Orchids are a fascinating world unto themselves, featuring incredible diversity of species, myriad forms and dazzling colors. At the same time, orchids are among the least explored groups of plants, with much work left to be done on their careful classification and study. How should different orchid species be distinguished, and how should the boundaries between different genera be delineated?

We talk about the notion of race with Prof. Ewa Ziętkiewicz, MD from the PAS Institute of Human Genetics in Poznań, in light of the “regional continuity” vs. “recent common ancestor” theories.

Hydro-ethanolic extracts of flowers from four Verbascum species were evaluated for the phenolic content, composition, and antioxidant activity using Folin-Ciocalteu assay, HPLC-DAD analysis, and DPPH assay, respectively. The highest flavonoid content was detected in V. sinuatum extract from Khoramabad (19.91 mg RE/g DW). The extract of V. pseudo-digitalis from Maymand yielded the highest amount of total phenols, together with the highest apigenin and luteolin levels (55.62 mg GAE/g DW, 12.18 and 88.13 μg/mg DW, respectively), while that of V. songaricum from Ardekan showed the highest naringin content (12.44 μg/mg DW). The extract of V. songaricum from Shirmard exhibited the highest quercetin and rutin levels (1.0 and 24.24 μg/mg DW, respectively), whereas that of V. sinuatum from Ardekan had the highest caffeic acid content (7.78 μg/mg DW). The antioxidant activity of Verbascum samples showed IC50 values from 45.12 to 226.62 μg/mL.

The new species of antarctic skates was described from waters near Elephant Island, as a Raja rakusai sp. n.

The aim of the study was to specify the current status and direction of transformations of leaf beetle assemblages taking part in the rapid process of succession of vegetation towards the types of forest communities occurring in the Krzemionki Opatowskie reserve. At five sampling sites (in five plant associations) 30 species of Chrysomelidae were recorded. Five typical forest species (Chrysomela populi, Pyrrhalta viburni, Calomicrus pinicola, Altica brevicollis and Cryp-tocephalus labiatus) accounted for 16.67% of the number of species and 12.85% of the number of individuals caught in the reserve. The forest association richest in species (18) was Querco ro-boris-Pinetum (Que_Pin). This was followed by Tilio-Carpinetum association (Til_Car, 15 spp.), and then a mosaic of Tilio-Carpinetum and Querco roboris-Pinetum (Til_Car/Que_Pin), and Peucedano-Pinetum (Peu_Pin) (11 spp. each). The fewest number of species (10) were noted in Potentillo albae-Quercetum (Pot_Que). The most similar were the fauna of Potentillo albae--Quercetum (Pot_Que) and Querco roboris-Pinetum (Que_Pin) (55.08% similarity). The most distinct was the fauna of Peucedano-Pinetum (Peu_Pin). We can conclude that the structure of the leaf beetle assemblages in the forest associations studied in the reserve is at present an adaptive mixture of faunas characteristic of all the intermediate successional stages of vegetation, changing in this area in a relatively short time. The considerable diversity of fauna is the result of an ‘eco-tone in time’, i.e. the continuous presence of open-land species, which until recently had dominated here, accompanied by forest species characteristic of the current habitat types.

Although the Antarctic has avoided the worst effects of alien species, its future seems endangered due to increasing natural and man-made pressures. Rapid changes in three major environmental variables have occurred in the Antarctic region during the last decades. In the short term terrestrial biota are likely to benefit from reduced environmental stresses, but in the long run the colonization of the region by lower latitude species with greater competitive ability will become increasingly important and can lead to large-scale changes in biological composition and trophic complexity in some existing Antarctic terrestrial ecosystems. Moreover, the recent dynamic climate changes combined with human activities in the Antarctic region might modify the status of several alien species which have hitherto been considered transient or persistent and could, therefore, become naturalized and threaten the native communities on a larger scale than today, or influence the status of naturalized species.

The research was carried out on species diversity, density and similarity of Gastrotricha living on two species of macrophytes Myriophyllum spicatum L. and Elodea canadensis Michx. in a mesotrophic lake. Gastrotricha occurring on the studied macrophytes were represented by 23 species (21 on M. spicatum L. and 22 on E. canadensis Michx.). Species diversity (expressed by the Shannon index) for the Gastrotricha occurring on the two studied species of macrophytes amounted to 2.70 for M. spicatum L. and 2.81 for E. canadensis Michx., what suggests equal distribution of the gastrotrich species revealed in the studied species of macrophytes. The definite dominants inhabiting the two species of macrophytes were: Heterolepidoderma macrops Kisielewski, 1981, Heterolepidoderma ocellatum (Mečnikow, 1865), Lepidoderma squamata (Dujardin, 1841) and Aspidiophorus squamulosus Roszczak, 1936, and their inclusive percentage participation in the whole gastrotrich fauna for M. spicatum L. and E. canadensis Michx. was 41.8 and 40.3% respectively. The domination structure of the gastrotrich fauna of the two species of macrophytes was similar for each gastrotrich species (G-test, for all p > 0.05). Average density of Gastrotricha inhabiting M. spicatum L. amounted to 588.0 10³ indiv. m-2, and density of Gastrotricha occurring on E. canadensis Michx. amounted to 670.0 10³ indiv. m-2. Statistic analysis based on the Mann-Whitney test showed that differences of the gastrotrich densi-ty on the studied species of macrophytes: M. spicatum L. and E. canadensis Michx. (Z = -1.9282; p = 0.05) are statistically insignificant.

The studies were carried out in Wielkopolska region (western Poland) in oat and winter rye cultures. Density and species structure of Thysanoptera were studied. Average density of adult Thysanoptera on oat reached 371.4 individuals/m², and was higher than on rye, where it reached 107.5 individuals/m². Limothrips cerealium Haliday was a dominant species on oat as well as on winter rye.

In this paper we present the numerical simulation-based design of a new microfluidic device concept for electrophoretic mobility and (relative) concentration measurements of dilute mixtures. The device enables stationary focusing points for each species, where the locally applied pressure driven flow (PDF) counter balances the species’ electrokinetic velocity. The axial location of the focusing point, along with the PDF flowrate and applied electric field reveals the electrokinetic mobility of each species. Simultaneous measurement of the electroosmotic mobility of an electrically neutral specie can be utilized to calculate the electrophoretic mobility of charged species. The proposed device utilizes constant sample feeding, and results in time-steady measurements. Hence, the results are independent of the initial sample distribution and flow dynamics. In addition, the results are insensitive to the species diffusion for large Peclet number flows (Pe > 400), enabling relative concentration measurement of each specie in the dilute mixture.

The global zoogeographic distribution of the most widespread peracarid species occurring in three or more ocean basins below 2000 m is analysed. Basing on the published data we investigated 45 peracarid species, which have a most widespread distribution and most likely are cosmopolitan. Thirty−three species have a wide distribution in the Northern Hemisphere. Most species occur in the North Atlantic, however, 16 of these species occur also in the North Pacific, a more limited number of species occurs in the South Atlantic or South Pacific The Southern Ocean displays some special zoogeographic features and 22 widespread species occur there below 2000 m, including highly eurybathic ones. In total, 11 of the analysed species occur in all oceans. Eucopia australis (Lophogastrida), Munneurycope murrayi (Isopoda) and Eurythenes gryllus (Amphipoda) are the species with the widest distributions. Other peracarids occurring in all oceans are: the isopods Paramunnopsis oceanica and Eurycope sarsi , the mysid Caesaromysis hispida the lophogastrid Eucopia unguiculata, the amphipod Mesopleustes abyssorum and the tanaids Exspina typica, Paranarthura insignis and Pseudotanais nordenskioldi . No cumacean species has been reported with an ocean−wide distribution but Campylaspis glabra occurs in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans. Among plenty of rare species in each order there are only few species with wide distribution records. There is evidence from molecular genetic studies that some of the widespread peracarids represent several cryptic species, however, some, e.g. Eucopia australis , seem to be truly cosmopolitan species. Geography of sampling is biasing our view of biogeography. The history and quality of taxonomic work as well as the reliability of geographic records (quality control of large databases) limits our investigations of widespread or cosmopolitan species as much as the limited knowledge of variation within most species causes difficulties in defining morpho−species with certainty.

Poa annua L. is the only non−native vascular plant that was successfully established in the maritime Antarctic. This project aimed to determine the amount of genetic and epigenetic variation within and between two populations of P. annua , one from South Shetland Is. (Antarctic) and the other one from Central Europe. We applied two AFLP marker systems, using endonucleases that recognised the same restriction site but differed in their sensitivity towards methylation. The Antarctic population differed from the Polish one both at the genetic and epigenetic levels. Genetic variability in the Antarctic population was lower than in the Polish one. Some loci in the Antarctic population showed signs of selection. The difference between Polish and Antarctic populations might be due to a weak bottleneck effect followed by population expansion. Using only epigenetic markers, the Ant − arctic population exhibited increased variation level compared to the Polish one. These may have resulted from plastic responses to environmental factors and could be associated with survival in extreme conditions.

The eight most abundant species (mean density >20 ind. m −2 ), which occurred at high frequencies (mean >30%) were selected from grab samples in the three Svalbard fjords: Hornsund, van Mijenfjord, and Kongsfjord, in the summer seasons between 1997 and 2007. Six polychaete and two bivalve species comprised more than 47% of the individuals and the biomass in all the samples examined. Four species are cosmopolitan, while the others are widely distributed Arctic−boreal species, and none has Arctic origin. Their density, frequency of occurrence, and biology are very similar across the wide geographical range from boreal to Arctic conditions. As the diversity of benthic fauna in the fjords studied increases (from 172 to 238 species), the dominance of the eight species in the soft bottom community diminishes from 76% to 47%. In times of hydrological regime shift, i.e. , the warming of the European Arctic, it is unlikely that the abundancy of these species in the soft bottom fjordic ecosystems will change. The most common soft bottom species are not good indicators of environmental change in the Arctic, and rare, specialized species are better option for indicative purposes.

The recapitulation of the investigations on oribatid mite fauna carried out at various kinds of abandoned galena-calamine wastelands in the south of Poland is presented. Soil samples were collected at nine sites in three regions of zinc-lead mining. In total, 24267 oribatid individuals belonging to 160 species were analyzed. The sites differing in the period of ceasing exploitation, species composition of plants and their stage of succession were chosen. The abundance and species richness of oribatid mites were generally higher on afforested sites and sites of older origin. The abundance of oribatids noted on wastelands was generally lower than in most natural or semi-natural biotopes. Surprisingly, the species richness on afforested wastelands was higher than in many natural forest biotopes. With regard to species similarity, the oribatid communities have been grouped due to localities instead of been organized due to the type of wastelands or vegetation. Correspondence analysis (CA) indicated that certain species of Oribatida preferentially occurred in a certain type of wastelands. Species characteristic of afforested new and old or unforested wastelands were distinguished. The biodiversity of oribatid fauna on galena-calamine wastelands was high with many new species for the Polish fauna ( 15). Some of them were recorded only from a few localities in the world.

Similarly to many towns in Galicia, Rzeszów has gained street planting at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. In the period after World War II, little attention was paid to them. It is only from the beginning of the first decade of the 21st century, that we have seen a clear breakthrough. “Modernized” forms of planting are returning to historical places, and new communication arteries are planted with numerous specimens of tree, perennial and seasonal plants, well selected in terms of habitat requirements.

The aim of the research was to study the floristic richness of balks, i.e. uncultivated strips separating fields, and to research the dependence of plant communities there on habitat conditions and adjacent crops. The share of segetal species in those communities was also analysed. In the western part of the Siedlce Plateau 70 balks among intensively cultivated fields were examined in 2016–2018. The balks divided fields with corn, winter cereals and spring cereal mixtures. The research was conducted with the Braun-Blanquet method, with 110 phytosociological relevés results used as study material. The flora specified this way was analysed in terms of biological structure, forms of life, persistence, historical and geographical spectrum, species rarity and presence of invasive species. In addition, the interdependence between the species richness of balks and habitat conditions as well as the type of neighbouring crops was studied. Habitat conditions were established with the Ellenberg indicator values, based on indicative species and taking into account light, temperature, moisture, soil reaction and nitrogen content. The development and floristic diversity of balk plant communities as ecotone areas were largely influenced by a proximity of arable fields and habitat conditions, especially by soil moisture and the amount of nitrogen. Balk flora consisted of vascular plants with 161 species, mainly apophytes. Those were mostly perennial species, hemikryptophytes. Among the most common field weeds from the class of Stellarietea mediae, 25 species were identified in balks. There were 26 rare and endangered species and 14 species having the status of invasive taxa.

Notothenia coriiceps, N.rossii and Lepidonotothen nudifrons were sampled from Admiralty Bay from March to November 1997 and from January to February 1999. The ratio of N.coriiceps to N.rossii individuals in catches regularly increased during 22 years from 0.4 in 1977 to 9.5 in 1999. Oving to its reproductive strategy and avoidance of shallow waters N.rossii may be more vulnerable to overfishing. The condition factor was the most stable (CV 6 -10%), variations in the of hepatosomatic index and index of stomach fullness were intermediate (21 -38%and 40 -43%,respectively), and the gonadosomatic index was the most variable (65 -100%). Lack of seasonality in two somatic indices (condition factor and index of stomach fullness) in N.coriiceps adults is a direct effect of high food availability and unlimited food detection all year round. In contrast, the seasonality of a reproductive index (gonadosomatic index) of these fish is a response to the highly seasonal trophic conditions for pelagic larvae.

Saprotrophic filamentous microfungi were isolated by means of the soil dilution method from soil samples collected from four locations in the Bellsund region of Spitsbergen (77°33’N, 14°31’E) representing the following forms of surface micro-relief: an old stormbank, a sorted circle, a frost fissure between tundra polygons, and the central part of a tundra polygon. The fungal isolates were identified and screened for their ability to grow at low temperatures. The oligotrophy of psychrophilic and psychrotrophic strains was then determined as the ability of growth on silica gel without a C source added. Differences in some physico-chemical properties were found between the soils sampled from the four sites. A total of 89 taxa from 17 genera were isolated. Most of the isolates were species of Mortierella, Penicillium, Chrysosporium and Phialophora, and half of them were psychrophiles. Fungal communities isolated from a frost fissure between tundra polygons (site 3) and from the central part of a tundra polygon (site 4) were dominated by psychrophiles but those isolated from an old stormbank (site 1) and a sorted circle (site 2) were predominantly psychrotrophic. Oligopsychrophilic taxa accounted for 27% and oligopsychrotrophic for 20% of all the isolated taxa but only from 0.7% to 11.7% and from 1.2% to 6.3% of the total number of cfu (colony forming unit) isolated from an individual site, respectively. The results of the present study suggest that the abundance of fungi in Arctic soil is mostly affected by the content of organic matter in the A horizon and the plant cover, but other factors, such as the stage of soil development and the micro-relief of the surface, are more important for species richness of fungal communities.

The present contribution to lichen−forming and lichenicolous biota of northern− most Billefjörden (Petuniabukta area, central Spitsbergen, Svalbard) contains 40 species of lichens. Four species: Arthonia ligniariella, Candelariella lutella, Ochrolechia upsaliensis, Polyblastia pernigrata are new for the Svalbard Archipelago.

In November 1994 a first inventory of Tanaidacea from the Beagle Channel and at some stations of the Atlantic continental shelfwas obtained using epibenthic sledge samples. In total, 2175 specimens from 27 species of eight families of Tanaidomorpha and two families of Apseudomorpha were collected. Two species, Allotanais hirstutus (Beddard, 1886) and Apseudes heroae Sieg, 1986, strongly dominated this area. Generally low diversity and abundances were recorded for the western area of the Beagle Channel, while substantially higher values were reported at the eastern entrance on the Atlantic side of the Beagle Channel. Abundances slightly varied with depths, but not significantly.

Nature reserves are one of the most important measures in saving biodiversity, however, during the climate change, a real danger arises, that these territories would not be able to fulfill the objectives. In order to mitigate negative effects of climate change in protected areas it is necessary to create and apply management programs, based on future ecosystems needs. The main aim of presented study was to evaluate sensitivity of rare and vulnerable species to climate change in order to suggest measures for better management of nature reserves in the future.

According to scientific literature, 12 biological and ecological plant characteristics determining sensitivity of species (limiting factors) have been detected. 73 plant species that are protected in Lithuanian reserves were evaluated qualitatively according to limiting factors of climate change. As the result, it was offered to apply additional protection measures to 47 species in the light of climate change. Groups of plant species that should be affected highly negatively or highly positively were identified. 16% of plant species protected in nature reserves were evaluated as very sensitive to climate change and the condition of these plants may worsen. On the other hand, 14 plant species were given as least sensitive to negative effects and future climate is more favorable to species growth and spread than the existing. The highest danger is predicted for Silene chlorantha (Willd.) Ehrh., and the best condition is predicted for Mentha longifolia (L.) Huds. Dactylorhiza incarnata (L.) Soó.

The study also gives recommendations for the protection of rare plants in the future. Different management measures are taken into account: mitigation of the direct effect of climate change (I), improvement of an existing level of rareness (II), respecting the relation to physical and biological environment (III), consideration of spread and geographical limits (IV). Three management intensity levels were suggested according to species sensitivity.

On the basis of sweep netting samples and young plant and spike samples, the species composition and the incidence of thrips (Thysanoptera) on rye and winter wheat in different regions of Poland have been determined. A list of 49 Thysanoptera species found on these cereal crops and an overview of 11 species referred to "cereal thrips" have been given. The undertaken studies have showed that Haplothrips aculeatus Fab. was dominant on both rye and winter wheat crops.

The brown bullhead (Ameiurus nebulosus) is an invasive species of fish fauna in Poland. This species is widespread throughout the country but its abundance and characteristics of populations present in water reservoirs are relatively little known. Aim of this study was to determine the abundance and characteristic of the population of brown bullhead in the Domaszne Lake. The control fish catches were carried out three times in 2012 and 2013 years (spring, summer, autumn). Brown bullhead had a small share in the structure of fish abundance (2.7%) and biomass (7.5%), but his presence was reported in results of all control fishing. Relative abundance of brown bullhead averaged about 7.8 CPUE and biomass about 505.5 WPUE. The fishes the greatest total length and weight had in the spring (Tl = 18.5 cm, W = 77.7 g) but the highest value of the coefficient of condition (K = 2.08) in summer were noted. Brown bullhead with a total length from 16 to 18 cm accounted for as much as 59% of the population and distribution of size structure confirm a fact that has a stable population.

Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are widely used in numerous industries and areas of daily life, mainly as antimicrobial agents. The particles size is very important, but still not suffi ciently recognized parameter infl uencing the toxicity of nanosilver. The aim of this study was to investigate the cytotoxic effects of AgNPs with different particle size (~ 10, 40 and 100 nm). The study was conducted on both reproductive and pulmonary cells (CHO-9, 15P-1 and RAW264.7). We tested the effects of AgNPs on cell viability, cell membrane integrity, mitochondrial metabolic activity, lipid peroxidation, total oxidative and antioxidative status of cells and oxidative DNA damage. All kinds of AgNPs showed strong cytotoxic activity at low concentrations (2÷13 μg/ml), and caused an overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) at concentrations lower than cytotoxic ones. The ROS being formed in the cells induced oxidative damage of DNA in alkaline comet assay. The most toxic was AgNPs<10 nm. The results indicate that the silver nanoparticles, especially less than 10 nm, may be harmful to the organisms. Therefore, risk should be considered when using nanosilver preparations and provide appropriate protective measures when they are applied.

This paper present the data for monitoring forest conditions and forest resource management by a local community adjacent to the Doi Laung Wildlife Sanctuary, Huaimai Sub-district, Song District, Phrae Province, Thailand. This study uses quantitative forest surveys, interviews, discussions, and descriptions of the historical context of public participation in forest management including a detailed assessment of field conditions. The findings of a forest resources inventory show that (1) from the three sampled areas, Doi Laung Wildlife Sanctuary has highest richness, followed by village #16 and #14, and (2) Huaikhon #16 implied the process of framework to maintain a healthy condition and response to community needs with collective management. The conceptual model assessment that links key group indicators and drivers is presented based on previously developed assessment models. The framework focuses on the best way to provide forest management, forest fire prevention, and firefighting as well as monitoring of Check-dam construction and other activities that support the recovery of the forest community. This paper demonstrates the general of an environmental assessment framework to applying organize environmental information to facilitate policy decision making for the sustainable development.