Some of the more fascinating elements of nephilid spider biology are the unusual behavioural patterns of their sexual biology. The study points to the intersexual co-evolution manifested in complex genital morphologies and sexual behaviours. The evolutionary pattern was explained through the process of intersexual antagonistic co-evolution. Not only was this process not previously proven for spiders, our research even indicates that such evolutionary arms race and with it also sexual selection could be largely responsible for the emergence of diversity of spiders and other sexual organisms.
COBISS.SI-ID: 29566765
Rare species are obstacle for an extrapolation of species diversity based on nonparametric statistics. We tested whether the occurrence of a large number of rare species could be explained with any biological hypothesis. Our study determined it couldn’t : sample of six thousand spiders from 1 ha of tropical rainforest does not provide the basis for the exclusion of the null hypothesis of undersampling. The results indicate that drastically greater sampling intensity is required to yield realistic estimates of local species diversity.
COBISS.SI-ID: 29399341
Concurrent with the discovery of a new spider species (see below), this paper established that the silk from these webs far surpasses other known spider silks in its toughness, which makes it currently the toughest known natural material. The two studies were published simultaneously and received great scientific and popular coverage, even in journal Science. The discoveries establish a coevolutionary history of ecological (largest web architecture) and physical properties (extraordinary biomaterial).
COBISS.SI-ID: 31701037
We collected relevés of weed vegetation in the northwestern part of the Balkan Peninsula and studied their species structure and diversity. It was determined that the most important environmental variables that affect the species composition are phytogeographical position and crop, and less so the year and season of the relevé and altitude. We also investigated the changes in ß diversity along all the listed gradients and the changes in species composition and ecological conditions relative to time. ß diversity is high in cereals and during the summer, but declines with altitude.
COBISS.SI-ID: 30170157
We studied post-fire long-term regeneration of the Pinus brutia forest using the synchronical approach. We analysed species richness pattern and vegetation diversity. The results of our floristic survey show that the majority of species are present from the beginning of the succession and suggest that those forests recover through autosuccession. The study brings together similar studies in the eastern Mediterranean and makes a comparison with the western Mediterranean basin. The study of one of the most important ecological problem in the Mediterranean basin has also a high applied value.
COBISS.SI-ID: 31290669