Phenetic and ecological plasticity in Arvicola has caused a long-standing dispute over the number of species within the genus, which is currently thought to consist of two aquatic (sapidus, amphibius) and one fossorial species (scherman). We used mitochondrial cytochrome b (cytb) gene sequences to reconstruct phylogenetic relationships between the fossorial and the aquatic water voles from the various regions of their European and Asiatic range. These two types differed morphologically and exhibited allopatric ranges. Our study provided 50 new haplotypes, generating a total dataset of 70 different water vole cytb haplotypes. Phylogenetic reconstructions retrieved two major lineages that were in a sister position to A. sapidus: a fossorial Swiss lineage and a widespread cluster, which contained aquatic and fossorial water voles from Europe and western Siberia. The phylogeographic architecture in water voles is explained by Quaternary climatic dynamics. Our results show that A. scherman in its present scope is not a monophyletic taxon.

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In this paper we studied the diet in four allopatric populations of alpine salamanders in the Dinarides (Salamandra atra prenjensis). Food consumption was assessed by stomach flushing while food availability by pitfall traps and netting. We aimed to: (i) assess the realized dietary niche, (ii) investigate prey preferences, (ii) explore individual specialization, clustering and nestedness. All populations have an equally wide dietary span that is among the largest reported for terrestrial salamanders. On the other hand, the amount of ingested prey is rather low compared to other salamander species; the quantity of consumed prey did not differ among populations but younger individuals fed more than adults. Food composition somewhat differed among populations but not among sex/age classes. In all four populations, the bulk of diet consisted of beetles, spiders, snails and millipedes; except for beetles, such prey was also preffered together with centipedes and isopods. For most of the prey categories, the direction of the electivity indices was the same across populations. In none of the populations a nested pattern in the interindividual subdivision of dietary resources was registered. However, indications for individual specialization and modularity were observed disclosing that the broad niche of populations is composed of smaller individual niches that cluster along the dietary axis. Overall, the four populations have very similar structural characteristics of the dietary niche and there is little evidence for local dietary differentiation probably due to the absence of drivers for change.

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We have developed a new platform named "Biologer" intended for recording species observations in the field (but also from literature resources and collections). The platform is created as user-friendly, open source, multilingual software that is compatible with Darwin Core standard and accompanied by a simple Android application. It is made from the user’s perspective, allowing everyone to choose how they share the data. Project team members are delegated by involved organisations. The team is responsible for development of the platform, while local Biologer communities are engaged in data collection and verification. Biologer has been online and available for use in Serbia since 2018 and was soon adopted in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. In total, we have assembled 536 users, who have collected 163,843 species observation records data from the field and digitalised 33,458 literature records. The number of active users and their records is growing daily. Out of the total number of gathered data, 89% has been made open access by the users, 10% is accessible on the scale of 10×10 km and only 1% is closed. In the future, we plan to provide a taxonomic data portal that could be used by local and national initiatives in Eastern Europe, aggregate all data into a single web location, create detailed data overview and enable fluent communication between users.

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Odonata is an amphibious insect order constituting an important link between aquatic and terrestrial habitats. Members of the group are widely used as bioindicators of freshwater habitat health. The Odonata fauna of a total of 44 freshwater habitats in the wider area of Papuk Nature Park was investigated in the spring and summer of 2017 and 2019. Twenty-three lotic and 21 lentic habitats were included in the study. We recorded 39 Odonata species, witha higher species richness (i.e. 35) documented at lentic than at lotic habitats (i.e. 16 species). Calopteryx virgo was the most widespread species in the area, while Aeshna affinis, Epitheca bimaculata, and Sympetrum meridionale were the rarest. The most frequently recorded species at lentic sites were Platycnemis pennipes, Coenagrion puella, and Ischnura elegans, while Calopteryx virgo, Onychogomphus forcipatus, and Cordulegaster bidenatata were the most common species in lotic habitats. Although we recorded numerous anthropogenic pressures in freshwater habitats in the Park, 11 recorded species are of conservation concern, which highlights the conservation value of aquatic habitats in the study area. Our results represent the first Odonata checklist of Papuk Nature Park, and as such, they are an important contribution to our knowledge of the Odonata fauna and species distribution in Croatia.