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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 As we observed, traditional burials with wooden headboards are rapidly superseded by modern burial customs.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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The Sea milkwort (Glaux maritima) in the Carpathian Basin
10-20Views:336Sea milkwort (Glaux maritima L.) is a broadly distributed species in the northern hemisphere, inhabiting primarily maritime habitats from the arctic to the temperate zones. It is also found inland in semi-arid and arid regions with saline soils. Its status in the Carpathian Basin has become very uncertain owing to the lack of known extant populations. To evaluate its current status, I review all known occurrences within the Carpathian Basin where this species has been recorded or collected, and report five new localities of the species in Hungary, all in the western part of the Great Hungarian Plain. I also analyze habitat relationships of the species using traditional phytosociological relevés. Review of species distribution data in the Carpathian Basin revealed that sea milkwort has undergone severe reduction in population number and disappeared from many localities. Currently, only a few populations can be found in this region: the Northern Carpathians in Slovakia and the western part of the Great Plain in Hungary. In Transylvania (Romania), only a single population has been reported recently suggesting the critical status of the species there. Features of the habitats confirm the halophytic nature of the species and its fidelity to wet saline meadows. Its common accompanying species are mostly broadly distributed, salt-tolerant plants. Heterogeneity of the samples in species composition suggests that sea milkwort is not a habitat-specialist species. Several of its common associates in Hungary are also found in sea milkwort habitats in Mongolia, Asia and Utah, North America. Based on the available evidence, sea milkwort shall be considered a severely threatened plant in the Carpathian Basin. Characteristics of the vegetation in its habitats do not explain its occurrence in mountainous environments.
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Literature reviews
259-260Views:104Kovács J. A. (2019): Székelykeresztúr vidékének növényzeti öröksége. – Tortoma Könyvkiadó, Barót, 780 pp.
Király G. & Takács G. (2020): A magyar Fertő edényes flórája. – Rence 3., Fertő-Hanság Nemzeti Park Igazgatóság, Sarród, 430 pp.
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Flora of Sztána and Zsobok villages (Transsylvania, Apuseni Mountains, Kalotaszeg)
114-132Views:136The botanical and ethnobotanical studies of PÉNTEK & SZABÓ (1985) were repeated after 30 years, during an ethnobiological summer school held in Kalotaszeg region (Romania), in Apuseni Mountains. However, our intensive floristical researches focused only on two villages (Sztána and Zsobok). A list of the observed taxa and their frequency values are presented. Of the 747 taxa 52 are new to the narrow region. 74 species reported formerly from here were not found by us. The disappearance of some taxa (e.g. Crepis praemorsa, Conringia orientalis, Lolium temulentum) are probably due to changes in agricultural land use methods. The spread of a few new invasive species (e.g. Ambrosia artemisiifolia, Galinsoga ciliata, Senecio vernalis) as well as the presence of some floristically interesting species (e.g. Centaurium pulchellum, Carex otrubae, C. serotina, Lathyrus pannonicus subsp. collinus, Leucanthemum irrcutianum, Minuartia viscosa, Peucedanum rochelianum, Quercus pubescens, Trifolium diffusum, T. micranthum) and a notomorpha (Cirsium × tataricum) were also noticed.
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Short communications
168-174Views:2841. Occurrence of Lycopodium clavatum L. in 'Egri-Bükkalja' microregion (NE Hungary)
2. Contribution to the urban flora of Debrecen (E Hungary)
3. Contributions to the distribution data published in the Atlas of Hungarian Orchids
4. New occurrence of Sisyrinchium bermudiana L. in the Carpathian Basin (Transylvania, Romania)
5. Occurrence of Myagrum perfoliatum L. near Mezőberény town (East Hungary)