Fitness and growth of the ephemeral mudflat species Cyperus fuscus in river and anthropogenic habitats in response to fluctuating water-levels.

Cyperus fuscus is a representative of threatened ephemeral wetland plant communities in summer-dry shoreline habitats. We compared variation and plasticity in traits related to fitness and growth of plants germinating from the soil seed bank and established plants from river and secondary anthropogenic habitats. Plants from sites at rivers, fishponds and fish storage ponds were cultivated and selfed to get homogenous seed material for a germination and an environmental manipulation experiment involving three different water regimes. Differences in traits and their plasticities were evaluated by means of linear mixed models. Cyperus fuscus followed a low-oxygen escape strategy when flooded. Seeds of plants derived from the soil seed bank germinated faster than seeds of plants derived from established plants suggesting that short-term selection of genotypes is mediated by the particular conditions on the site during germination. The experiment revealed significant differences between river and secondary habitats as well as between the soil seed bank and established plants. For example, plants from river habitats produced the highest number of culms with inflorescences. The difference was most evident under partial submergence. Plants from fish storage ponds rapidly reached the reproductive phase, but produced less culms with inflorescences. This seemingly allows them to cope with numerous and irregular disturbances and intensive substrate moisture changes. Our results suggest that populations have adapted to conditions at secondary habitats provided by fish farming during the last centuries.

Trends and events through seven centuries: the history of a wetland landscape in the Czech Republic.

Environmental change can be viewed as the combined result of long-term processes and singular events. While long-term trends appear to be readily available for observation (in the form of temporal comparisons or space-for-time substitution), it is more difficult to gain information on singular events in the past, although these can be equally significant in shaping ecosystems. We examined the past 700 years in the history of a lowland wetland landscape in the Czech Republic with the help of palaeoecological, ecological, landscape archaeological, and archival data. Macrofossil and pollen data were compared to known drainage works in the area and historical climatological data. Trends and events in habitat conditions were assessed using species indicator values. Results showed that ecological succession was the general process in the study area, detected as a trend towards eutrophication, desiccation and vegetation closure. Short-term events influenced development at the sites mainly from the second half of the 19th century. This is consistent with drainage history, although bias related to sample frequency cannot be excluded. On the whole, long-term trends and discrete events were complementary on different scales. We conclude that humans facilitated and accelerated background processes, which can be most likely associated with the succession of open wetlands towards terrestrial ecosystems.

Automatic High Frequency Monitoring for Improved Lake and Reservoir Management.

Recent technological developments have increased the number of variables being monitored in lakes and reservoirs using automatic high frequency monitoring (AHFM). However, design of AHFM systems and posterior data handling and interpretation are currently being developed on a site-by-site and issue-by-issue basis with minimal standardization of protocols or knowledge sharing. As a result, many deployments become short-lived or underutilized, and many new scientific developments that are potentially useful for water management and environmental legislation remain underexplored. This Critical Review bridges scientific uses of AHFM with their applications by providing an overview of the current AHFM capabilities, together with examples of successful applications. We review the use of AHFM for maximizing the provision of ecosystem services supplied by lakes and reservoirs (consumptive and non consumptive uses, food production, and recreation), and for reporting lake status in the EU Water Framework Directive. We also highlight critical issues to enhance the application of AHFM, and suggest the establishment of appropriate networks to facilitate knowledge sharing and technological transfer between potential users. Finally, we give advice on how modern sensor technology can successfully be applied on a larger scale to the management of lakes and reservoirs and maximize the ecosystem services they provide.

Vegetation affinity of species Typha shuttleworthii in the western part of the Carpathians, with Typhetum shuttleworthii as a new association to Slovakia.

Typha shuttleworthii (Shuttleworth's bulrush) is a rare species throughout its distribution range including Carpathians. However, a substantial increase in its finds has been noticed in the last twenty years. This study summarises the present knowledge and brings new data on vegetation with T. shuttleworthii occurrence from the western part of the Carpathians (Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Ukraine) with the aims of evaluating the phytosociological affinity of this species and providing new information about the ecology of the relevant plant communities. We found that T. shuttleworthii mainly occurred in marsh vegetation (the Phragmito-Magnocaricetea class) including the Typhetum shuttleworthii association. Some plots also corresponded to transitional stands between marshes and wet meadows of the Molinio-Arrhenatheretea class (Molinietalia caeruleae order). Moisture and soil reaction were identified as principal factors responsible for variation in species composition of the vegetation. Typhetum shuttleworthii was recognised as new for the territory of Slovakia and confirmed in all other countries, Czech Republic, Poland and Ukraine. Our results could contribute to better preservation of the species and its habitats and thus be very important for practical nature conservation.

Genetic variation in an ephemeral mudflat species: The role of the soil seed bank and dispersal in river and secondary anthropogenic habitats.

Many ephemeral mudflat species, which rely on a soil seed bank to build up the next generation, are endangered in their natural habitat due to the widespread regulation of rivers. The aim of the present study was to elucidate the role of the soil seed bank and dispersal for the maintenance of genetic diversity in populations of near-natural river habitats and anthropogenic habitats created by traditional fish farming practices using Cyperus fuscus as a model. Using microsatellite markers, we found no difference in genetic diversity levels between soil seed bank and above-ground population and only moderate differentiation between the two fractions. One possible interpretation is the difference in short-term selection during germination under specific conditions (glasshouse versus field) resulting in an ecological filtering of genotypes out of the reservoir in the soil. River populations harbored significantly more genetic diversity than populations from the anthropogenic pond types. We suggest that altered levels and patterns of dispersal together with stronger selection pressures and historical bottlenecks in anthropogenic habitats are responsible for the observed reduction in genetic diversity. Dispersal is also supposed to largely prohibit genetic structure across Europe, although there is a gradient in private allelic richness from southern Europe (high values) to northern, especially north-western, Europe (low values), which probably relates to postglacial expansion out of southern and/or eastern refugia.

Ecology, threats and conservation status of Carex buekii (Cyperaceae) in Central Europe.

Carex buekii is a tall sedge, forming large stands in wetlands, particularly in river floodplains across Central Europe and thus on many sites determining the typical appearance of riverine habitats. Our paper aims at increasing the knowledge on ecology of C. buekii and its role in the wetlands. Field data were collected in Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, and Italy. Carex buekii usually occurs in nutrient rich habitats, but is also capable of colonising relatively nutrient-poor ones; it grows on both acidic and alkaline soils (pH 3.3-7.4) with diverse concentrations of assimilable elements (Ca, Mg, P, K). One of the most important ecological characteristics of C. buekii is its relationship to the floodplains of watercourses. It seems to be dependent on, or at least very tolerant to regular disturbances by streaming, floods and transport of sediments. Carex buekii usually forms relatively uniform stands of its own association, Caricetum buekii. The species most frequently accompanying C. buekii are Urtica dioica, Calystegia sepium, Galium aparine, Rubus caesius, Phalaris arundinacea, and Cirsium arvense. The sedge also occurs in the understorey of forests with e.g. Alnus glutinosa, Salix fragilis, Padus avium, and Quercus robur. Carex buekii is able to colonise man-made or man-changed habitats such as railway embankments and roadsides or regulated river banks. Taking into account the IUCN Red List Criteria we propose to regard C. buekii as a least-concern (LC).

An affordable and reliable assessment of aquatic decomposition: Tailoring the Tea Bag Index to surface waters.

Litter decomposition is a vital part of the global carbon cycle as it determines not only the amount of carbon to be sequestered, but also how fast carbon re-enters the cycle. Freshwater systems play an active role in the carbon cycle as it receives, and decomposes, terrestrial litter material alongside decomposing aquatic plant litter. Decomposition of organic matter in the aquatic environment is directly controlled by water temperature and nutrient availability, which are continuously affected by global change. We adapted the Tea Bag Index (TBI), a highly standardized methodology for determining soil decomposition, for lakes by incorporating a leaching factor. By placing Lipton pyramid tea bags in the aquatic environment for 3 h, we quantified the period of intense leaching which usually takes place prior to litter (tea) decomposition. Standard TBI methodology was followed after this step to determine how fast decomposition takes place (decomposition rate, k1) and how much of the material cannot be broken down and is thus sequestered (stabilization factor, S). A Citizen Science project was organized to test the aquatic TBI in 40 European lakes located in four climate zones, ranging from oligotrophic to hypereutrophic systems. We expected that warmer and/or eutrophic lakes would have a higher decomposition rate and a more efficient microbial community resulting in less tea material to be sequestered. The overall high decomposition rates (k1) found confirm the active role lakes play in the global carbon cycle. Across climate regions the lakes in the warmer temperate zone displayed a higher decomposition rate (k1) compared to the colder lakes in the continental and polar zones. Across trophic states, decomposition rates were higher in eutrophic lakes compared to oligotrophic lakes. Additionally, the eutrophic lakes showed a higher stabilization (S), thus a less efficient microbial community, compared to the oligotrophic lakes, although the variation within this group was high. Our results clearly show that the TBI can be used to adequately assess the decomposition process in aquatic systems. Using "alien standard litter" such as tea provides a powerful way to compare decomposition across climates, trophic states and ecosystems. By providing standardized protocols, a website, as well as face to face meetings, we also showed that collecting scientifically relevant data can go hand in hand with increasing scientific and environmental literacy in participants. Gathering process-based information about lake ecosystems gives managers the best tools to anticipate and react to future global change. Furthermore, combining this process-based information with citizen science, thus outreach, is in complete agreement with the Water Framework Directive goals as set in 2010.

Analysis of plant soil seed banks and seed dispersal vectors: Its potential and limits for forensic investigations.

Plant seeds exhibit many species-specific traits, thus potentially being especially helpful for forensic investigations. Seeds of a broad range of plant species occur in soil seed banks of various habitats and may become attached in large quantities to moving objects. Although plant seeds are now routinely used as trace evidence in forensic practice, only scant information has been published on this topic in the scientific literature. Thus, the standard methods remain unknown to specialists in such botanical subjects as plant ecology and plant geography. These specialists, if made aware of the forensic uses of seeds, could help in development of new, more sophisticated approaches. We aim to bridge the gap between forensic analysts and botanists. Therefore, we explore the available literature and compare it with our own experiences to reveal both the potential and limits of soil seed bank and seed dispersal analysis in forensic investigations. We demonstrate that habitat-specific and thus relatively rare species are of the greatest forensic value. Overall species composition, in terms of species presence/absence and relative abundance can also provide important information. In particular, the ecological profiles of seeds found on any moving object can help us identify the types of environments through which the object had travelled. We discuss the applicability of this approach to various European environments, with the ability to compare seed samples with georeferenced vegetation databases being particularly promising for forensic investigations. We also explore the forensic limitations of soil seed bank and seed dispersal vector analyses.

Isolation of nuclear microsatellite markers for Cyperus fuscus (Cyperaceae).

PREMISE OF THE STUDY: Microsatellite markers were characterized in the extremely specialized ephemeral wetland plant species Cyperus fuscus (Cyperaceae). The markers will be used for studying population genetics in natural vs. anthropogenic habitats, on a European scale, and the role of the soil seed bank in the life cycle of this ephemeral species. METHODS AND RESULTS: Twenty-one microsatellite loci were established and scored in two populations, with mean number of alleles of 2.6 and 2.9 and mean expected heterozygosity of 0.405 and 0.470, respectively. Forty-four additional loci with the number of alleles ranging from one to four (mean = 2.1) were successfully amplified in seven individuals. CONCLUSIONS: The novel microsatellite markers will be useful for studying the genetic structure of populations of this ephemeral plant as well as their seed bank.