Ioan Sîrbu

Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu · Department of Environmental Science, Physics, Physical Education and Sport

The Romanian Inner Carpathian Basin can be ascribed to four geographic regions, namely Transylvania, Maramureº, Criºana and Banat. Based on a research carried out between 199 6-2003 in 17 rivers ' basins and the Danube Valley, the sector from Banat, the present-day status of the mollusc fauna is presented and compared with the ancient image obtaine...

Freshwaters are among the most imperilled habitats worldwide and Unionidae species are recognised as one of the most important and endangered parts of the communities they shelter. Understanding the changes in the structure of Unionidae communities and their responses to environmental variables are issues insufficiently studied and understood. We e...

Intensification of agriculture is an increasing threat for biodiversity. Central Romania still preserves a traditional rural landscape with a matrix of small plots of crops and large surfaces covered by grasslands and forests, but its biodiversity is very poorly studied. Small mammals are key components of agrarian and semi-natural ecosystems but r...

The global decline of freshwater mussels and their crucial ecological services highlight the need to understand their phylogeny, phylogeography and patterns of genetic diversity to guide conservation efforts. Such knowledge is urgently needed for Unio crassus, a highly imperilled species originally widespread throughout Europe and southwest Asia. R...

The alien freshwater mussel Sinanodonta woodiana (Lea, 1834) has rapidly spread throughout Europe over the past decades. This species can cope with a broad range of environmental conditions and has a high reproductive capacity making S. woodiana a successful invader. Due to its negative effects on native freshwater mollusk communities and parasitiz...

(...) Reasons for our struggle: to assess who is responsible—and how and to what extent—for the presence, abundance and composition of communities, for their responses and dynamics. Linking communities belonging to different taxa among each other and all to time and environmental gradients also requires approaches and methods rooted in multi-dimens...

Our study contributes to a deeper understanding of the phenomenon of research engagement and productivity of academics, particularly those from developing country contexts that are currently not well-represented in the literature. Thirty-seven Romanian public universities grouped into three categories: research-intensive, teaching and research, and...

Freshwaters are under accelerated human pressure, and mollusk communities are among its most sensitive, threatened, and valuable components. To the best of our knowledge, the overall effects of damming, environment, space, time, and invasive alien mollusk species, on structural and functional responses of native mollusk communities were not yet com...

This is a didactical and scientific package of presentations and data sets for undergraduate and master's degree students (from Biology, Ecology, Environmental science, and others) and young researchers. It contains 13 presentations and 5 training datasets. It covers mainly the theory and use of multivariate methods, theory, and applications in Can...

We have linked communities to the environment, space, functional traits, and ecological niches by VADOC analyses and diagrams (Sîrbu et al. 2021, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-021-05006-6). Later, we defined an algorithm for cumulative variation partitioning in analyses with multiple responses and predictors matrices (CUVARP diagrams) and a varian...

This dataset includes historical and recent information on the freshwater mollusk communities from the middle Olt River (Romania), along with the environmental parameters in the sampling sites and their spatial coordinates, as well as the species' functional traits and niche measures. The historical information dates back to the XIXth century, and...

Fruticicola fruticum (O. F. Müller, 1774), a medium-sized helicoid snail in the Camaenidae, has a wide range in Europe, reaching from the Urals and the Caucasus to the Balkans, and from the southern part of Scandinavia, through Central Europe to eastern and central France and northern Italy. There are numerous studies on its distribution, biology,...

Protection of natural areas by restricting human activities aims to preserve plant and animal populations and whole communities, ensuring the conservation of biological diversity and enhancement of ecosystem services. Therefore, it is expected that the longer the protection, the stronger the desired effects. We evaluated the responses of small mamm...

What can be done when there is a shortage of assets, and a population size of a bivalve species has to be assessed along an extended river's sector? The devoted method has to be replicated periodically by one or two rangers in the future. Another question: how can we explore the similarity or overlap between resource use of several mollusk species,...

Constrained multivariate analysis is a common tool for linking ecological communities to environment. The follow-up is the development of the double-constrained correspondence analysis (dc-CA), integrating traits as species-related predictors. Further, methods have been proposed to integrate information on phylogenetic relationships and space varia...

Small mammals are key components of forest ecosystems, playing vital roles for numerous groups of forest organisms: they exert bottom-up and top-down regulatory effects on vertebrate and invertebrate populations, respectively; they are fungus- and seed-dispersers and bioturbators. Therefore, preserving or restoring the diversity of small mammal com...

Linking ecological communities to the environment has been done by constrained multivariate analysis. Various methods have been proposed to integrate information on functional traits, phylogenetic relationships, and spatial variability. Among these, the double-constrained correspondence analyses (dc-CA) and its linear counterpart (dc-PCA) integrate...

Compared to Northern Carpathians, the small mammal fauna of Southern Carpathian forests is poorly known, with no data on habitat use; our study seeks to fill this gap. To this end, we conducted a survey in the Southern Carpathians for five years, assessing habitat use by small mammals in forests along an elevational gradient. Trapping was done usin...

Distribution database (version from April 2020) of Corbicula fluminea in Romania, according to my personal collection and data. A new updated database will be developed and uploaded soon. All data in the table refer to Corbicula fluminea sampled and documented by I. Sîrbu (assisted by A.M. Benedek-Sîrbu and M. Sîrbu)

The data set is about the distribution of Sinanodonta woodiana in Romania, according to the literature and personal (original) data. This is the version from 2019. An updated database is going to be developed and will replace this version soon.

Elevation is one of the most important natural gradients that is strongly shaping communities across relatively small areas. However, few studies have followed the temporal dynamics of elevational patterns, even in organisms for which population and community fluctuations have been extensively studied, such as rodents. Here we report the multiannua...

One decade ago Romania became an EU member and has since largely developed and invested in nature conservation projects, especially those related to the EUHSD (92/43/EEC 1992), also known as the Habitats Directive. Consequently in 2007 and 2011 new laws were adopted aiming at the conservation of natural habitats, of wild fauna and flora. Some fresh...

Some rare relict (i.e Theodoxus prevostianus) or even endemic freshwater molluscs (Melanopsis parreyssii) occurred until recently in several small and scattered thermal spring-fed brooks and wetlands in the north-western part of Romania. Owing to human pressure, geothermal aquifer exploitation, disturbance of habitats and invasion of alien species,...

The European Alien Species Information Network (EASIN) aims to facilitate the exploration of alien species information in Europe, and is recognized as the information system supporting European Union Member States in the implementation of the recently published Invasive Alien Species Regulation. In this paper, we present the role and activities of...

In Transylvania the bank vole (Myodes glareolus) is a typical forest species, characteristic especially for montane wooded habitats. In lowlands its distribution is limited to humid areas with rich herbaceous vegetation in forests and especially at their edges. The aims of the present study were to detect possible patterns of spatial and temporal d...

The results of a one year study of bird communities from the Lotrioara River Basin (Lotru Mountains, Romania), using the transect method along the main valley, are presented. The study aimed to reveal the characteristics of the community’s dynamics, both from spatial and temporal point of view. During the research period 70 species belonging to 9 o...

Small mammal communities were studied by live trapping during August-September 2010 and June-September 2011 in three localities from Hârtibaciu Plateau, in southern Transylvania. The area is situated between 420 and 550 m a.s.l., and represents a mosaic of small patches of different land use. 200 traps were set in lines for three consecutive nights...

Ptychobranchus fasciolaris (Kidneyshell) was confirmed as Endangered. This freshwater mussel had disappeared from 70 % of its historical range in Canada by 2001 and is currently confined to a few watersheds in southern Ontario with signs of reproduction occurring in only two of the four subpopulations. The invasion by dreissenid mussels, habitat lo...

In the Romanian sector of the Timiş River, 31 species of freshwater molluscs have been found up to the present. Among them are 17 gastropod and 14 bivalve species (including all seven species of Unionidae that live in Romania, these found in the lower sector of the river - something that is extremely rare in our waters). The present synthesis used...

Apodemus flavicollis is the most widely spread and abundant rodent in the woodlands of Romania. It inhabits all types of forests as well as open areas in their vicinity. Data on ectoparasites hosted by A. flavicollis were collected from 339 animals captured in 10 areas across Transylvania, beginning with the year 2004. Prevalence of ectoparasites w...

The yellow-necked mouse (Apodemus flavicollis) is one of the most important species in the rodent communities from Transylvania (Romania), especially in mountain areas, inhabiting all types of forests as well as neighbouring open habitats with rich and high vegetation. Although there are a few studies concerning the small mammals from Transylvania,...

61 sequences of cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (COI), 570 bp long, from Central Europe (8), Slovenia (2), and from the Balkans (51: 6 from, Romania, 15 from Greece, 15 from Bulgaria, 6 from Serbia, and 9 from Montenegro), 33 of them new, together with 61 sequences of the ribosomal 18S, 450 bp long, all ofthem new, were analysed to infer the pattern o...

The naiad species Unio crassus Philipsson, 1788 (Figs. 1, 2) is a flagship species of community interest, listed in Annexes II and IV of the EUHSD (92/43/EEC 1992), the Habitats Directive. It is considered a bioindicator key species, its presence indicating a certain ecological quality of freshwater systems. It lives (or lived) almost throughout Eu...

Forty-three forest sites in seven sampling areas in mountainous parts of Transylvania were sampled to obtain inventories of their snail faunas, and to make comparisons between these and the faunas of similar sites further north along the Carpathian chain. Sampling areas ran from close to the Ukrainian border in the north to Retezat in the south-wes...

In the Romanian tributaries' of the Upper Tisa River basin, 16 species of aquatic molluscs (among them 13 species of Gastropods and three of Bivalves), have been found up to the present. The present paper presents their annotated systematical and chorological checklist, some ecological characteristics and the main environmental issues related to th...

The freshwater Mollusca fauna from Banat (Romania) The freshwater molluscs fauna from Banat comprises 61 species (41 of gastropods and 20 of bivalves). 10 species were newly identified in this area by the authors. This paper's aim is to establish the systematical and chorological catalogue of this fauna, to highlight the most characteristic and sig...

Dynamics of Asio otus L., 1758 (Aves: Strigiformes) winter-spring trophic regime in Western Plain (Romania) The trophic regime of Asio otus is dominated by Microtus arvalis . In both areas the proportion of this species in the long-eared owl's food presents an important seasonal variation. In winter it moves usually through tunnels under the snow,...

The benthic macroinvertbrate communities from the western part of Apuseni Nature Park were researched in August-September 2005. Samples were collected from 21 stations established along five tributaries of Crişul Negru River. The structure of benthic communities was characterized in terms of mean density and relative abundance of the invertebrate t...

Mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I (COI) and ribosomal internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS-1) sequences were analysed in 12 Romanian Bythinella populations. Phylogenetic relationships were inferred using maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood and Bayesian techniques. For COI, the Kimura two-parameter (K2P) distances and haplotype networks were comput...

Up to present, 16 species of small mammals are known from Cefa Nature Park. Spermophilus citellus, cited from the area in 1956, is probably extinct. The results of 9 trapping sessions carried out between 2005 and 2008 revealed the clear prevalance of Apodemus agrarius, a hygrophilous species which finds suitable conditions in the habitats from the...

The molluscs fauna of the Retezat National Park is analyzed, based on literature and field work done by the authors and their supporting team, beginning with the year 2000. Up to the present, 93 species of molluscs are known from this area, belonging to 29 families and four orders. These taxa belong to 15 zoogeographical elements, prevailing the Eu...

The shell, penis, and female reproductive organs of six molecularly distinct Bythinella species from Romania are described. The species were found by the authors in their earlier study based on mt DNA COI, and rRNA ITS-1. None of the species is identical with B. austriaca (Frauenfeld, 1857). Two of them are identified as B. dacica Grossu, 1946 and...

Extinction of a freshwater gastropod species in Romania

Heleobia dobrogica is the only gastropod species living in the Movile Cave in Dobrogea, Romania. In the cave there is little oxygen but large amounts of carbon dioxide and methane in the atmosphere, and a large amount of hydrogen sulphide in the water. All the non-predatory animals feed on the chemoautotrophic microorganisms that draw energy from t...

The paper present the results of the research conducted on the park territory during July 2007- May 2008. References concerning terrestrial gastropods of this region are scanty. The researches revealed the presence of 43 terrestrial gastropod species, for 24 of them this is the first record in the area. Most important are Clausiliidae, Helicidae an...

The rich rissooidean fauna of Balkan Peninsula, the history of which began at the time of Paratethys, is not sufficiently studied yet. It includes, among others, many taxa of minute gastropods with a moderately high-spired shell, a penis with a double lobe on its left edge and female reproductive organs with a loop of coiled oviduct and two recepta...

The freshwater mollusc fauna from Criºana comprises 60 species (among them 41 gastropods and 19 bivalves). 19 species were newly identified in this area by the author. At least one species has disappeared and another is at the edge of its extinction, because of human impact. This paper's aim is to establish the systematical and chorological catalog...

The Unionidae populations from Romania were exposed during the second half of the XX th Century to a severe human impact, expressed by pollution, hydrotechnical works, draining and exploiting of wetlands. The naiads respond in a variety of modalities: local or regional extinction, species exchange, density reduction, communities' structural and dis...

During the last 150 years, several authors have quoted 28 species of molluscs (8 of bivalves and 20 of gastropods) in the Târnava rivers basin. At least two species have probably disappeared, mainly because of pollution and environmental quality debasement, and others were not found during the 1996-2001 investigations, carried out by the author, in...

During the last 7 years the freshwater molluscs from the Romanian Inner Carpathian Basin, comprising four geographic regions, namely Transylvania, Banat, Criana and Maramurewere researched by the second author. Some species, formerly unknown from Romania, were identified by the first author and the systematics was updated for several taxa. The pres...

bstract. The species of Theodoxus Genus have drastically changed their distribution and range in the past decades, due mainly to human impact related environmental changes. Inside the Romanian Inner Carpathian Basin (comprising Transylvania, Banat, Criana, and Maramure), T. transversalis has almost surely disappeared, T. prevostianus is still found...

The ichtyofauna from fourteen rivers and the freshwater mollusc fauna from six rivers in Banat were investigated. Some certain data on crayfish and lower crustaceans are also given. This paper aims to establish a synthesis regarding the ecological framing of the specified groups from Banat, the range and dispersal of some elements and their status...

Based on long-term research this paper aims to rev€al the srarus of l0 highly endangered freshwater mollusc species from the eastem Tisa River Basin. In all cases the adverse human pressure (pouution. hydroicchnical works and drastic reduction of wetlands) is responsible for thc present-day status ofthis fauna, several sp€€ies having a highly patch...

This paper presents the Unionidae assemblages from some areas of the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve. Among the 6 species of naiads, the most abundant is Anodonta cygnaea L. 1758, and the most rare is Unio crassus Philipsson, 1758. The adventive species Anodonta woodiana Lea, 1834 is in full process of expansion, being a potential danger for the aut...

Abstrsct The freshwater molluscs of the SomeqiSzamos rivers have poorly been studied so far; only a few species and sampling points were mentioned in the last 150 years. The authors have found 22 mollusc species, and pointed out the disappearance of three species, narnely Theodoxus transversalis (probably extinct from the whole Transylvania), Bithy...