Langraf, V., Petrovičová, K., David, S., Ábelová, M., Schlarmannová, J., 2017. Body volume in ground beetles (Carabidae) reflects biotope disturbance. Folia Oecologica, 44: 114-120.Changes in body size of living organisms can indicate changes in environmental quality. The family Carabidae is frequently used as an indicator of environmental status. We collected ground beetles in 9 Slovakian localities (in the Veporské vrchy Mts and the Juhoslovenská kotlina Basin) of various levels of disturbance, and evaluated the volume of individuals. The lowest average body volumes of individual were found for an intensively grazed pasture (locality 5) and a nitrophilous waterside vegetation (locality 6) (1,298 mm 3 -4,648 mm 3 ) with predominantly macropterous species. We have confirmed the significantly higher average biovolume value of individual Carabidae in less disturbed habitats: a Picea abies plantation (locality 1), a Carpathian oak-hornbeam forest (locality 4) and a Carpathian turkey oak forest (locality 7) (from 9,837 mm 3 to 13,038 mm 3 ), where apterous and brachypterous species dominated.

Changes in the structure of ground beetle communities indicate environmental stability or instability influenced by, e.g., urbanization, agriculture, and forestry. It can affect flight capability and ellipsoid biovolume (EV) of ground beetles. Therefore, we analyzed ground beetles in various habitats. In the course of the period from 2015 to 2017, we recorded in pitfall traps 2379 individuals (1030 males and 1349 females) belonging to 52 species at six localities (two rural, two suburban, two urban). We observed the decrease in the average EV value and morphometric characters (length, height, and width of the body) of ground beetles in the direction of the rural–suburban–urban gradient. Our results also suggest a decrease in EV of apterous and brachypterous species and an increase in macropterous species in the urban and suburban landscapes near agricultural fields. The increasing EV of apterous and brachypterous species and the decreasing of macropterous species was observed in rural landscape conditions with not continuous cover forestry and partial forest management. The creation of habitat fragments in urbanized conditions is key to maintaining the average EV in apterous and brachypterous species in urban and suburban landscapes.

The ground beetles Zabrus tenebrioides and Harpalus rufipes (Coleoptera, Carabidae) are two of the most prevalent pests of wheat and other grasses. This article presents current data on their distribution and the results of modelling the bioclimatic ranges of these species using the maximum entropy method. To improve the model, we used various RStudio packages including the R script “thin points 4-1-18.R” package spThin and the «Raster» RStudio package. We determined the climatic parameters that promote the dispersal of the species, as well as the optimum conditions for the growth of Z. tenebrioides and H. rufipes. Maps forecasting the distribution of the studied species were generated through the perspective of two climate scenarios: RCP 2.6 and RCP 8.5. For the modelling, we utilised 435 geographic points of Z. tenebrioides occurrence and 653 points of H. rufipes occurrence. Both species have similar bioclimatic ranges, and the most favourable conditions for them are fields of grain crops. The most significant parameters influencing Z. tenebrioides are those of moisture, whereas H. rufipes is most sensitive to the temperature parameters. According to the generated climatic models for both species, a decrease in the areas of their ranges would occur in their eastern, more continental areas, with a slight shift towards the north.

Langraf V., Petrovičová K., David S., Schlarmannová J.: The bioindication importance of the Carabidae communities of Veporské vrchy and Juhoslovanská kotlina. Ekológia (Bratislava), Vol. 35, No. 2, p. 126-135, 2016.The Carabidae family (Coleoptera) is used frequently for its bioindication potential to detect the environmental burden. In 2013 and 2014, we studied the correlation of Carabidae on the biotopes of six areas in the Veporské vrchy Mts and the Juhoslovenská kotlina basin by using pitfall traps, Möricke plates and Bambara beetle traps. Out of 432 recorded specimens of beetles (53 species, 15 families), the Carabidae family were the highest number of species and specimens represented, with which we confirmed higher anthropogenic interference and disturbance of ecosystems in the Juhoslovenská kotlina basin. This statistic confirms the presence of the following species typically found on arable land: Anchomenus dorsalis, Calathus fuscipes fuscipes, Harpalus affinis and Pseudoophonus rufipes. The ecosystems in the Veporské vrchy Mts region show less disturbance, and the anthropological impact is smaller, indicated by the presence of the Carabus problematicus species, an important indicator of the conservation of natural forest ecosystems.

Ground beetles (Carabidae) were used to evaluate the bio indication environmental incidence. The ground beetle material (2,341 individuals, 30 species) was collected between 2015 and 2017 using pitfall traps in three types of forest habitats with different disturbance rates. The comparison of carabid’s sensitivity as bio indicators has been evaluated by using three methods: (i) community index of ground beetles (IKS), (ii) ellipsoid biovolume (EV) and (iii) flight ability of the carabids. Using the Monte Carlo permutation test, we did not record the statistically significant changes in IKS values, nor does a change in the representation of carabids in the bioindicative group A, E and R. On the contrary, we confirmed the statistically significant changes in the average values of ellipsoid biovolume in biotopes and between biotopes (the Friedman and Kruskal-Wallis test -ANOVA (p-value = 0.00)). A higher number of macropterous species were recorded in biotopes with high disturbance as compared to the biotopes with low disturbance.

The red-footed falcon and Eurasian falcon represent two syntopical falcon species. While the Eurasian falcon is considered a common and numerous species in Slovakia, the red-footed falcon population has undergone a considerable decline during the past few decades. Nowadays it nests in a single locality in Slovakia, the Sysľovské polia Special Protection Area, which forms the northern and fragmented border of the species distribution area in Europe. By analysing prey remains from 9 nests (from 1998, 2001, 2013, 2014 and 2016), we identified 433 prey items belonging to 35 taxa and 9 orders. Every year, invertebrates made up the major part of the diet spectrum, in which Calosoma auropunctatum, Tettigonia viridissima, Zabrus tenebrioides, Anisoplia aegetum and Rhizotrogus sp. were the most frequent species of prey. Of the vertebrates, Microtus arvalis was the most hunted prey species. By supplementary analysis of 21 photos, we extended our knowledge on the diet by other 6 taxa. The peak of the M. arvalis population growth in 2014 did not manifest itself in the red-footed falcon diet composition. In 1998, 2014 and 2016 we also studied the diet of a syntopical species, the Eurasian kestrel. By analysing prey remains in 22 nests, we identified 1,151 prey items belonging to 37 taxa and 7 orders. In 1998 and 2014 vertebrates predominated, especially the common vole, however in 2016 invertebrates prevailed. This fact could be a reaction to the M. arvalis population peak in 2014 and its decline in 2016. These results suggest that this variability in the foraging behaviour of the Eurasian kestrel, an opportunistic predator, during the hunting of invertebrates increases the diet similarity and overlapping of the food niche of both studied falcon species.Abstrakt: Sokol kobcovitý a sokol myšiar predstavujú dva syntopicky sa vyskytujúce druhy sokolov. Kým sokol myšiar je na Slovensku považovaný za bežný a početný druh, populácia sokola kobcovitého zaznamenala v posledných dekádach značný pokles. V súčasnosti tento druh hniezdi na Slovensku na jedinej lokalite -Chránenom vtáčom území Sysľovské polia, ktorá predstavuje severnú a fragmentovanú hranicu rozšírenia druhu v Európe. Analýzou potravných zvyškov z 9 hniezd (z rokov 1998, 2001, 2013, 2014 a 2016) sme tam determinovali 433 kusov koristi prislúchajúcich 35 taxónom a 9 radom. Bezstavovce tvorili každoročne majoritnú časť potravy, kde najčastejšie zastúpenými druhmi boli Calosoma auropunctatum, Tettigonia viridissima, Zabrus tenebrioides, Anisoplia segetum, Rhizotrogus sp. Zo stavovcov bol najčastejšie lovený druhom hraboš poľný. Doplnkovou analýzou 21 fotografií sme spektrum potravy rozšírili o ďalších 6 taxónov. Vrchol gradácie hraboša poľného v roku 2014 sa na zložení potravy sokola kobcovitého neprejavil. V rokoch 1998, 2014 a 2016 sme tiež sledovali potravu syntopického druhusokola myšiara. Analýzou potravných zvyškov 22 hniezd sme zistili 1151 zvyškov koristi, ktoré patrili 37 taxónom zo siedmych radov. V rokoch 1998 a 2014 v potrave dominovali stavovce, n...

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The closing of schools due to COVID-19 was a critical incident that should have caused a rethinking of education in our country. Among the many changes that this crisis has brought, one is fully remote teaching. Our research focuses on a comparison of the changes between on-site and remote forms of biology teaching, the opinions and feelings of teaching staff across all the institutional levels, and their opinions regarding the usage of online teaching tools in the future. The research shows that teachers have used both time-tested teaching aids and modern technology to generate an environment that would be as close to on-site teaching as possible. Similarly, the teachers with longer teaching experience had felt a greater degree of stress during the remote teaching period. Teachers of primary and tertiary schools agree that they can imagine having a combined form of education in the future but that the practical classes of biology must be completed on-site. On the other hand, most secondary school teachers want to preserve only the on-site form of teaching. Our study provides information on the current state of coping with the pandemic situation in Slovakia from teachers’ perspectives.