Dušan Senko

Slovak Academy of Sciences | SAV · Department of Evolution and Systematics Plant Science and Biodiversity Centre

Traditionally focussed on maximising productivity, forest management increasingly has to consider other functions performed by the forest stands, such as biodiversity conservation. Terrestrial plant communities typically possess a hump-back relationship between biomass productivity and plant species richness. However, there is evidence of a reverse...

Disturbance regime and site productivity are considered the main factors shaping plant species assemblages and community diversity in riparian ecosystems, but whether and how topographic indices correlate with these two predictors remains largely unexplored. In this study, the stream power index (SPI) and topographic wetness index (TWI) were calcul...

Russula subsect. Maculatinae is morphologically and phylogenetically well-defined lineage of ectomycorrhizal fungi associated with arctic, boreal, temperate and Mediterranean habitats of Northern Hemisphere. Based on phylogenetic distance among species, it seems that this group diversified relatively recently. Russula ayubiana sp. nov., described i...

Two Phyllactinia species have been associated with powdery mildew on leaves of ash trees (Fraxinus) in Eurasia, Phyllactinia fraxinicola U. Braun & H.D. Shin from Southeast Asia and Phyllactinia fraxini (DC.) Fuss from Europe. Non-native ash trees are planted in urban greeneries in both Europe and Southeast Asia, but so far, the two Phyllactinia sp...

Orchids are one of the most species-rich families in the world, and many species are under threat in numerous countries. Biodiversity research focusing on the relationship between the richness of orchid species and ecological factors was performed across the Cerová vrchovina Mts (Western Carpathians) testing impact of 26 explanatory variables. We a...

The effects of local and regional environmental variables as well as spatial gradients on the plant species composition of two types of alder-dominated forests (riparian forests and alder carrs) with contrasting connectivity were studied across the Western Carpathians from Hungary through Slovakia to Poland. We used large vegetation (240 sampling p...

Carex rupestris is an endangered and rare arctic-alpine element of the Western Carpathian flora. Given the geographically isolated and spatially restricted peripheral ranges of arctic-alpine species, there is a good chance that many species of conservation concern irreversibly disappear from the regional flora under the ongoing climate change. In t...

Molecular plant taxonomy methods have helped to introduce new findings to the original concepts of plant evolution in comparison to traditional classification based on morphological, karyological, and ecological characters. The objective of our study was to determine if a new taxonomic concept developed for the Soldanella genus would also change th...

Alien plants, although usually rare in mountain habitats, can significantly impact native species diversity. The aim of this study was to analyse patterns of alien plant distribution in the Tatra Mts (Slovakia), focusing primarily on comparison of various transportation routes as a conduit for the spread of alien plants. We collected data on transe...

Aquatic vegetation of the mountains and sub-alpine ponds in the Tatra Mountains and adjacent area (Slovakia) has been studied with the aim to provide information about the composition and species richness of macrophytes in relation to environmental factors. Macrophytes were studied in two pond groups: natural ponds of glacial origin and artificial...

The content of selected elements (Al, As, Ca, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mn, Ni, Pb, S, Ti, V and Zn) was measured in samples of the lichen Evernia prunastri exposed for 30, 90 and 180 days around a cement mill, limestone and basalt quarries and urban and agricultural areas in SW Slovakia. Lichens transplanted around the investigated quarries and the ceme...

We studied the ecological requirements of two closely related species of lichens, Solenopsora cesatii and S. candicans, which grow predominantly on basic rocks in natural habitats.We determined the ecological niches they occupy at the centre of their distribution (Mediterranean Basin) where they occur sympatrically and in areas with a continental c...

Detailed knowledge of the geographic distribution of cytotypes is a prerequisite for any experimental or molecular study of ploidy-variable plant systems. The Arabidopsis arenosa group, an intricate di-tetraploid complex from the plant model genus Arabidopsis, has remained largely neglected regarding the distribution and habitat associations of its...

In Slovakia, two species of the genus Callistosporium are known, C. luteo-olivaceum and C. pinicola, both only with low number of collections and a brief description of macroscopic and microscopic characters. In this paper, information about all Callistosporium collections from Slovakia is gathered and data on species ecology, distribution and thre...

In this paper we document a gradual loss of grassland habitats in Palárikovo cadastre (south-western Slovakia) from the half of the 19th century to the recent. During this period the area of grasslands decreased more than 90 % in the observed region. Based on the available data we also document a gradual deterioration of saline vegetation included...

The suitability of the cyanolichen Peltigera praetextata (Sommerf.) Zopf as indicator of the effects of air pollution around a cement industry was investigated. For this purpose, lichen samples taken from an unpolluted site were exposed for 1–6 months at selected sites (a cement mill, two quarries, inhabited and agricultural sites) in SW Slovakia:...

Polyploid speciation is an ongoing, important source of angiosperm diversity. However, the ecogeographical differences between polyploids and their lower-ploid progenitors remain poorly understood. Here we explore patterns in the distributions of three Jacobaea vulgaris ploidy levels (4x, 6x and 8x) in Slovakia, which involved sampling at 203 sites...

Several systematic and ecological studies have been recently devoted to Jacobaea vulgaris (syn. Senecio jacobaea) in Europe. As a result, interesting data on its karyology, genetics, morphology, and ecology have been revealed. One of them is the description of a new subspecies J. vulgaris subsp. pannonica occurring in Central Europe and probably al...

• Contact zones between diploids and their autopolyploid descendants represent a unique evolutionary venue for studying polyploid establishment, cytotype coexistence, and interactions. Here, we examine cytotype coexistence in a diploid-tetraploid contact zone of a perennial herb, Cardamine amara, located north of the Alps by assessing cytotype spat...

The study investigated the ecophysiological and ultrastructural effects of dust pollution from a cement industry in the lichen species Evernia prunastri and Xanthoria parietina, which were exposed for 30, 90 and 180 days around a cement mill, two quarries, and inhabited and agricultural sites in SW Slovakia. The results showed that dust deposition...

Although the National Park Malá Fatra covers an area of only 222.17 km 2 , it is very diverse and miscellaneous. Many various vegetation types are spread on such a small area in mosaics along the altitudinal gradient and according to geological bedrock, orientation and topography. The species diversity and the uniqueness of the regional flora is a...

We investigated patterns in community composition in Central-European lichen-rich pine forests along a macroclimatic gradient, using two plot sizes. Diversity of lichens, especially the number of boreal and subatlantic taxa per plot increased from southern Slovakia to northern Poland (Baltic Sea). Ecological indicator value for continentality was h...

We investigated patterns in community composition in Central-European lichen-rich pine forests along a macroclimatic gradient, using two plot sizes. Diversity of lichens, especially the number of boreal and subatlantic taxa per plot increased from southern Slovakia to northern Poland (Baltic Sea). Ecological indicator value for continentality was h...

Knowledge on the main spatiotemporal trends in plant invasions of habitats is essential for a better understanding of the process of these invasions. The aim of this study was to determine the level of plant invasion, represented by relative richness and total cover of archaeophytes and neophytes, in 45 EUNIS habitat types along with spatiotemporal...

The classification was best interpreted at the level of 15 clusters. The vegetation changed along the salinity gradient from sub-halophytic grasslands (including Trifolion resupinati alliance of the Molinio-Arrhenatheretalia class and Beckmannion eruciformis and Festucion pseudovinae p. p. alliances of the Festuco-Puccinellietea class) and reed bed...

This study focuses on dry acidophilous Scots pine forests, well known for their high biodiversity of cryptogams. We hypothesized that dense forests and heavy management were responsible for changes in species diversity, decreasing trends in lichen cover and increasing moss cover. This hypothesis was tested in three types of Scots pine forests maint...

Milí čitatelia, milí botanici, kolegovia, rubrika prezentujúca zaujímavejšie fytocenologické zápisy pokračuje aj v tomto roku ukážkou výskytu zaujímavých spoločenstiev a druhov v nich obsiahnutých nachádzajúcich sa na území Slovenska. V špecifických prípadoch (viaceré zápisy z rovnakých spoločenstiev) sme pristúpili k zverejňovania ytocenologických...

This study focuses on dry acidophilous Scots pine forests, well known for their high biodiversity of cryptogams. We hypothesized that dense forests and heavy management were responsible for changes in species diversity, decreasing trends in lichen cover and increasing moss cover. This hypothesis was tested in three types of Scots pine forests maint...

Current and historical occurrence as well as coenotic affinity and ecology of Carex secalina in the Czech Republic and Slovakia are presented. The study is based on revision of herbarium specimens from 25 herbaria, literature data excerption and a field survey carried out during 2004-2010. Altogether, 168 sites were documented in the Czech Republic...

Dry grasslands are endangered by succession because of changes in management, soil conditions and abandonment. The successional changes in vegetation composition after 46 years of abandonment were subject of the study. The analyses were designed to minimize errors that could be caused by application of historical data. With the help of numerical cl...

Vegetation of deciduous forests in the Štiavnické vrchy Mts (Central Slovakia) was studied using the standard Zürich-Montpellier approach. The numerical classification and ordination technique were applied to determine the main forest vegetation types and to find the responsible environmental drivers related to their distribution patterns, respecti...

The research conducted here presents a syntaxonomical revision of the montane mesophilous meadows of the Polygono bistortae-Trisetion flavescentis alliance in central Europe – the Slovak part of the western and eastern Carpathians. These typical semi-natural grasslands occur mainly as small islands over the calcareous bedrocks. Associations of this...

A long-term systematic survey of grassland communities was performed in the Biele Karpaty Mts. in Slovakia. The main aims of the research were i) syntaxonomical classification of meso- and subxerophilous grassland vegetation, ii) analysis of the main gradients in species composition, iii) evaluation of the effect of environmental factors on species...

This work focuses on evaluating the potential for the preservation of the xerotherm vegetation communities in the National Natural Reserve area on Devinska Kobyla. It is important to understand the topoclimatic differences of thermal and hygric characteristics with regard to this relationship. In this work, we use methods of quantitative planar est...