Plant species and their pollinators are linked by their mutualistic interactions, which form the basis of pollination networks. The use of a network approach allows one to take into account all interactions between a group of plants and its animal pollinators, and to reveal the structure of these connections. We analysed pollination interactions for urban habitat fragments located within the Warsaw city environment. We compared two similar, ruderal communities (phytosociological order Onopordetalia acanthii) located in distant parts of the city of Warsaw (Poland) that differed with the surrounding ecosystems. The aim of this study was to define the structures and properties of flower-visitor (visitation) and pollen transport networks (based on analysis of pollen loads carried by insects) and to assess the differences between the studied sites. Although the sites differed in insect relative abundance (Diptera dominated one study site, whereas Hymenoptera dominated the other), network size and structure were similar for both communities. In both cases, networks contained moderately specialized species (based on H 2 0 index); however, networks were dominated by apparently ecologically generalized insect taxa as well as those represented by a single specimen. Networks based on pollen transport indicated greater generality of insect species (more links) than those based on our samples of visitation. The most highly linked plant species represented were either the most abundant (Fabaceae) or phenotypically generalized taxa (Daucus carota). We conclude that plantpollinator interactions in such highly disturbed and isolated habitats are composed mostly of ecologically generalised species. Moreover, we stress the usefulness of pollen load analysis in the development and verification of visitation data.

Tropicale: Difficult beautyThe University of Warsaw Botanic Garden has a collection of over 30,000 illustrations depicting plants, which were compiled by a famous Polish cleric Władysław Michał Zaleski 1852–1925, Archbishop and Apostolic Delegate of East India. This collection, entitled Flore Tropicale, is based mostly on illustrations from European botanical publications, but it gathers tropical plants from all continents. Digitalization and historical works on the collection contributed to the implementation of the artistic project in the form of a book titled Tropicale. The book refers to the classic style of botanical albums while also playing with this convention. Botanical illustrations have been juxtaposed with other archival materials left by Archbishop Zaleski, which come from his never-published Stories for Polish Youth. To combine this content, the book uses Japanese binding and hides a second, parallel story in its inner pages. This text describes the artistic and conceptual frameworks of the project in terms of book layout, images selection and editing as well as the context of botanical expeditions employed by Zaleski.