Marián Jasík’s research while affiliated with Czech University of Life Sciences Prague and other places

We describe the vegetation of small-sized non-forest wetlands in the forests of Bystrá dolina, located in the western part of the Pilsko massif in the Orava region of northern Slovakia. The sites are situated between 1126 and 1293 meters a. s. l. In the vicinity of active springs or streams, a spring habitat of national interest has been inhabited by the vegetation of the class Montio-Cardaminetea, alliance Cratoneuro filicini-Calthion laetae and Calthetum laeate association. Alkaline fens, a habitat of European interest, are formed on elevated plateaus or depressions created by landslides. They are occupied by the vegetation of the Valeriano-Caricetum flavae association (class Scheuchzerio palustris-Caricetea fuscae, alliance Caricion davallianae). The occurrence of this vegetation in the Pilsko Massif is at its elevational limit in Slovakia. We also recorded transitional mires (= poor fens) inhabited by the alliance Sphagno recurvi-Caricion canescentis and Carici echinatae-Sphagnetum association, but only sporadically and represented by just one relevé. In the drier parts or places with unstable water regime, the vegetation of the Calthion palustris alliance was recorded in smaller areas. At the same time, we confirmed the presence of Tofieldia calyculata and Trollius europaeus (syn. T. altissimus, NT), two species that are exceedingly rare in the Orava region.

In Slovakia, Tozzia carpatica is a rare species endemic to the Oravské Beskydy, Malá Fatra, Chočské vrchy, Západné Tatry, Čergov and Bukovské vrchy Mts. As a species protected under the European Union's Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), it is currently a subject of conservation in four special areas of conservation (SACs). This report brings new insights into the occurrence of Tozzia carpatica in the Oravské Beskydy Mts., part of the Protected Landscape Area Horná Orava (98 sites), and factors contributing to the endangerment of the species and its habitat. Considering the representative character and significance of these recently discovered sites, their addition to the Natura 2000 network has been proposed.

Our contribution provides new chorological data on rare and endangered species Andromeda polifolia and Rhynchospora alba. We discovered new localities during a survey of peat forest complexes Hladovské bory and Sosnina in the Orava basin in northern Slovakia. We recorded Andromeda polifolia in two sites in the vegetation of the alliance Sphagnion medii, the association Andromedo polifoliae-Sphagnetum magellanici. We recorded two micro-populations of Rhynchospora alba in a peat bog within the same large mire complex in the vegetation of the alliance Sphagno-Caricion canescentis, associations Carici echinatae-Sphagnetum and Sphagno recurvi-Caricetum rostratae. This locality is the second, recently known occurrence in Slovakia. In addition to the mentioned species, the article also deals in more detail with the distribution of Drosera rotundifolia, Juncus squarrosus and the rare ferns Dryopteris cristata and Thelypteris limbosperma in this unique area in northern Slovakia.

Given the global intensification of forest management and climate change, protecting and studying forests that develop free of direct human intervention-also known as primary forests-are becoming increasingly important. Yet, most countries still lack data regarding primary forest distribution. Previous studies have tested remote sensing approaches as a promising tool for identifying primary forests. However, their precision is highly dependent on data quality and resolution, which vary considerably. This has led to underestimation of primary forest abundance and distribution in some regions, such as the temperate zone of Europe. Field-based inventories of primary forests and methodologies to conduct these assessments are inconsistent; incomplete or inaccurate mapping increases the vulnerability of primary forest systems to continued loss from clearing and land-use change. We developed a comprehensive methodological approach for identifying primary forests, and tested it within one of Europe's hotspots of primary forest abundance: the Carpathian Mountains. From 2009 to 2015, we conducted the first national-scale primary forest census covering the entire 49,036 km 2 area of the Slovak Republic. We analyzed primary forest distribution patterns and the representativeness of potential vegetation types within primary forest remnants. We further evaluated the conservation status and extent of primary forest loss. Remaining primary forests are small, fragmented, and often do not represent the potential natural vegetation. We identified 261 primary forest localities. However, they represent only 0.47% of the total forested area, which is 0.21% of the country's land area. The spatial pattern of primary forests was clustered. Primary forests have tended to escape anthropogenic disturbance on sites with higher elevations, steeper slopes, rugged terrain, and greater distances from roads and settlements. Primary forest stands of montane mixed and subalpine spruce forests are more abundant compared to broadleaved forests. Notably, several habitat types are completely missing within primary forests (e.g., floodplain forests). More than 30% of the remaining primary forests are not strictly protected, and harvesting occurred at 32 primary forest localities within the study period. Almost all logging of primary forests was conducted inside of protected areas, underscoring the critical status of primary forest distribution in this part of Europe. Effective conservation strategies are urgently needed to stop the rapid loss and fragmentation of the remaining primary forests. Our approach based on precise, field-based surveys is widely applicable and transferrable to other fragmented forest landscapes.

Our study brings new information about occurrence of 29 endangered vascular plants from the territory of central Slovakia. Species findings were recorded in the years 2017 and 2018. The annotated list comprises one regionally extinct (RE), one critically endangered (CR), two endangered (EN), five vulnerable (VU) and 20 near threatened (NT) plant species. The most interesting findings are related to Juncus atratus, Typha shuttleworthii and Viola pumila. New records of species Thesium ebracteatum, Potentilla micrantha and information about regionally rare and endangered species such as Centarium pulchellum, Epipogium aphyllum (Muránska planina Mts) and Epipactis purpurata (Javorie Mts) are also important.

2 Botanický ústav, Centrum biológie rastlín a biodiverzity SAV, Dúbravská cesta 9, 845 23 Bratislava, daniel.dite@savba.sk Abstract: We report on a new record of Thesium ebracteatum Hayne in Slovakia. This species has been known from a single record published more than 90 years ago from the site Abrod (Borská nížina Lowland). Recently we have discovered a new site in the Zvolenská kotlina Basin, Central Slovakia. This site harbors a strong population of several thousands of plants, distributed over nine separate populations on the wet meadows of Molinion caeruleae association. T. ebrac-teatum is listed ias Regionally Extinct (RE) in the Slovak red list. Based on the current data we suggest the reconsideration of its current status and the assignment of the Critically Endangered (CR) threat category.

Abstract: Linnaea borealis was known as a missing species in Slovakia for several decades. It was re-discovered in 2013 on a single locality in the High Tatra Mts. In the vegetation seasons 2014 and 2015, during the intensive survey of old-growth forests of Slovakia, we confirmed Linnaea borealis in other locations. New locality has been found not only in the High Tatras, but also in the Low Tatra Mts. Currently, there are seven occurrences of the species in Slovakia. All of them are concentrated around massive boulders near the upper forest timberline or in casual avalanche gullies where Pinus mugo descends from the higher altitudes, usually on northern and north-western slopes. We recorded five phytosociological relevés with Linnaea borealis in plant communities classified within the associations Homogyno alpinae-Pinetum mugo (class Roso pendulinae-Pinetea mugo), Cembro-Piceetum and Vaccinio myrtilli-Piceetum (class Vaccinio-Piceetea).

The article summarizes new information on the occurrence of 142 vascular plant taxa (including four hybrids) infrequent in the Veľká Fatra Mts. Among them 101 are autochthonous and 39 allochthonous to the flora of Slovakia, while origin of two taxa remains unclear. We recorded new sites of one endangered (EN: Utricularia minor) and three vulnerable taxa (VU) of the Slovakian flora: Carex umbrosa, Epilobium nutans and Gagea minima. 10 taxa are classified as least concern (LC), 21 as near threatened (NT) and one (Juncus ranarius) as data deficient (DD). Endemic taxa are represented by Aconitum moldavicum subsp. moldavicum, Koeleria tristis and Primula auricula subsp. hungarica. As regionally important we regard particularly the data on taxa reported for the first time from the Veľká Fatra Mts: Alopecurus aequalis, Barbarea arcuata, Festuca drymeja, Fumana procumbens, Juncus ranarius, Potentilla supina, Ranunculus sardous, Taraxacum brandeburgicum, T. subdolum, Vicia angustifolia, allochthonous taxa include Aizopsis hybrida, Ambrosia artemisiifolia, Aristolochia durior, Atriplex hortensis var. rubra, Campanula medium, Chenopodium ficifolium, Mahonia aquifolium, Narcissus poeticus, Phalaroides arundinacea var. picta, Physocarpus opulifolius, Prunus cerasifera, Ribes rubrum, Setaria pumila, Spiraea chamaedryfolia and Vicia sativa. After a lapse of 70 to 145 years we succeeded in confirming the occurrence of Cirsium ×kornhuberi, Draba nemorosa, Fumaria vaillantii subsp. vaillantii, Matteuccia struthiopteris, Myosotis sparsiflora, Potamogeton natans. 71 taxa were known only from 1–5 sites to date. Of particular phytogeographic importance are findings of three threatened species belonging to Taraxacum sect. Palustria (T. brandeburgicum, T. skalinskanum, T. subdolum) on Mt. Ploská (1 532 m a.s.l.) at an altitude of 1 460–1 465 m. The site towers at least 500 m over any known site within the species range. Available evidence indicates that Barbarea vulgaris, Carex pilosa, Cerinthe minor, Falcaria vulgaris, Hippochaete ×moorei and Valerianella locusta also reach upper limit of their Western Carpathian altitudinal range in the Veľká Fatra Mts. On the contrary, Cotoneaster integerrimus was found at a lower limit of its altitudinal range in the Western Carpathians.

In order to gauge ongoing and future changes to disturbance regimes, it is necessary to establish a solid baseline of historic disturbance patterns against which to evaluate these changes. Further, understanding how forest structure and composition respond to variation in past disturbances may provide insight into future resilience to climate-driven alterations of disturbance regimes.