Search results for " PARK"
showing 10 items of 355 documents
Nest sites of Middle Spotted Woodpeckers Leiopicus medius in a primeval forest
2016
Forest management usually reduces the diversity and amount of substrates in which woodpeckers can excavate holes. In such conditions the recorded patterns of nest site selection could reflect a more reduced array of substrates than the species' nest site preferences. We analysed new data on nest sites of Middle Spotted Woodpeckers Leiopicus medius collected during 27 breeding seasons (1987–2013) in the strictly protected fragments of the Białowieża National Park in Poland. The birds could use diverse excavation substrates, of various statures, that varied in condition from living and healthy to dead and completely rotten. Middle Spotted Woodpeckers used a wide array of tree species, with li…
The tropical African genus Morgenia (Orthoptera, Tettigoniidae, Phaneropterinae) with emphasis on the spur at the mid tibia
2018
The authors revised the genus Morgenia Karsch, 1890 which now consists of eight species, of which three are here newly described (Morgeniaplurimaculata Massa & Moulin, sp. n., M.angustipinnata Massa, sp. n., and M.lehmannorum Heller & Massa, sp. n.). Six of the eight species occur in the Tri National Sangha (TNS) comprising Dzanga-Sangha Special Reserve and Dzanga Ndoki National Park (Central African Republic), whose high biodiversity has been recently highlighted. In particular the genus is characterised by the presence of a more or less long spur at the inner mid tibia, different in each species; in M.modulata, it moved lower down into a new position at about ¼ of tibia, w…
Natural forest remnants as refugia for bryophyte diversity in a transformed mountain river valley landscape
2018
Riparian forests are among the most threatened ecosystem types worldwide. Their exploitation and replacement by coniferous plantations affects species pools and contributes to loss of biodiversity. We aimed to investigate bryophyte species pools within different habitat types in a transformed mountain river valley. We especially focused on the contribution of habitat types (relative to their proportional cover) to the species pool of the whole area. The study was conducted along the Czerwona Woda river - a model stream in the Stołowe Mountains National Park (SW Poland, study area: 91.2 ha) - and an example of coniferous plantations replacing natural broadleaved forest vegetation. Our study …
Plant micro-reserves in Valencia (E. Spain): A model to preserve threatened flora in China?
2017
The Valencian Community (eastern Spain) was the pioneer territory establishing plant micro-reserves (PMRs). Its model to protect small sites for endemic and endangered plants has been exported to several countries around the globe. This paper highlights 1) the role of PMRs to complement the protection provided by large protected areas, 2) how the establishment of PMRs fosters the increase of floristic knowledge, and 3) the fact that continuous monitoring of PMRs also yields new records of endangered species found within the same PMRs. The flexibility of the PMR approach -it can be adapted to other national and regional legislations- allows its transfer to other rich-biodiversity regions and…
Grasslands provide diverse opportunities for bird species along an urban-rural gradient
2021
Urbanisation is a major cause of biodiversity loss but careful habitat management and provision of green space within cities can help to mitigate its negative effects. Grasslands occupy large surface areas and have many functions but only a few studies have begun to explore how birds exploit these habitats in urban contexts. We hypothesized that the value of grasslands for nesting and feeding birds is likely to depend both on landscape context, and on local characteristics (grassland size, use and vegetation structure). We surveyed local habitat characteristics, breeding bird presence, abundance and foraging activity in 47 grassland sites, distributed along an urban-rural gradient in two Fr…
Germplasm of medicinal and aromatic plant species in the Parco della Favorita in Palermo city (Sicily, Italy)
2017
Despite high urbanization, the city of Palermo (Sicily, Italy) has a good level of plant biodiversity. The Parco della Favorita is the largest green space in the city. It covers an area of 400 ha and is the green lung of the city. The Parco della Favorita is home to many wild species of medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs). This study aims to promote the Favorita Park as an urban green area to be used for educational purposes to raise awareness for the medicinal and food uses of MAPs. Nineteen plant species belonging to fifteen botanical families were identified. The most representative plant species were Foeniculum vulgare, Laurus nobilis, Capparis spinosa and Malva sylvetsris. Some of the…
Characterization and conservation of Clinopodium raimondoi Spadaro, A.S. Faqi & Mazzola germplasm in the Parco della Favorita of Palermo city (Si…
2017
In urban areas, the parks represent an important source of plant biodiversity. The Parco della Favorita is the largest green area in Palermo city (Sicily, Italy). Clinopodium raimondoi Spadaro, A.S. Faqi & Mazzola is an aromatic plant species which has a range of uses in Sicilian traditional culture. The essential oil of this species is rich in terpene components and its aroma is similar to that of mint. The aim of this study was to enhance the germplasm of C. raimondoi in the Parco della Favorita. A collection-field was set up within the park. The main biometric and productive parameters of the species were determined and gas chromatographic analyses were carried out to determine the quali…
A mixture of human and climatic effects shapes the 250-year long fire history of a semi-natural pine dominated landscape of Northern Latvia
2019
Abstract Fire has been shown to shape successional pathways and dynamics of forest vegetation. However, its role in European hemiboreal forests remains poorly understood. Here we provide the first annually resolved reconstruction of fire history from the Eastern Baltic Sea region, developed in the pine-dominated landscape of Slitere National Park (SNP), northwestern Latvia, over the last 250 years. Our results suggest that forest fires have been a common disturbance factor in the studied landscape. In total, we dated 62 single fire years, with the mean-point scale fire return interval of 46 years and the length of the fire cycle ranging from 45 to 80 years. We identified periods of high (17…
Revision of the tropical African genus Tetraconcha (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae: Phaneropterinae) with the description of ten new species.
2017
Only five species of the genus Tetraconcha Karsch, 1890 have been previously known; they inhabit tropical forests of central and western Africa. Generally, specimens belonging to this genus are scarcely represented in museum collections, probably due to the difficulty in finding them, but also for the fragility of their body and legs. During some recent expeditions in the Central African Republic and Ivory Coast it was possible to put together an abundant amount of specimens. This allowed the present author to revise the genus and to find valid characters to distinguish different species. On the whole, ten new species were discovered and the total number now amounts to fifteen species. Inte…
The Eurasian Modern Pollen Database (EMPD), version 2
2020
The Eurasian (née European) Modern Pollen Database (EMPD) was established in 2013 to provide a public database of high-quality modern pollen surface samples to help support studies of past climate, land cover, and land use using fossil pollen. The EMPD is part of, and complementary to, the European Pollen Database (EPD) which contains data on fossil pollen found in Late Quaternary sedimentary archives throughout the Eurasian region. The EPD is in turn part of the rapidly growing Neotoma database, which is now the primary home for global palaeoecological data. This paper describes version 2 of the EMPD in which the number of samples held in the database has been increased by 60% from 4826 to…