The chamois is a useful species with which to investigate the combined genetic impact of habitat fragmentation, over hunting, and translocations. Genetic variation within and between chamois (genus Rupicapra) populations was analyzed in 259 individuals from 16 sampling sites located in Italy, Spain, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic. Two mitochondrial DNA markers (control region and cytochrome b) and 11 nuclear microsatellites were typed. The principal results of this study can be summarized as follows: 1) high and significant differentiation between almost all chamois populations is observed even on a microgeographical scale, probably caused by the patchy distribution of this species, sharp geographical barriers to gene flow, and drift effects related to recent bottlenecks; 2) historical translocation events have left a clear genetic signature, including interspecific hybridization in some Alpine localities; 3) the Apennine subspecies of chamois, Rupicapra pyrenaica ornata, shows a high and similar level of divergence (about 1.5 My) from the Pyrenean (Rupicapra pyrenaica pyrenaica) and the Alpine (Rupicapra rupicapra) chamois; therefore, the specific status of these taxa should be revised. These results confirm the potential of population genetic analyses to dissect and interpret complex patterns of diversity in order to define factors important to conservation and management.

Patterns of prevalence in communities of bacteria in free-living adult, juvenile, and feces of alpine accentors (Prunella collaris) were studied in the West Carpathian Mountains, Slovakia, in 2002Slovakia, in -2003. A total of 27 species of bacteria belonging to 13 different genera were identified in cloacal and pharyngeal swabs taken from captured birds (n = 30) and/or in feces (n = 171). Forty-six percent of adult males, 75% of adult females, and 82% of juveniles sampled tested positive for one or more types of bacterium. A close association was found between the genera Hafnia, Bifidobacterium, and Pseudomonas. The prevalence of bacteria in accentors was found to vary among seasons and between years but was not, in general, site-specific. Enterococcus and Escherichia (and possibly Hafnia and Serratia) were most prevalent in summer, whereas Bacillus, Klebsiella, Pantoea, Pseudomonas, Staphylococcus, and Yersinia occurred more often during other seasons. Evidence is presented that anthropogenic food obtained as refuse probably has a significant effect on the gut flora of birds frequenting areas of high human use.

The aim of this contribution is to prepare climate change scenarios in form of time series of air temperature and precipitation amount for Liptovský Hrádok in 21 st century based on three global climate model outputs. Liptovský Hrádok lies at the SW foot of the High Tatras Mts. (640 m a.s.l.). This station is representative station for Liptov basin (mountain region in Slovakia) and it ranks among the best meteorological stations in Slovakia with sufficiently long and good-quality observations . In this contribution model data from the next three different global coupled (atmosphere-ocean) general circulation models (GCMs) are utilized: model data from the Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York (GISS 1998 model), from the Canadian Centre for Climate Modelling and Analysis in Victoria, B.C. (cgcm2 model) and from the Met Office Hadley Centre in Exeter, UK (HadCM3 model). Statistical method for downscaling of global GCMs outputs to the regional level is used.

To cite this article: M. Janiga, M. Haas & M. Kufelová (2017) Age, sex and seasonal variation in the shape and size of erythrocytes of the alpine accentor, Prunellacollaris AbstractThe aim of our study was to analyse red blood cells from the high-altitude avian species alpine accentor (Prunella collaris). We caught 79 alpine accentors in the High Tatra Mountains (the West Carpathians, Slovakia) from 2001 to 2008. Blood samples were collected from the vena ulnaris cutanea. The cells and nuclei of juveniles tend to be wider and larger while adults, especially males, tend to have elongated (narrow) cells. The largest erythrocytes were found in winter and the smallest in summer, in June. Red blood cells with larger, elongated nuclei but overall smaller in size occurred at the beginning and the end of the breeding season, while larger, rounded cells with smaller nuclei were found in the middle of the breeding season. This kind of reshaping of erythrocytes of alpine accentors in summer is probably a response to hypoxia and elevated summer temperature in high mountains. As regards the length/width ratio, in August and September, erythrocytes were more elongated (both cell and nucleus) than in the other months. This study is probably the first assessment of seasonal effects on size and shape of red blood cells of bird species permanently living and breeding at high altitudes of the Palearctic mountains.

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The present article focuses on the distribution of Pinus mugo under conditions in the central Tatra Mountains, the main mountain range of the Western Carpathians. We analyze the response of P. mugo distribution to selected abiotic habitat conditions in the eastern Tatra Mountains. The study also compares data on the distribution of P. mugo in the higher central Tatras and in the hills of the western Tatras published in previous studies. The source data for this study were aerial photographs from 3 periods (1955, 1986, and 2002). Mountain areas covered by mountain pine were identified and analyzed by ArcGIS 10, and pine fields were classified with the help of the gray scale mode. A strip of mountain pine above the upper limit of the forest represents an easily identifiable boundary on the aerial photographs: 25 wellrecognized localities were selected to examine the changes in the tree line in the eastern Tatras. The distribution of mountain pine increased in the central granite and eastern limestone Tatra Mountains from 1955 to 2002 at all monitored sites. The percentage of total surface area covered in P. mugo increased from 28.11% in 1955 to 34.74% in 1986 and to 39.01% in 2002. The study also analyzes the dispersal of mountain pine over 40 years in relation to elevation, slope, radiation aspect, flow accumulation, and vertical and horizontal curvature. The results of this study explain ongoing vegetation changes and are of importance as a contribution to monitoring of climate change in the mid-European mountain areas.

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Alpine ecosystems are the main accumulation sites of trace metals from the atmosphere [1-2]. According to studies on alpine-like sediments in the Eastern Tibetan Plateau, anthropogenic metals began to appear around 1950, significantly increased in the 1980s, and peaked in the mid-1990s. Over 80% of Cd, Pb and Zn were quantified from anthropogenic emissions in atmospheric deposition since the mid-1990s atmosphere [3]. In Europe, the Western Carpathians are one of the most lead-polluted alpine regions [4]. Seasonal fluctuations in the lead concentrations in foliar parts of alpine plants and bones of feral pigeons have been recorded, with values higher in winter and early spring months than in summer months [1, 5-6]. In general, the presence of heavy metals in organisms shows the bioavailability of these heavy metals, which accumulate in plant parts and then subsequently are absorbed by animals. Prolonged