Megjelent az első összefoglaló homoki prérifű cikk

A Global Ecology and Conservation szaklapban megjelent a hazánkban 2016-ban kimutatott homoki prérifű (Sporobolus cryptandrus) elterjésével, élőhely-preferenciájával és csírázási és magbankképzési sajátságaira vonatkozó előzetes eredményeinket bemutató közleményünk. Ezzel legalábbis részben teljesítettük a kutatásra vonatkozó, 2019-ben tett ígéretünket. A kutatás széleskörű hazai és nemzetközi együttműködésben valósult meg, ami az együttműködők számában is jól látszik - köszönet érte! A cikkben ezek mellett kitérünk a lehetséges további kutatási irányokra is. A közlemény szabadon hozzáférhető a folyóirat honlapján - összefoglalója az alábbiakban olvasható.

Invasion of the North American sand dropseed (Sporobolus cryptandrus) – A new pest in Eurasian sand areas?

Török P., Schmidt D., Bátori Z., Aradi E., Kelemen A., Hábenczyus A.A., Díaz Cando P., Tölgyesi Cs., Pál R.W., Balogh N., Tóth E., Matus G., Táborská J., Sramkó G., Laczkó L., Jordán S., McIntosh-Buday A., Kovacsics-Vári G., Sonkoly J.

For the effective control of an invasive species, gathering as much information as possible on its ecology, establishment and persistence in the affected communities is of utmost importance. We aimed to review the current distribution and characteristics of Sporobolus cryptandrus (sand dropseed), an invasive C4 grass species of North American origin recently discovered in Hungary. We aimed to provide information on (i) its current distribution paying special attention to its invasion in Eurasia; (ii) the characteristics of the invaded habitats in Central Europe; (iii) seed bank formation and germination characteristics, crucial factors in early establishment; and (iv) the effects of its increasing cover on vegetation composition. Finally, we aimed to (v) point out further research directions that could enable us to understand the invasion success of this potential invasive species. Field surveys uncovered large stands of the species in Central and Eastern Hungary with most of the locations in the former, especially in the Kiskunság region. The species invaded disturbed stands of dry and open sand grasslands, closed dune slack grasslands and it also penetrates natural open sand grasslands from neighbouring disturbed habitats. 

Increasing cover of Sporobolus cryptandrus was associated with a decline in species richness and abundance of subordinate species both in the vegetation and seed banks, but a low density of Sporobolus cryptandrus can even have a weak positive effect on these characteristics. Viable seeds of Sporobolus were detected from all soil layers (2.5 cm layers measured from the surface to 10 cm in depth), which indicates that the species is able to form a persistent seed bank (1,114 to 3,077 seeds/m2 with increasing scores towards higher abundance of the species in vegetation). Germination of Sporobolus cryptandrus was negatively affected by both litter cover and 1 cm deep soil burial. To sum up, Sporobolus cryptandrus can be considered as a transformer invasive species, whose spread forms a high risk for dry sand and steppe grasslands in Eurasia. We can conclude that for the effective suppression of the species it is necessary: (i) to clarify the origin of the detected populations; (ii) to assess its competitive ability including its potential allelopathic effects; (iii) to assess its seed bank formation potential in habitats with different abiotic conditions; and (iv) to assess the possibility of its suppression by natural enemies and management techniques such as mowing or livestock grazing.

 Újabb cikk a Biological Conservation-ben

Megjelent Csákvári Edina elsőszerzőségével és Báldi András utolsószerzőségével legújabb cikkünk a Biological Conservation szakfolyóiratban. A cikk arra keresi a választ, hogy Kelet-Közép Európában mik lehetnek a konzervációbiológiai kutatások legfontosabb kérdései, prioritásai. A közlemény széles, a konzervációbiológiai szakterület számos ágának hazai képviselői által jegyzett közlemény A közlemény letölthető a folyóirat honlapjáról illetve az összefoglalója az alábbiakban olvasható.

Conservation biology research priorities for 2050: A Central-Eastern European perspective

Csákvári Edina, Fabók Veronika, Bartha Sándor, Barta Zoltán, Batáry Péter, Borics Gábor, Botta-Dukát Zoltán, Erős Tibor, Gáspár Judit, Hideg Éva, Kovács-Hostyánszki Anikó, Sramkó Gábor, Standovár Tibor, Lengyel Szabolcs, Liker András, Magura Tibor, Márton András, Molnár V Attila, Molnár Zsolt, Oborny Beáta, Ódor Péter, Tóthmérész Béla, Török Katalin, Török Péter, Valkó Orsolya, Szép Tibor, Vörös Judit, Báldi András

One of the main goals of the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 is to avoid further loss of biodiversity and to restore ecosystems. These efforts can be facilitated by compiling the main research topics related to conservation biology to provide new evidence for the most urgent knowledge gaps, and publicise it to researchers, research funders and policy makers. We used the possible future statements from the Hungarian Environmental Foresight Report for 2050 which identified region-specific problems. To highlight likely future environmental and conservation questions, in this study we asked researchers from the fields of ecology and conservation to define research questions addressing these future statements in line with international research trends and challenges. 

The study resulted in fourteen priority research topics, split into seven clusters relevant to biological conservation that should be targeted by stakeholders, primarily policy makers and funders to focus research capacity to these topics. The main overarching themes identified here include a wide range of approaches and solutions such as innovative technologies, involvement of local stakeholders and citizen scientists, legislation, and issues related to human health. These indicate that solutions to conservation challenges require a multidisciplinary approach in design and a multi-actor approach in implementation. Although the identified research priorities were listed for Hungary, they are in line with European and global biodiversity strategies, and can be tailored to suit other Central and Eastern European countries as well. We believe that our prioritisation can help science–policy discussion, and will eventually contribute to healthy and well-functioning ecosystems.

 Új cikkünk a Biological Conservation-ben.

Megjelent Deák Balázs elsőszerzőségével legújabb cikkünk a Biological Conservation szakfolyóiratban. A cikk a kihalási adósság mértékét vizsgálja eltérő élőlénycsoportok (rovarcsoportok, növények) bevonásával. A legfontosabb eredménye a vizsgálatnak az volt, hogy kimutatta, hogy a kihalási adósság eltérő mértékben jelentkezik az egyes élőlénycsoportok esetében. Míg a specialista növényeknél jelentős mértékű ez z adósság, addig generalista fajoknál illetve specialista rövid generációs idejű állatoknál ez az adósság nem tapasztalható. A közlemény szabadon hozzáférhető a folyóirat honlapján és az összefoglalója az alábbiakban olvasható.

Different extinction debts among plants and arthropods after loss of grassland amount and connectivity

Balázs Deák, Ádám Bede, Zoltán Ráda, Béla Tóthmérész, Péter Török, Dávid Nagy D., Attila Torma, Gábor Lőrinczi, Antal Nagy, Szabolcs Mizser, András Kelemen, Orsolya Valkó

A decrease in habitat amount and connectivity causes immediate or delayed species extinctions in transformed landscapes due to reduced functional connections among populations and altered environmental conditions. We assessed the effects of present and historical grassland amount and connectivity as well as local habitat factors typical of the present landscape on the current species richness of grassland specialist and generalist plants and arthropods in grassland fragments. We surveyed herbaceous plants, ants, orthopterans, true bugs and rove beetles in 60 dry grassland fragments in Hungary. We recorded the area of the focal grassland, the slope and the cover of woody vegetation. By using habitat maps of the present and historical landscape, we calculated grassland amount and connectivity for four time periods covering 158 years (1858–2016). We found evidence for an unpaid extinction debt in specialist plants, suggesting that they have not come to equilibrium with the grassland amount and connectivity of the present landscape yet. This localised and typically long-lived group responded slowly to the landscape changes. Specialist arthropod taxa with short generation times responded much faster to habitat loss than plants and did not show an extinction debt. Generalist plants and animals adapted to a wide range of habitats were affected by the landscape-scale decline of grassland habitats. Despite decreased habitat connectivity, grassland fragments with dry environmental conditions and high environmental heterogeneity can sustain specialist plants in transformed landscapes. Unpaid extinction debt should be considered an early warning signal: Restoration of grassland connectivity is necessary to halt ongoing extinction processes.