Calluna vulgaris, Carex rigida, Deschampsia flexuosa, Nardus stricta and Vaccinium myrtillus are abundant in the vegetation of mountainous areas in Northern and Central Europe. Knowledge of their ability to accumulate increased amounts of metals could be useful in the evaluation of environmental pollution in the alpine tundra of high mountains. Additionally, this investigation may contribute to understanding the rate and direction of recent vegetation change in Karkonosze and similar types of environments. Our investigation revealed that Carex rigida, C. vulgaris and V. myrtillus contain excessive Mn concentrations in shoots with the highest BF for this element compared to the BFs of other elements. C. rigida, with Cu, Mn and Zn concentrations exceeding the toxicity thresholds for plants, seems to be the best metal phytoaccumulator for Nardus stricta grasslands Carici (rigidae)-Nardetum (CrN) and alpine heathlands Carici (rigidae)-Festucetum airoidis (CrFa) associations in the Karkonosze. Based on relevant BFs >1, it can be stated that the following plant available metals were transferred to shoots: Cu, Mn and Ni by C. vulgaris; Cd, Cu, Mn, Ni and Zn by C. rigida; Cd, Cu, Mn, Ni and Zn by D. flexuosa; Cu, Mn, Ni and Zn by N. stricta and Cu, Mn and Zn by V. myrtillus.

High phenotypic plasticity contributes to invasiveness of alien species. Goldenrods of American origin (Solidago canadensis, S. gigantea and Euthamia graminifolia) have successfully invaded Europe, and this success can be related to their high phenotypic plasticity. The aim of our study was to test the hypothesis of higher phenotypic plasticity of invasive goldenrods by comparing them with native taxa: closely related Solidago virgaurea and similar ecologically, invasive in other regions Tanacetum vulgare. The species studied were grown in a common garden on three different substrates with different fertilizers. After 3 years, the height and number of ramets, biomass production and allocation, phenology and nitrate reductase activity (NRA) were measured. The highest level of phenotypic plasticity was exhibited by the competitively weak native species S. virgaurea. The invasive species produced relatively high biomass and exhibited a moderate level of phenotypic plasticity. Variability in the studied traits did not always correlate with differences in substrates. The invasion success of non‐native goldenrods is not caused by their having a higher phenotypic plasticity than native species. Rather, the non‐natives should be considered as “Jack of all traits, and master of some”.

Full-size members of the ABCG (ATP-binding cassette, subfamily G) subfamily of ABC transporters have been found only in plants and fungi. The plant genes encoding full-size ABCGs identified so far appeared to be differentially regulated under various environmental constraints, plant growth regulators, and microbial elicitors, indicating a broad functional role of these proteins in plant responses to abiotic and biotic stress. Nevertheless, the structure and physiological function of full-size ABCGs in many plant species are still unknown. We have recently identified 16 genes encoding full-size ABCG proteins in cucumber and found that the transcripts of two of them, CsABCG36 (CsPDR8) and CsABCG40 (CsPDR12), are most abundant in roots and are significantly affected by phytohormones and auxin herbicide. In this study, we analyzed the structure and phylogeny of all the full-size cucumber ABCG transporters and studied the organ expression profiles of the remaining 14 CsABCG genes. In addition, we investigated the effect of different plant growth regulators and the diterpene sclareolide on CsABCG expression in cucumber roots. Until now, the full-size plant ABCG transporters have been grouped into five different clusters. The new phylogenetic analysis of full-size ABCGs from model plants and cucumber clustered these proteins into six different subgroups. Interestingly, the expression profiles of cucumber ABCG genes assigned to the same clusters were not correlated, suggesting functional diversification or different regulatory mechanisms of the full-size cucumber ABCG proteins.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s11105-015-0956-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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absTracT. Buxbaumia viridis is a rare, epixylous moss species with boreal range of occurrence. It prefers native, coniferous, spruce-fir forests. Historically the species was recorded several in the Sudetes, but now only two locations are known in this mountain range. In 2017 five unknown B. viridis populations were found in Góry Sowie Landscape Park in the vicinity of Bielawa, in the Bardzkie Mountains near Bardo Ślą-skie, and in the Sudety Wałbrzyskie Landscape Park on the eastern slope of Waligóra.

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