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Competition is an evolutionary mechanism which exerts a selection pressure on living organisms. Forest trees compete for light, water and nutrients, especially at a young age. It was observed that the Quercus petraea and Padus serotina natural regenerations occupied the same site growing under the canopy of Scots pine (Pinus silvestris L.). To simulate the competition between young sessile oaks and black cherries found in forest, a controlled experiment was conducted using one-year-old seedlings of both species. There were eight treatments of different competition intensity. The treatments were established varying the number of potted seedlings and adding fresh cherry leaves to the substrate to enhance allelopathic effects. It was hypothesized that black cherry would reduce the height growth and diameter at root collar of sessile oak seedlings and this inhibitory effect would be magnified by an increasing number of cherry seedlings and/or fresh leaves. Black cherry as an invasive, fast-growing species was presumed to win the growth competition with oak. However, the differences in growth parameters would not only depend on genetic differences between the species, but also on the number of competing seedlings in pots and an allelopathic effect of cherry leaves. During the whole vegetative season, each two weeks, the growth parameters of seedlings (height, height increment and diameter at root collar) were measured. The results did not support the hypothesis that cherry had an inhibitory effect on oak growth, at least after one vegetative season. Contrary, a presence of cherry seedlings enhanced the oak height increment (F = 8.6, P <0.001) which might be due to either the strong interspecific competition for light or, less plausibly, positive allelopathic effect, or an interaction of both. Our results indicated a negative auto-allelopathic effect of cherry seedlings and/or fresh cherry leaves on height of cherry seedlings (F = 47.7, P <0.001). This invader showed a continuous and steep height increment within the whole vegetative season, whereas oak seedlings grew rapidly only in July. When compared the mean initial heights in April with those after the bud set in September, cherry was four fold and oak only two fold higher. A very intensive height increment gives black cherry an advantage over sessile oak at a young age which can disturb the spontaneous conversion of pine stands into a mixed pine-oak forest with a greater share of oak and other native deciduous tree species.
In forest research and nursery practice there is often a need to monitor the condition and responses of trees to different stressors. Chlorophyll content in leaf is a good indicator of plant health and can be measured rapidly in many repetitions using the chlorophyll meter SPAD-502Plus. This practical tool provides the values of chlorophyll content in relative units (SPAD values), therefore it should be calibrated for each species to determine chlorophyll content in physiological units. In this study, the chlorophyll meter SPAD-502Plus was calibrated to be used for total chlorophyll (Chl), chlorophyll a (Chl a), chlorophyll b (Chl b) and carotenoids (Car) contents determination in leaves of Quercus petraea and Prunus serotina seedlings growing in different light environments. In the same leaf, SPAD values were measured with the Chl meter, and then photosynthetic pigments content (PP; chlorophyll and carotenoids) was consistently assessed using a conventional extraction method. The measurements were conducted once a month from May to November in three light treatments to obtain the widest possible range of the PP content values. To estimate total Chl content in leaves using the chlorophyll meter the quadratic polynomial functions: y = 0.0374x2 + 0.5345x + 0.5137 and y = 0.024x2 + 2.1998x – 32.7866 were obtained from the relationship between the Chl meter SPAD readings and total Chl determined spectrophotometrically for P. serotina and Q. petraea, respectively. Chl was higher under shade compared with full light regime and Car were linearly correlated with Chl. PP content was positively correlated with air temperature except for Car in P. serotina leaves. It was concluded that at the same soil conditions chlorophyll content in leaves of Q. petraea and P. serotina depended on species, light regimes and temperature of growth. The chlorophyll meter can be used as a practical tool to monitor and compare photosynthetic pigments content in leaves between tree species or populations acclimated to different environments together with a control of abiotic and biotic factors affecting pigments content and leaf optical properties.
The impact of the European beaver Castor fiber on deadwood resources near dams on the rivers of Wigry National Park (northeastern Poland) has been analyzed. The river sampling area was subdivided into the flooded zone, scarp and upland. We found that beaver feeding was limited to the flooded zone and the scarp. Within a distance of 40 m of the river, beavers browsed 75% of all deadwood pieces (wood debris, stumps, dead trees). The wood generated via direct browsing by beavers made up 5% (3.29 m³/ha) of the total wood volume and 35% (641 pieces/ha) of the total number of wood pieces in this region. The beavers mostly left small pieces of wood (with a mean diameter of about 4 cm) at an area after feeding. The deadwood volume and number of pieces were significantly different in front and behind the dam only in the flooded zone. The volume of deadwood in front of the dam in the flooded zone was higher by 65% than behind the dam (102 and 62 m³/ha, respectively), and the number of pieces was higher by 75% (2200 and 1200 pieces/ha, respectively). We prove that beavers generate the majority of dead wood indirectly – by flooding a part of the area. This results leads to conclusion that frequent flooding of a given area may lead to limiting the source of deadwood in the long term. We also confirm that through direct browsing, beavers produce small amounts of thin dead wood with less usefulness for other groups of animals, thus in this way beavers are not able to provide high-quality deadwood resources.
Background. In Polish cities, many organizations help senior citizens (60+), and many targeted programs support their healthcare. Rural areas, in contrast, have been very much neglected. The main goal of this study was to obtain data on selected health-related behaviors of seniors living in urban and rural areas. We compared exercise, eating habits, smoking and alcohol consumption. Material and methods. The study was conducted in Poland among people aged 60 and above living in remote rural areas (n=128) and the city (n=146). Interviews were used to conduct surveys and collect lifestyle data. The differences between urban and rural seniors were determined in a significance test of two structure coefficients at a significance level of α=0.05. Results. Some major differences between the two groups were observed: 23.35% of the rural and 15.75% of the city seniors did not exercise (p=0.0008); rural seniors smoked more (16.40%) than city seniors (7.53%; p=0.0225) and drank more units of alcohol at one time and tended to consume more animal protein. Conclusions. The findings suggest that social policies and local programs aimed at improving quality aging should take into account local differences between rural and urban senior communities and tailor actions accordingly. Rural seniors need more interest and support from both government institutions and social organizations.
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