The prioritization of alien species according to the magnitude of their environmental impacts has become increasingly important for the management of invasive alien species. In this study, we applied the Environmental Impact Classification of Alien Taxa (EICAT) to classify alien taxa from three different taxonomic groups to facilitate the prioritisation of management actions for the threatened riparian forests of the Mura-Drava-Danube Biosphere Reserve, South East Europe. With local experts we collated a list of 198 alien species (115 plants, 45 insects, and 38 fungi) with populations reported in southeast European forest ecosystems and included them in the EICAT. We found impact reports for 114 species. Eleven of these species caused local extinctions of a native species, 35 led to a population decrease, 51 to a reduction in performance in at least one native species and for 17 alien species no effects on individual fitness of native species were detected. Fungi had significantly highest impact and were more likely to have information on their impacts reported. Competition and parasitism were the most important impact mechanisms of alien species. This study is, to our knowledge, the first application of EICAT to all known alien species of several taxonomic groups in a protected area. The impact rankings enabled to identify taxa that generally cause high impacts and to prioritize species for the management in protected areas according to their impact magnitudes. By following a standardized impact protocol, we identified several alien species causing high impacts that do not appear on any expert-based risk list, which are relevant for policymakers. Thus, we recommend that alien species be systematically screened to identify knowledge gaps and prioritize their management with respect to spatio-temporal trends in impact magnitudes.
The saprotrophic, endophytic, and parasitic fungi were detected from the samples collected in the forest of the management unit East Psunj and Papuk Nature Park in Croatia. The disease symptoms, the morphology of fruiting bodies and fungal culture, and DNA barcoding were combined for determining the fungi at the genus or species level. DNA barcoding is a standardized and automated identification of species based on recognition of highly variable DNA sequences. DNA barcoding has a wide application in the diagnostic purpose of fungi in biological specimens. DNA samples for DNA barcoding were isolated from infected tree tissues, fungal fruiting bodies or fungal cultures. The ITS or ITS2 sequences of the fungal DNA were sequenced and aligned with the reference sequences in GenBank (NCBI) using BLAST. The size of ITS and ITS2 sequences were 512-584 bp and 248-326 bp, respectively. The sequences showed a high identity of 97.21%-100% at 98%-100% coverage with reference sequences in GenBank (NCBI). The exception was the species Amphilogia gyrosa that showed 95.65% identity at 100% coverage. Two fungi were determined at genus level: Cladosporium sp., and Cytospora sp., while 11 fungi were determined at species level: Alternaria alternata, Aureobasidium pullulans, Amphilogia gyrosa, Capronia pilosella, Cryphonectria parasitica, Exidia glandulosa, Epicoccum nigrum, Penicillium glabrum, Pezicula carpinea, Rosellinia corticium, and Stereum hirsutum.
The performance of European beech ( Fagus sylvatica L.) is severely threatened by abiotic and biotic stresses, but the resilience of its provenances from distinct geographic areas has not been sufficiently studied. Therefore, the performance of European beech was investigated in an international provenance trial consisting of twenty-one natural populations originating from Central Europe and Southeast Europe located on Medvednica Mountain (Croatia). The performance of European beech was investigated by characterizing I) damage types, II) crown damage intensity, III) damage frequency, and IV) clustering of provenances based on damage types. Anthracnose, galls, chewing damages, and aphids were recorded on leaves, and canker on the trunk and branches. The crown damage intensity was minute (less than 10%) for all types of disease. Anthracnose was the most common damage, followed in descending order by galls, canker, chewing damages and aphids. When the types of damage were analysed using descriptive statistics (frequency analysis and clustering), significant differences were recorded between provenances (χ2=322.19, p<0.0001). European beech provenances were classified into four clusters. Aphids and galls caused the least and the highest damage, respectively, in each cluster, except for Cluster 4, where anthracnose caused the highest damage. The results of this study showed generally good health condition of European beech provenances originating from Central and Southeast Europe in the period of the investigation.
No abstract
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.