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-An intensive bark beetle outbreak occurred in [1993][1994][1995][1996][1997][1998] in the Tatra mountains between Slovakia and Poland. In the Slovak part of the outbreak practices consisted of: no action prior to 1994, intensive pest control management (trap trees, insecticides, salvage cutting) from 1995-1996, active differentiated approach (control measures according to the zonation of attacked stands) combined with intensive use of pheromone traps from 1997-1998. In Poland, the outbreak was mostly located in reserve areas where pest management or other activities were prohibited. Despite the use of intensive pest management measures, tree mortality was not significantly decreased in the Slovak region during the peak outbreak years of 1995 and 1996. Classical forest protection led to an increase in attractiveness of forest edges to bark beetles which could disperse to these areas from locations where no control measures were practiced. Unfavourable weather for bark beetles led to a rapid decrease in tree mortality in both parts of the study area. Picea abies / Ips typographus / outbreak / pest management / mountainsRésumé -Effets de différentes (active vs. passive) stratégies de gestion forestière des pullulations d'Ips typographus (L.) (Col.: Curculionidae, Scolytinae) dans les montagnes de Tatra en Pologne et Slovaquie. Une pullulation massive de scolytes s'est déroulée entre 1993 et 1998 dans les montagnes Tatras, situées entre la Pologne et la Slovaquie. Dans la partie Slovaque de la surface attaquée, la pratique forestière a consisté à ne pas intervenir jusqu'en 1994, puis en une protection active via l'utilisation d'arbres-pièges, d'insecticides et de coupes sanitaires entre 1995 et 1996, et en diverses techniques de lutte diversifiées selon la zonation des surfaces attaqués, combinées à l'utilisation de piégeages à phéromones en 1997 et 1998. En Pologne la pullulation était localiseé en grande majorité dans des réserves strictes où aucune mesure de protection n'était autorisée. Malgré l'importance des moyens de lutte mis en oeuvre, la mortalité des arbres n'a pas diminué significativement dans la partie Slovaque pendant les années 1995-1996. Les techniques utilisées aboutissaient à l'augmentation de l'attractivité des bordures de la forêt pour les scolytes, et ceux-ci pouvaient s'y développer en provenance de zones forestières ou le même niveau de contrôle n'était pas appliqué. Un climat défavorable au développement des scolytes a largement contribué à la diminution rapide des mortalités d'arbres observées dans les deux parties de la région étudiée.Picea abies / Ips typographus / pullulation / protection de la forêt / montagnes

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The paper analyzes the impacts of the spruce forest on precipitation interception and evolution of snow cover in the mountain catchment of the Jalovecký creek, the Western Tatra Mountains, Slovakia. Both processes were monitored at the elevation of 1420 m a.s.l. . Interception was measured from the end of August 2006 until November 2008 by a network of 13 raingauges. Mean interception over the studied period in forest window was 23%. Mean values for the dripping zone under tree branches, near stems of the trees and under the young trees were 28%, 65% and 44%, respectively. With exception of forest window, the interception at the same characteristic positions was highly variable. Calculated daily precipitation thresholds needed to fulfill the storage capacity of the canopy were about 0.8-0.9 mm.

Research on urban climates has been an important topic in recent years

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The berries of Vaccinium myrtillus L. are usually collected in the wild for the purpose of being a food source. They are naturally high in phenolic compounds, which possess antioxidative properties, so the berries are therefore often labeled as “functional foods”. This study evaluated seven samples of bilberry fruits from different locations in Slovakia for the content of the main phenolic compounds (anthocyanins, flavonoids and tannins) using European Pharmacopoeia 9 spectrophotometric methods. A thorough analysis of environmental factors showed that several phenolic constituents are closely corresponding with their respective environments, as well as with each other. The environmental factors with statistically significant correlations in this study are altitude, habitat type, sunlight exposure, and soil carbon content. Our findings suggest that the berries collected at sunny sites with no topsoil damage contain more phenolic compounds. The lowest amounts of phenolic compounds were found in samples from dense forests or with visible soil erosion and windthrow damage. The negative effect of windthrow damage on the levels of secondary metabolites in bilberry fruits has been described for the first time. This study observed no relationship between the amount of phenolic compounds and soil pH, soil nitrogen levels, or slope exposition.