First summer sunshine reconstruction for the western part of the Balkan Peninsula for the time period 1660–2010 is based on a calibrated z scored mean chronology, calculated from treering width measurements of black pine (Pinus nigra Arnold) sites in Bosnia and Herzegovina. We identified extreme summer events and compared them to available documentary historical sources of drought and floods, and connected all extreme summers with low sunshine hours (1712, 1810, 1815, 1843, 1899 and 1966) with volcanic eruptions.
COBISS.SI-ID: 3536294
To estimate drought stress, the ratio between simulated actual and potential evapotranspiration was used. Precipitation in the 2001 and 2003 growing seasons was considerably less than that in 2002 and 2004. The highest drainage fluxes were in the newly created clearcut gaps with sparse ground vegetation cover, followed by the natural gap and medium gap, which had older and denser natural tree regeneration. Drought stress was indicated to be lowest in the natural gap, which had patches of varying development phases and the highest water storage capacity of the soil and vegetation.
COBISS.SI-ID: 3330726
The Western Capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus L.) is a grouse species of open boreal or high altitude forests of Eurasia. It is endangered throughout most mountain range habitat areas in Europe. Two major genetically identifiable lineages of Western Capercaillie have been described to date: the southern lineage at the species’ southernmost range of distribution in Europe, and the boreal lineage. We address the question of genetic differentiation of capercaillie populations from the Rhodope and Rila Mountains in Bulgaria, across the Dinaric Mountains to the Slovenian Alps. The two lineages’ contact zone and resulting conservation strategies in this so far understudied area of distribution have not been previously determined. The results of analysis of mitochondrial DNA control region sequences of 319 samples from the studied populations, show that Alpine populations were composed exclusively of boreal lineage, Dinaric populations of both, but predominantly (96%) of boreal lineage, and RhodopeRila populations predominantly ()90%) of southern lineage individuals. The Bulgarian mountains were identified as the core area of the southern lineage, and the Dinaric Mountains as the western contact zone between both lineages in the Balkans. Bulgarian populations appeared genetically distinct from Alpine and Dinaric populations and exhibited characteristics of a longterm stationary population, suggesting that they should be considered as a glacial relict and probably a distinct subspecies. Although all of the studied populations suffered a decline in the past, the significantly lower level of genetic diversity when compared with the neighbouring Alpine and Bulgarian populations suggests that the isolated Dinaric capercaillie is particularly vulnerable to continuing population decline. The results are discussed in the context of conservation of the species in the Balkans, its principal threats and legal protection status. Potential conservation strategies should consider the existence of the two lineages, their vulnerable Dinaric contact zone and support the specificities of the populations.
COBISS.SI-ID: 3186342
We studied two groups of trees – survivors and dead oaks. Oaks that died had higher BAI than trees that survived until the drainage event, after which basal area increment (BAI) of trees that died declined dramatically. Hydraulic diameter and conductivity of vessels in trees that died was higher than in surviving trees until the last five years prior to mortality, at which time both groups had similar values. Trees that died had consistently lower D than trees that survived. We propose that trees that died may have been hydraulically underbuilt for dry conditions, which predisposes them to subsequent mortality.
COBISS.SI-ID: 3118246
V skupni raziskavi z nemškimi sodelavci pri razvoju hitre diagnostične metode za odkrivanje zgodnjih okužb z glivo Hymenoschyphus pseudoalbidus v rastlinskih tkivih smo analizirali tudi slovenske vzorce. Testirani so bili mikrosatelitni specifični markerji za detekcijo omenjene glive, poleg tega pa smo z mikrosatelitnimi markerji pregledali 41 različnih slovenskih izolatov in odkrili prisotnost najmanj treh različnih genotipov glive v Sloveniji. Omenjena raziskava je prva za Slovenijo, ki je podala informacijo o populacijski strukturi H. pseudoalbidus v Sloveniji. V raziskavi smo sodelovali z nemškimi partnerji: ASP, LWF, Univerza v Marburgu.
COBISS.SI-ID: 3741350