neglecta Req. ex Bertol. were absent in the north of Bulgaria, but widely distributed in low rainfall areas. Aegilops neglecta, more frost resistant than Ae. geniculata, was present at higher altitude. Aegilops biuncialis Vis. and Ae. triuncialis L. showed adaptation to a wide range of climatic conditions. The study of Aegilops species ecology and distribution in Bulgaria provided useful information for the future collection and for the genetic resource management in this region.