Slavica Tofilovska

• Saints Cyril and Methodius University of Skopje

Ramshaj Q., Rusevska K., Tofilovska S., Karadelev M., 2025: Provisional list of the Ascomycota species from Kosovo with data on new records.-Botanica, 31(1): 25-38. https://doi.org/10.35513/Botlit.2025.1.3 The mycobiota of Kosovo, especially fungi of the phylum Ascomycota, remains under-explored despite its ecological and biological importance. Thi...

This study presents the first report of three Hericium species in Kosovo: Hericium cirrhatum (Pers.) Nikol., H. coralloides (Scop.) Pers. and H. erinaceus (Bull.) Pers. These species were found in mixed deciduous and oak forests in the central-eastern part of the country.

The National Red List plays a crucial role in the conservation of fungi, considering the significant threats they face, such as habitat loss and fragmentation, decline in symbiotic hosts, overexploitation, pollution, and climate change. The importance of protecting fungi is evident, and although unofficial red lists were created in the past (2000 a...

A game-based approach is widely used to increase students’ motivation through their active participation, whereby research is interwoven with fun and competition is incorporated with cooperation. Working in teams or groups encourages students to exchange their opinions, to try to find solutions together or to win a game. In this way, they learn and...

A game-based approach is widely used to increase students’ motivation through their active participation, whereby research is interwoven with fun and competition is incorporated with cooperation. Working in teams or groups encourages students to exchange their opinions, to try to find solutions together or to win a game. In this way, they learn and...

Shar Mountain is one of the largest mountain ranges in Republic of North Macedonia, distinguished by outstanding biodiversity, first and foremost owing to the presence of various climate and vegetation features. Published data on the mycota of Shar Mt. is scarce; they refer to specific areas, and there are no systematic data available on occurrence...

First record of five species of genus Tuber in North Macedonia. Up until now, in North Macedonia 18 taxa within genus Tuber are published in the checklist of Ascomycota for the country, T. aestivum, T. aestivum var. uncinatum, T. bellonae, T. borchii, T. brumale, T. brumale var. moschatum, T. dryophillum, T. excavatum, T. foetidum, T. fulgens, T....

Mycological diversity of Belchishta Wetland – the unique flooded alder forest in Macedonia. Belchishta Wetland is probably the best conserved and most important wetland in the country. It is fed by more than 10 karst springs and harbors different types of habitats, one of which is the flooded alder forest that’s the only locality of this habitat i...

Five new fungi records from Shar Planina National Park in Macedonia. Shar Mountain is one of the largest mountain massifs in Macedonia, distinguished by outstanding species diversity, first and foremost owing to the presence of various climate and vegetation features. Recently, it was proclaimed as a national park. Published data on fungi of Shar...

The 5E model is an inquiry-based approach and helps students gain a full understanding of new concepts, while keeping them engaged and motivated. This model is based on constructivist learning theory, and allows students to develop new knowledge that builds on their previous concepts and scientific ideas, restructures and adds newly learned informa...

Our study in the Sharr Mountains of Kosovo began in 2017 and included 20surveyed sites. The predominant vegetation consists of beech and oak forests, but also a forest of Pinus heldreichii, the Balkan endemic pine species. A total of 244 macromycete species were recorded, of which 211 belong to the Basidiomycota phylum and 33 to the Ascomycota phyl...

Ramshaj Q., Rusevska K., Tofilovska S., Karadelev M. (2021): Checklist of macro-fungi from oak forests in the Republic of Kosovo.-Czech Mycol. 73(1): 21-42. In the period from 2017 to 2019 a survey of the diversity of fungi in oak forests in the Republic of Kosovo was conducted. The survey included 31 localities, mainly in Quercetum frainetto-cerri...

The scarcity of high-resolution empirical data directly tracking diversity over time limits our understanding of speciation and extinction dynamics and the drivers of rate changes. Here, we analyze a continuous species-level fossil record of endemic diatoms from ancient Lake Ohrid, along with environmental and climate indicator time series since la...

Basidiomycota is a species-rich group of fungi that was intensively studied in Republic of North Macedonia. In a recently published checklist 1766 macrofungal taxa of this group are noted as known for its territory. The research on diversity and ecology of different groups of fungi in various biogeographical regions is ongoing work. Additionally, t...

Mediterranean climates are characterized by strong seasonal contrasts between dry summers and wet winters. Changes in winter rainfall are critical for regional socioeconomic development, but are difficult to simulate accurately¹ and reconstruct on Quaternary timescales. This is partly because regional hydroclimate records that cover multiple glacia...

The extraordinary diversity in long-lived lakes is largely driven by distinct eco-evolutionary processes. With their unique biota and numerous endemic taxa, these lakes are key settings for fundamental studies related to ecology, diversity, and evolution. Here, we test how the environment shapes diatom diversity and community patterns over space in...

Crveno jezero (Red Lake) is one of the largest karstic sinkhole lakes in the Europe. Diatom flora of this lake was unknown due to difficulties in collecting samples. Recently, samples were collected by speleodivers in the frame of systematical natural sciences research, during the cave diving expedition “Crveno jezero 2017” and observations reveale...

Diatoms are unicellular, photosynthetic, eukaryotic organisms often classified as among the algae. There are around 15 000 known species, but many more have yet to be described. Their uniqueness lies in the siliceous covering of the cell, each being encased in a pair of silica valves. Silica is virtually inert and indestructible, so after the organ...

This study reviews and synthesises existing information generated within the SCOPSCO (Scientific Collaboration on Past Speciation Conditions in Lake Ohrid) deep drilling project. The four main aims of the project are to infer (i) the age and origin of Lake Ohrid (Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia/Republic of Albania), (ii) its regional seismote...

The species of the genus Craticula are widely distributed in Europe, mostly occurring in brackish, saline to heavi-ly polluted waters. Some of the species are considered as being most tolerant to pollution. Recently, detailed observa-tions of this genus in Macedonia have been performed. During this study, 15 taxa have been recorded. One of the spec...

Lake Ohrid is the oldest existing lake in Europe and it is known for its high diversity with around 200 endemic or relict diatom species recognized. In order to understand this phenomenon, a large project on deep drilling was performed and a core with maximum sediment depth of 569 m which spans > 1.2 million years was recovered. Two new species of...

We reconstruct the aquatic ecosystem interactions since the last interglacial period in the oldest, most diverse, hydrologically connected European lake system, by using palaeolimnological diatom and selected geochemistry data from Lake Ohrid “DEEP site” core and equivalent data from Lake Prespa core, Co1215. Driven by climate forcing, the lakes ex...

A new diatom genus, Cribrionella gen. nov., is described from Quaternary sediments of Lake Ohrid. Cribrionella comprises distinct morphological features, such as: i) presence of submarginal alveoli followed by regularly or irregularly arranged areolae, ii) cribra on external areolar openings, iii) absence of silicate layers on internal areolar open...

Stauroneis smithii is considered to be a widely distributed and highly variable species complex. So far, more than 20 infraspecific taxa have been described. In the present study, six members of this complex were observed. Stauroneis smithii is widely distributed in Macedonia, recorded from various aquatic habitats. Minor morphological variations w...

In order to understand the panarchy and interactions since the last interglacial period in the oldest, most diverse and hydrologically connected European lake system, we assess changes in the diatom record and selected geochemistry data from Lake Ohrid's " DEEP site " core and compare it with the diatom and multi-proxy data from 5 Lake Prespa core...

Four species of Achnanthes sensu stricto have been observed in several subaerial habitats/localities in Macedonia. The morphological features of all recorded species have been described based on light and scanning electron microscope observations. Two species posses similar morphological features as already described species and were identified as...