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Disappearing botanical and cultural heritage of wooden headboard-graveyards in Eastern-Hungary and Transylvania (Romania)
51-64Views:180Degradation or disappearance of natural habitats are global phenomena nowadays, hence the role of small and secondary (seminatural) habitats like cemeteries in preserving natural values are more and more appreciated. The botanical values and burial customs were examined in a total of 51 graveyards in three different regions of Hungary and Romania (10, 19 and 22 graveyards in the North Hungarian Mountains, the Great Hungarian Plain and Transylvania, respectively). Altogether 25 in Hungary legally protected plant species were found, 1.5 protected species per graveyard on average. As we observed, traditional burials with wooden headboards are rapidly superseded by modern burial customs. Based on our non-representative poll (n=102), 90% of citizens on average are satisfied with current conditions in Hungarian graveyards. A two-thirds majority of respondents would prefer more frequent lawn-mowing in graveyards. 75% of respondents prefer modern tombs to traditional graves. Disappearance of old burial customs characterised by the use of wooden headboards (and the simultaneous change in traditional, habitat-friendly practices in graveyards) means not only a loss of cultural values, but threatens the natural biodiversity of graveyards as well.
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Lajos Felföldy: a prominent Hungarian botanist and hydrobiologist
3–25Views:214Lajos Felföldy (1920–2016) was one of the most versatile and open-minded Hungarian biologists. He began his scientific career as a student of Prof. Rezső Soó. Between 1938 and 1946 he participated in geobotanical studies in University of Debrecen and Kolozsvár (Cluj-Napoca, Romania). He contributed with important achievements to the development of several biological disciplines. His pioneering study on the effects of air pollution on epiphytic lichens (1942) was among the firsts in the world. He described Hemitherophyte life-form as a discrete unit within Raunkiaer's plant life-form system (1942). He was a pioneer in the cytological (caryological) study of wild vascular plant species in Hungary (1947–1949). His results regarding to primary production of freshwater algae and algal culture (1958–1960) were in leading edge. In 1972 he founded and until 1990 edited the Hungarian series entitled ‘Vízűgyi Hidrobiológia’. Books of this series aimed to publish identification keys of freshwater taxa. These books were proved to be decisive and useful tools for Hungarian hydrobiologists in biological classification of brooks, streams, rivers and different types of stagnant waters. Between 1934 and 2009 he collected more than ten thousand herbarium sheets. After his retirement, he dealt with the revision of the herbarium material of Department of Botany in Hungarian Natural History Museum and Botanical Garden of Eötvös University (Budapest). He participated in the preparation of the New Hungarian Herbal. His scientific work was characterised by deep humility for nature, which was founded on strong theoretical and practical background.
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Contributions to the Atlas Florae Hungariae XII.
77-84Views:516In this work, we report data supplementing the Distribution atlas of vascular plants of Hungary. Altogether 1325 data of 460 vascular plant taxa are reported as contributions to 149 quadrants in the Central European Flora Mapping grid system. The new stands of Phegopteris connectilis (NW foothills of the Vértes Hills), Sternbergia colchiciflora and Corydalis solida (Danube–Tisza Interfluve), Euphorbia angulata and Potentilla alba (Nyírség) are particularly noteworthy. In addition, new stands of numerous rare or scattered species are also listed: Allium paniculatum, A. sphaerocephalon, Asplenium adiantum-nigrum, Botrychium lunaria, Bulbocodium vernum, Clematis recta, Colchicum arenarium, Cyclamen purpurascens, Dianthus barbatus, Dictamnus albus, Doronicum hungaricum, Epipactis atrorubens, E. microphylla, E. tallosii, Equisetum hyemale, Hepatica nobilis, Hesperis sylvestris, Hordelymus europaeus, Iris aphylla subsp. hungarica, I. arenaria, I. sibirica, I. spuria, I. variegata, Jurinea mollis, Lilium martagon, Linaria biebersteinii, Linum flavum, Listera ovata, Lunaria rediviva, Lychnis coronaria, Melica altissima, Menyanthes trifoliata, Monotropa hypopithis, Muscari botryoides, Ophioglossum vulgatum, Orchis militaris, O. morio, O. purpurea, Ornithogalum brevistylum, Ornithogalum sphaerocarpum, Phlomis tuberosa, Primula veris, P. vulgaris, Pseudolysimachion incanum, Pulsatilla flavescens, Pyrola rotundifolia, Scilla vindobonensis, Scrophularia vernalis, Sedum urvillei subsp. hillebrandtii, Spiranthes spiralis, Stipa borysthenica, Stratiotes aloides, Thalictrum aquilegiifolium, Trollius europaeus, Veratrum album, Vinca herbacea, Vitis sylvestris, Wolffia arrhiza etc.
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Literature reviews
112–113Views:162DEÁK B. (2018): Természet és történelem. A kurgánok szerepe a sztyeppi vegetáció megőrzésében. – Ökológiai Mezőgazdasági Kutatóintézet Közhasznú Nonprofit Kft., Debrecen, 152 pp.
MOLNÁR V. A. (szerk., 2018): Élet a halál után. A temetők élővilága. – Debreceni Egyetem, Természettudományi és Technológiai Kar, Növénytani Tanszék, Debrecen, 216 pp.
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Herbarium database of the vascular collection of Eszterházy Károly College (EGR)
339-348Views:181The paper describes the vascular herbarium of the Eszterházy Károly College (EGR) in Eger (Hungary), according to its condition in 2013. All specimens of the herbarium were documented by digital photographs (ca. 8 000 specimens), and all data from the labels were entered into MS Excel spreadsheet. 54% of the specimens were collected in present-day Hungary, the other half comes mainly from the neighbouring countries, but more distant European countries are represented as well. Hungarian specimens were collected mostly in Heves, Pest, Zala, Vas, Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén and Veszprém counties. Most of the herbarium sheets originated from the 1860’s and the 1950–60’s. Apart from these periods the collection has hardly developed. The most prolific collectors were Gábor Vida, Márton Vrabélyi, Árpád Károlyi and Tamás Pócs. More than half of the Hungarian flora (61%) is represented in EGR, although some taxa (e.g. Pterydophyta, Gymnospermatophyta) are much underrepresented. The digital photographs and the database are property of the authors and the Department of Botany and Ecology of Eszterházy Károly College. Data of non-cultivated plants collected in the territory of present-day Hungary are summarized in an electronic appendix (http://kitaibelia.unideb.hu/?download&aid=852&volume_id=94&lang=hun – including: catalogue number, taxon name, collector, settlement, date of gathering and file name of the documentary photograph). Further data can be required from the corresponding author or the curator of the herbarium.