The data suggest that multiple hybridization events in the Western Carpathian Sorbus have led to the formation of separate, partially reproductively isolated genetic lineages, which may or may not be discriminated morphologically. Even bidirectional hybridization can produce individuals classified to the same taxon based on phenotype. For some hybrid taxa, hybridization pathways were proposed based on their genetic proximity to parental species and differences in genome sizes.
The paper brings information on an isolated occurrence and morphological characters of Carex ×involuta and C. juncella populations in the Veľká Fatra Mts. Their presence has been known neither from the territory of Slovakia nor from the whole Western Carpathians till now.
The authors bring actual state of recent occurrence of the rarest willows species Salix myrtilloides, its critically endangered population from northern part of the Western Carpathians. First original data on recent existence and distribution of the interspecific hybrid Salix ×onusta (= S. myrtilloides × S. aurita) completes at the same time knowledge on hitherto unknown past occurrence of S. myrtilloides in the Western Carpathians and extinction of that population.
Carex rupestris is an endangered and rare arctic-alpine element of the Western Carpathian flora. Given the geographically isolated and spatially restricted peripheral ranges of arctic-alpine species, there is a good chance that many species of conservation concern irreversibly disappear from the regional flora under the ongoing climate change. In this study, we gathered all existing data on the presence of C. rupestris and focused on its current and future distribution in the Western Carpathians. We found that although the distribution of the species is fragmented and scarce, C. rupestris occurs in several mountain ranges, in four distinct plant community types, which differ considerably in altitude, geological bedrock, and other habitat characteristics. In contrast to the relatively broad range of occupied habitats, C. rupestris shows a narrow temperature niche (mean annual temperature range 0.4–4.0 °C). Ensembles of small models based on climatic characteristics and local topography show that regardless of the climate change scenario (rcp2.6, rcp8.5), many current occurrence sites, mainly in the peripheral zones of the range, will face the excessive loss of suitable environmental conditions. It is expected that the Tatra Mountains will be the only mountain range retaining potentially suitable habitats and providing possible refugia for this cold-adapted species in the future. Such severe shrinkage of distribution ranges and associated geographic isolation raises serious concerns for the fate of the arctic-alpine species in the Western Carpathians.
Abstract:We examined the taxonomic status and distribution of Poa populations from supramontane and subalpine belt of the central Western Carpathians, so far classified as P. nemoralis subsp. carpatica and P. nemoralis subsp. montana. Significant morphological differences from P. nemoralis s. str. as well as combination of shared vs distinct characters allow us to attribute the populations under study to the species P. carpatica (V. JIRÁSEK) CHOPYK with two subspecies: P. carpatica subsp. carpatica a P. carpatica subsp. supramontana subsp. nova.
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