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Verifying the farm size – environment interaction
33-41Views:285With this study, based on experience gained in the United States of America, the author intends to draw attention to the fact that farm size related questions in Hungary, which form an integrant part of farm policies all around the world, cannot and should not be discussed without taking environmental relations into account. In the United States, where the excessive use of agrochemicals poses a great threat to the environment, many researchers claim that the conventional large farm model is now getting outdated. These experts question the social and economic benefits of a large farm oriented farm structure and try to convince researchers arriving from Middle- and Eastern-European countries to reform their thought on optimum farm structure. In their opinion, it is essential to let countries in the region understand that they are not required to follow the US course of large farms, which many experts in the States also would prefer to leave. From the facts presented in this study, it can be concluded that large farms by nature can protect the environment less efficiently than small farms. It is also pointed out that the excessive use of fertilizers, which is a trait often attributed to large farms by researchers throughout the world, do not yet apply to large farms in Hungary. As regards the use of pesticides in Hungary, the unfavorable tendency portrayed in foreign literature is identified in this analysis, according to which the larger the farm involved in field cropping the larger per hectare doses they use to protect their crops.
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Occurrence and damage of the alfalfa root longhorn beetle (Plagionotus floralis Pallas, 1773) in old alfalfa stands in Hungary
82-88Views:300The alfalfa root longhorn beetle is a pest of small importance in old alfalfa stands. It is rarely cited in the international, national literature, or even mentioned in specialized manuels. Plagionotus floralis is common in Hungary but its population density is low. It is a polyphagous species but it has importance - regarding the references – only in alfalfa. This paper analyses data gained in old alfalfa fields at two different regions of the country (Máriabesnyő, Debrecen). Damage of P. floralis was 56% in the roots of an 8-year-old stand in Máriabesnyő. Lenghts of tunnels were between 3 and 22 cm. In spite of the tunnels the alfalfa plants were viable. There was no root longhorn beetle in the 15-year-old Debrecen stand, however it has been found former in the region. The reason for the important density of P. floralis in Máriabesnyő could be the considerable diversity and covering of flowering weeds around the field. Adults of P. floralis feed on flower pollen and nectar. As to the Debrecen area,weeds were cut regularly, so the edge vegetation was poor. Present conditions (no pest control on alfalfa fields, overuse of old and failing alfalfa stands, many untrained growers) favour the reproduction and possible damage of alfalfa root longhorn beetle.
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Genetic diversity of the Hungarian draft horse assessed by mitochondrial DNA
29-32Views:664Hungarian draft is a horse breed with a recent mixed ancestry. It was developed in the 1920s by crossing local mares with draught horses imported from France and Belgium. To genetically characterize the breed and to set up the basis for a conservation programme, we have employed a molecular marker: a 256-bp D-loop mitochondrial DNA fragment. We analyzed 124 horses representing Hungarian draft horses to assess the maternal phylogeography of the breed. Sequence analysis of a 256-bp segment revealed a total of 34 haplotypes with thirty-four polymorphic sites. High haplotype and nucleotide diversity values (Hd=0.953±0.001; π=0.024±0.001) were detected. The average number of pairwise differences were k=5.998. This breed counts 800 mares today, and only survive due to breeding programmes, this way each haplotype frequency depends on the extent to which mares are involved into the breeding. The reduced number of surviving maternal lineages emphasizes the importance of establishing a conservation plan for this endangered breed. Due to the revealed 34 polymorphic sites we could presuppose twelve maternal linages, which could be a first step for making a breeding programme.
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Morphological and leaf anatomical studies on Cleistogenes Serotina (L.) Keng (Poaceae)
5-13Views:190The grass species Cleistogenes serotina (L.) Keng, generally found in the mountainous region in Hungary, has been observed in the lowlands of the Great Hungarian Plain in the last few decades. Since its first recent mention in sand habitat as well it, has been found in several locations in the interfluve between the Danube and the Tisza. In certain, sandy grasslands, the invasion of this species is considerable (e.g. near Fülöpháza the area invaded by Cleistogenes increased almost fourfold within six years). The success of invasion on new habitats is related to changes in the
characteristics of plants comparatively studied on mountain and sand populations.
We studied blades of leaves on different levels (1st, 5th and 10th) and from different biotops. Cuttings were made, with a thickness of 10-12 μm, at the middle of the blades. The cross sections were observed using a light microscope. Digitised images (DigitPlan) and survey data were arranged into a database.
The leaf structure is characterised by the kranz anatomy, and a double layered bundle sheath, which is typical of the aspartate type of C4 grasses. There were significant differences only in cross section area and the number of bundles for various ages of the leaves. There were more bundles in the older leaves than in the younger ones. We did not find any difference in the ratio of tissues among leaves of different ages and sources. According to our study, the ratio of leaf tissues characteristic to species was neither significantly influenced by the biotop, nor by the age of the leaves. However, there is a difference in tissues size. Summarising the results, the species can be considered „only” as ecotypes on the
different studied areas.
Our new result is that kranz anatomy can also be found in the leaf-sheath.
This research was supported by the Hungarian Scientific Fund (OTKA), grant No. T016511 and T026346. -
Phylogenetic studies of soybean pathogen Phoma species by Bayesian analysis
53-61Views:484We carried out phylogenetic study analyzing sequences of genetic markers in the taxonomy of Phoma and Phoma-like fungi. Different species of Phoma and Phoma-like fungi occurring on soybean (Phoma pinodella, Phoma sojicola, Phyllosticta sojicola, Phoma exigua var. exigua) are difficult to identy because of their high morphological and symptomatic similarities.
Twenty-two isolates of nine different Phoma species were obtained from reference culture collections. Seven of them were isolated from soybean, the others were collected from different hosts.
The Phoma isolates were firstly characterised by morphologically, and then we employed a part of the gene responsible for the synthesis of translation elongation factor 1 subunit alpha protein (tef1), ITS region, as well as β-tubulin partial sequences as potential genetic markers to infer
phylogenetic relationships among different Phoma species..Finally, their ITS and tef1 sequences were sequenced and analysed by Bayesian approaches.
According to phylogenetic trees inferred by Bayesian analysis of tef1, ITS and β-tubulin sequences, different Phoma species can be separated proving that these phylogenetic markers are well suited for phylogenetic studies of Phoma species. However, the phylogenetic tree does not support the traditional Phoma sections based on morphological characterization.
Bayesian analyses of the three sequences confirmed that the Phyllosticta sojicola species is clustered with the Phoma exigua var. exigua group and the Phoma sojicola is grouped with Phoma pinodella group. The molecular data provide evidence for reclassification of formerly mentioned soybean pathogens. -
Correlations of the global, regional and local factors of the anthropogenic effects on the water reserves of the Earth’s crust
85-92Views:221The decrease in Earth's drinking water resources and the degradation of its quality has become a critical problem. Our planet's total water supply is estimated to be around 2 billion km3s. This is only 1% of Earth's own weight. Of this small amount only a tiny 3% is fresh water, of which 79% is forzen in glaciers and 1% is present as surface waters.The ratio of water stored in soil is around 20%. This is 0.2% of the total water supply. Our study aims to summarize the layered groundwater aquifer systems and its changes which are the results of anthropogenic effects in both global and hungarian respects and also for the region of Debrecen.In particular with regard to the geological and ecological level where irreversible
processes take place. All this is discussed in the context of cause and effect. Pointing out the dangers of excessive deep groundwater extraction and the contamination caused by toxic substances that are the byproducts of modern life. In addition we discuss the Water Directive of the European Union which gives a policy for community action concerning the goal to achive the status of „in good condition” for our waters till 2015. -
The distribution of brown marmorated stink bug (Halyomorpha halys (Stål, 1855); Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) in the Northeast part of the Carpathian Lowland (West Ukraine)
191-194Views:520Halyomorpha halys (Stål, 1855) spread rapidly during the last five years and became common and abundant in Central Europe, especially in the urban environment. In the Carpathian basin, the West Ukrainian Transcarpathia county was the last region where this species has not been found yet. The first specimens of this invasive pest were sampled in Velyka Dobron’ in 2018 and in 2019 it was found in another neighbouring village and cities of Chop, Berehove and Uzhhorod. The data provided here is the first for West Ukraine and the second for the country following the published record from Odessa (SE Ukraine). Although H. halys is still less abundant and occupied mainly urban habitats, it will certainly cause nuisance for peoples and damages for farmers in the near future.
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Promising Leuce poplar clones in sandy ridges between the rivers Danube and Tisza in Hungary: a case study
111-113Views:447An intensive integrated research and development work has been carried out on the improvement of Leuce poplars including primarily the native white poplar (Populus alba L.) and its natural hybrid grey poplar (Populus × canescens). More than 70 percent of the Leuce poplar stands can be found on calcareous sandy sites in the Danube–Tisza region, so they play a significant role in the poplar management of this part of the country. The most important task ahead of Hungarian poplar growers is to improve the quality of poplar stands and plantations based on selecting new clones and cultivars. The growth and yield of four promising Leuce poplar clones was evaluated on a marginal site in central Hungary. The clones ‘H 425-4’ (Populus alba L. × Populus alba L.), and ‘H 758’ (Populus alba L. Mosonmagyaróvár 124) seem to be suitable for wood production, while the ‘H 427-3’ (Populus alba L. × Populus alba L. cv. Bolleana) and ‘H 422-9’ (Populus alba L. × Populus grandidentata (Michx)) clones (with decorative stem form) could be better used for tree lines and ornamental plantations.
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Evaluation of Hungarian Sporthorse mare performance tests
83-87Views:410Results of the Hungarian Sporthorse mare performance tests were evaluated. Data from the period of 1993-2009 were used, covering
scores of 618 3-year-old and 310 4-year-old mares, 109 of them were tested at both ages. Seventeen traits were scored on the tests, which
covered ten conformational, three free jumping performance and four movement analyses traits, respectively. Breeding value estimation was
based on BLUP animal model. Test year, age and owner were included in the model as fixed effects. Variance components were estimated
with VCE-6 software package. Heritabilities ranged from 0.32 (frame) to 0.50 (saddle region) for conformation traits, from 0.39 (jumping
style) to 0.49 (jumping ability and jumping skill) for free jumping traits and from 0.20 (walk) to 0.48 (canter) for movement analysis traits.
Breeding value indexes were constructed for each trait group. Conformation index was computed based on the weighted scores of the
breeding values of conformational traits. The conformational score scales were used as weightings. Free jumping and movement indexes
contain the proper breeding values with equal weights. A total index was also constructed using conformation index, two times the free
jumping index and two times the movement index. Each breeding values and breeding value indexes were presented with the mean 100 and
standard deviation of 20 for the easier understanding. -
Terrain Analysis and Stochastic modelling for Archaeological site prediction and landscape reconstruction in the Lake Manyara area, Northern Tanzania
47-53Views:302In this study we focus on paleontological sites in the area of Lake Manyara and the Makuyuni River Basin, Northern Tanzania. This region is known for Middle Pleistocene fossil finds and artefacts. To analyze the spatial distribution of potential paleontological find locations we applied two different methodologies based on statistical mechanics and on boosted regression trees. The first one is able to handle presence-only datasets such as the locations proper. The second approach was used to study the variable importance and to derive information on the related geo-processes for classified paleontological sites. The locations and their spatial distribution were retrieved from literature and collected by own field work over the last years. For the modeling we utilized environmental information such as spatially continuous layers of topography (30 m SRTM DEM), derivatives of topography, vegetation information as well as ASTER multispectral data as predictor variables. The results reveal
potential areas where further fossil sites may be located. Moreover, we assessed the processes that are related to sites with specific archaeological evidences. Therefore, the sites were grouped in three categories: i) artefacts sites, ii) fossil sites and iii) mixed sites. We applied boosted regression trees to analyse the processes related to the classified sites. The methodology considers not only site specific characteristics but implicitly also the related pedogenetic and morphogenetic processes. We were able to differentiate between artefact and fossil sites. Moreover, our analyses indicate an influence of transportation processes on the artefacts, whereas deposition of fossils does not seem to involve large scale transportation. Finally, we show that also the landscape can be reconstructed such as the former lake margin. -
Labour-market conditions of the youth in the Derecske-Létavértes sub region
173-177Views:214Researches of the youth have been of great interest in social studies in the past decades, since up-coming generations provide supplies for the future, they are the so-called next generation. The problem of the young being afflicted by unemployment is more and more apparent, and not only in Hungary; moreover, in smaller, underprivileged settlements it is even more on the increase. Considering conditions of the youth in the labour-market, we can gain a valuable insight in their lifes as well as their opportunities and future prospects.
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How have thermal conditions changed in different phenological stages of apple (Malus domestica) in Northeastern Hungary?
137-142Views:215In temperate climates, most fruit trees need cold weather, low temperatures in winter, and a certain amount of heat during the growing season until harvest. One of the most apparent effects of climate change is the elevated temperature in all seasons of the year. In our study, the changes in thermal conditions have been calculated in Hungary's most significant growing region of apples using the Chill Unit for winters and the Growing Degree Days for summers. The meteorological data were obtained from the gridded dataset of the Hungarian Meteorological Service on a 10 km × 10 km grid, so the whole studied area is well-covered over the last 50 years. The results show that the trees are more exposed to early budding than a few decades ago. Furthermore, the accumulated heat amount in summers has increased drastically, which may increase the heat stress and lead to higher yield losses.
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Tourism-Based Analysis and Development Potentials in Hortobágy
272-278Views:242Tourism – especially ecotourism and health-tourism – could be one of the sectors which could make Hungary economically competitive after joining the European Union, by ensuring thousands of people employment possibilities, if they take advantage of local and regional opportunities. For this reason, it would be necessary to analyse the two types of tourism mentioned above, as well as to collect data and especially impressions concerning how these potentially lucrative sectors could best be structured and managed, as well as to predict their probable effects.
The most important objectives of my study are to introduce the values of Hortobágy, to analyse the present status of tourism in the Hortobágy National Park, and to make suggestions for increasing the numbers of tourists, by making Hortobágy more attractive.
As a resident of Debrecen, I visited the region several times and took part in programs at Hortobágy as well. I was always curious how the trip to the Hortobágy could be made more enjoyable.
My research was carried out with the help of questionnaires, which were made in three languages – Hungarian, English and German –. In August 2002, I approached foreign and Hungarian tourists in Hortobágy village, and asked them to fill them in. To evaluate the questionnaires, I used Microsoft Excel ’00. During the evaluation, I calculated distribution, arithmetic mean and deviation. Moreover, I obtained the level of significance.
My assumption that tourists visiting Hortobágy are “one-day” tourists, who are visiting the Hungarian Pusta because of an actual program, was supported by my research. I must emphasise that mostly passive tourism opportunities are offered in Hortobágy, where tourist are only external observers of the programs.
In order to change this situation, I suggested that visitors to Hortobágy can be encouraged to stay longer by offering them various programs, in which tourists are actively involved. My program recommendations include a craftsman’s house or tent, where the visitors can try to make typical folk instruments. Moreover, I made suggestions as to how to teach tourists to make Hungarian dishes. I also outlined several one-day program possibilities. Among the opportunities, I also mentioned the need to provide tourists possibilities to spend several days in a conventional Pusta life-style. To realise these things adequate infrastructure and information system should be developed. -
The Importance of Environmental Research of the Great Hungarian Plain
9-16Views:159The research of the Great Hungarian Plain has been going on for a long time and there are a lot of information could be used by environmental protection too. The connection between the two topics are diversified, that is why it is necessary to choose a few subject to explain. The chosen subjects are:
The protection of the geological media cannot be solved, either practically and legally, with the protection of the separated elements of that, just if we see it as a system.
The prevention, which is the most effective (and also the most inexpensive) way of environmental protection, can be supported by the compilation of vulnerability- and risk maps (i.e. risk of inland water, erosion vulnerability, deflation vulnerability, contamination sensibility).
Survey on the environmental state containing indispensable geological information for the optimal land use and country planning of a region, county or settlement.
Marking out of the possible areas for waste depositing. -
Laboratory diagnoses of the isolates of chestnut blight disease fungus Cryphonectria parasitica (MURR. BARR)
45-52Views:379Chryphonectria parasitica, the casual agent of chestnut blight, is one of the most important fungal pathogens of chestnut (Castanea spp.) in Europe and Hungary. In this study, we analyzed the ITS region of five Cryphonectria parasitica strains isolated from different location of Hungary. The differences among the Cryphonectria parasitica isolates were not insignificant because only two sites were considered as informative for the parsimony analysis. As the differences among geographically different isolates were insignificant, we mean that the evolutionary distance by ITS sequences within Hungarian Cryphonectria parasitica isolates is too small to get well based consequences for the phylogenetic relationships.
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Studies of Expression of Peptaibol Synthetase of Trichoderma reesei
188-190Views:421Because of the potential importance of peptaibols in the biological control of plant diseases, a transgenic, a T. reesei strain carrying a tex1-promoter: goxA fusion plasmid was constructed for furthur studies. The peptaibol synthetase gene (which is highly similar to T. virens tex1) was identified in the genome sequence of T. reesei. A 900 bp 5’ upstream noncoding fragment, presumed to include the promoter region of tex1, was cloned into the pSJ3 plasmid (which contains the Aspergillus niger goxA gene encoding glucose oxidase). Finally, we transformed T. reesei with the tex1-promoter: goxA fusion containing pSJ3 plasmid.
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Phylogenetic studies of Phoma species by maximum likelihood analysis
37-46Views:396The cosmopolitan Phoma genus contains mainly phytopathogenic, opportunistic parasite, and saprophyte fungal species. Up to now the characterization of Phoma species and other taxa of Phoma has so far been determined on the basis of morphology on standardized media, and gene sequence analysis was only used as a confirmative or distinctive complement.
In this study we have tried to study phylogenetic relationships by maximum likelihood method in the Phoma genus. We employed a part of the gene responsible for the synthesis of translation elongation factor 1 subunit alpha protein (tef1) containing both introns and exons, a part of the gene responsible for synthesis of tubulin protein and ITS region containing the internal transcribed spacer regions 1 and 2 and the 5.8S rDNA as potential genetic markers to infer phylogenetic relationships among different Phoma taxa. Twenty-four isolates of eleven different Phoma species were firstly characterised by morphologically, and then their tef1, tubulin and ITS sequences were sequenced and analysed by maximum likelihood method carried out by PAUP*4.0b program. According to constructed phylogenetic trees, the different Phoma taxons are well separated. However these trees do not support the traditional Phoma sections based on morphological characterization.
The maximum likelihood analyses of all three sequences confirmed that the Phyllosticta sojicola species is clustered with the Phoma exigua var. exigua group and the Phoma sojicola is grouped with Phoma pinodella group. The experienced molecular evidences initiate the demand of reclassification of formerly mentioned soybean pathogens. -
Examination of the conditions of extreme water balance circumstances (water logging, drought) with environmental information technology tools
79-86Views:532The Carpathian Basin is characterized by varying hydrological extremes, both in space and time. Hungary's natural endowments are more favourable than average, especially for agricultural production, with 5,3 million hectares of land we have which is suitable for agricultural production. These extreme water management are often occur in the same year and mostly in the same region, which may become more frequent in the future, especially in the lowland regions. The negative impacts of extreme water management was influenced by the land use changes in recent years, which has modified the runoff processes of the affected regions.
The aim of the study was to research the formation of inland water and drought circumstances in two sample areas the Great Plain (Szolnok-Túri flat and Nyírség) by geoinformatic tools. During the investigation in the first step we determined that areas which are susceptible to inland water and drought, based on the AGROTOPO database. In addition, land-use categories of characteristics of the sample areas are evaluated according to the Corine Land Cover. Furthermore, after defining characteristic of NDVI values between the period of 2003–2013, we evaluated the effect of drought whether can be detected in crop failures in respective areas.
Based on our results, we concluded that the formation of inland water and drought circumstances can be investigated in a large spatial extension by geoinformatic tools and databases.