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Botanical comparison of man-made landforms in the Nagykunság and Nagy-Sárrét regions (E Hungary)
65-76Views:213Loess grasslands are among the most important vegetation types of the Great Hungarian Plain. This paper compares the composition of vegetation situated on three types of man-made landforms (burial mounds, Devil’s dykes and river dikes) which were built in different historical times. I studied the similarities and differences in their vegetation, focusing on the rare species and plant associations. I studied six burial mounds, two Devil’s dykes and four river dikes. All of the studied landforms were covered by loess steppes, loess cliffs or Artemisia salt steppes. Devil’s dykes had the most valuable vegetation and they preserve a very diverse flora in the landscape.
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Mondró-halom kurgan (Hencida, East Hungary), a refugium of loess grassland vegetation
143-149Views:514Fragments of the natural grassland vegetation are often preserved only in those areas which are inadequate for arable farming. In many cases kurgans hold the last remnants of dry grasslands in lowland areas, like the Great Hungarian Plain. They also have an essential role in preserving cultural and landscape values. Moreover, they harbour several rare plant and animal species. Our aim was to explore the vegetation of the Mondró-halom kurgan (Hencida, East Hungary). Altogether we found 74 vascular plant species in the loess grassland of the kurgan. Several rare species of the Bihari-sík region, such as Inula germanica, Ranunculus illyricus and Rosa gallica were also detected. The steep slopes of the kurgan with various micro-sites and exposures supported a species-rich vegetation. Instead of its small area it harboured several forest steppic species and several steppic flora elements (Continental, Pontic-Mediterranean, Pontic, Pontic-Pannonic and Turanian).
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Reseda inodora Rchb. in the Tiszántúl region (East Hungary)
48-54Views:160On 14 August 2012 a small population of Reseda inodora was found in Hegyes-halom kurgan within the administrative boundaries of the town of Mindszent (Csongrád County, CEU: 9487.3). The approximately 50–100-stem-large population of the species lived on the edge of the kurgan, on the sparsely vegetated, weedy fieldmargin. On 19 July 2014 this species has turned up again in this area. In this case it was the biggest amount with some hundred stems and was located on the edge of the mound, which is in the verge of the neighbouring corn field. The Reseda inodora is a new recent protected vascular plant species within the operation area of the Körös–Maros National Park. We propose this species to be included in the regional red list in the category of „CR” (Critically endangered). Other rare weed or pioneer species (Caucalis platycarpos subsp. muricata and subsp. platycarpos, Erodium ciconium, Lappula squarrosa, Melica transsilvanica, Papaver hybridum) have already been found in Hegyes-halom kurgan in the last few years. The results show the importance of kurgans not only in the conservation of natural steppe, loess wall vegetation and steppe shrub species, but in the survival of some endangered weed species as well (e.g. some rare archaeophytes).
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Discovery of a new large population of Prunus tenella on a young old-field suggests remarkable regeneration ability of the species
32-38Views:329Kurgans are ancient burial mounds built by nomadic steppic cultures across Eurasia.
These monuments are important cultural landmarks, and often also preserve the remnants of dry grasslands even in intensively used agricultural landscapes. In the past centuries, many kurgans have been ploughed and their vegetation has been destroyed. Due to their recent inclusion in the agrienvironmental schemes in Hungary, crop production has been ceased on many kurgans in the past years. Here we present an interesting botanical discovery which we made during our country-scale survey of spontaneously recovering grasslands on kurgans. We discovered a large population of approximately 15,000 shoots of the protected loess grassland plant Prunus tenella Batsch (syn.: Amygdalus nana L.) on the Fekete-halom kurgan near Tiszainoka, in the centre of the Great Hungarian Plain. The mound had been used as an intensive cropland until 2014. Most probably, the plants could re-establish from some hidden shoots that could persist in the refuge provided by the concrete elements of a geodesic mark, and after the cessation of ploughing it could expand onto the north and west-facing slopes of the mound by sprouting and by germination from the persistent soil seed bank. Besides the conservation importance of this floristic discovery, it also suggests that spontaneous regeneration can be an effective restoration measure and that kurgans abandoned from agricultural cultivation can serve as suitable habitats for rare and endangered species. -
Remnants of closed oak woods on loess in the Mezőföld (Pulmonario mollis-Quercetum roboris Kevey 2008)
66–93Views:185The phytosociological characterization of closed oak forests occurring in the loess-covered part of Central Hungary (Mezőföld) is presented. Such forest fragments are found very sporadically in that predominantly treeless region, mostly in semi-dry habitats of north-facing hillsides. This plant community represents an intermediate stage between open steppe woodland (Aceri tatarici-Quercetum pubescentis-roboris) and closed mesic oak-hornbeam forests (Corydali cavae-Carpinetum). Analyses of 20 phytosociological samples using multivariate grouping methods (cluster analysis, principal coordinates analysis) showed a clear difference between these samples and samples of similar communities occurring in the area. In the species composition the characteristic elements of dry and mesic oak forests (Quercetea pubescentis-petraeae, Quercetalia cerridis, Aceri tatarici-Quercion and Fagetalia, respectively) played a major role. On the other hand, dry grassland species (Festuco-Brometea, Festucetalia valesiacae, Festucion rupicolae, etc.) were much less significant than in steppe woodlands. In terms of chorology, European and sub-Mediterranean floristic elements were dominant in the samples, while the proportion of continental elements was substantially smaller than that in steppe woodlands. As a result, our samples were identified with the plant association Pulmonario mollis-Quercetum roboris Kevey 2008, which is classified into the suballiance Polygonato latifolio-Quercenion roboris Kevey 2008 in the phytosociological system.
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Floristical data from loess substrate of Harangod and South-Cserehát (NE Hungary)
105-113Views:103This paper contains the new floristic results of the author from Harangod and SouthCserehát, collected between 2009 and 2013. It presents data on 66 and 48 species respectively. Several new localities of forest-steppe species (e. g. Artemisia pontica, Corydalis cava, Galium odoratum, Lilium martagon, Melica altissima, Thalictrum minus, Viola elatior), meadow species (e. g. Gratiola officinalis, Senecio sarracenicus) and adventiv plants (e. g. Gypsophila perfoliata, Panicum capillare, Typha laxmannii) are published here.
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Short communications
257–266Views:7571. Occurrence of Ophioglossum vulgatum in a dry loess grassland in the Tiszafüred–Kunhegyes plain (Great Hungarian Plain)
2. Dolomite rocky grassland species introduced by raw materials of a road construction (Kecskemét, Great Hungarian Plain)
3. Geranium divaricatum on the Hevesi-sík, next to Füzesabony (Great Hungarian Plain)
4. Ophrys sphegodes in the Castriferreicum (W Hungary)
5. First occurrence of Cephalanthera longifolia var. rosea in Hungary
6. Spiraea crenata in the Eastern Bakony Mts (Transdanubian Range, Hungary)
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Results of floristic and phytogeographical research in the Velence Hills (Hungary, Transdanubian Mts)
117–152Views:436A recent floristic mapping of the Velence Hills has clarified the local distribution of many plant species. This study presents records of 219 phytogeographically significant or sporadic/rare taxa (216 species/subspecies and 3 natural hybrids). The local distribution of some species representing typical regional distribution patterns (Alyssum turkestanicum, Artemisia austriaca, Bupleurum pachnospermum, Doronicum hungaricum, Hypericum elegans, Lathyrus sphaericus, Minuartia viscosa, Ornithogalum comosum, Scabiosa canescens, Sedum caespitosum, Sternbergia colchiciflora, Vinca herbacea) are shown on maps. More than fifty taxa previously unknown from the area were recorded during the floristic mapping, including phytogeographically significant ones, such as Bassia laniflora, Brassica elongata, Bupleurum praealtum, Centunculus minimus, Hypericum elegans, Orlaya grandiflora, Phleum bertolonii, Silene dichotoma, Stipa tirsa, Tordylium maximum, Trifolium diffusum, T. ochroleucon and Valeriana dioica. In terms of phytogeography, the Velence Hills can primarily be characterised by the co-existence of continental and sub-Mediterranean elements as well as species of acidophil and strongly basic habitats.
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Contributions to the flora of Tolna and Baranya counties IV.
17-33Views:203The authors present the most important floristic data of Tolna and Baranya counties, collected together or separately in the last 15 years, or observed by other data providers. In total, occurrence data of 140 taxa are reported. Most of them are protected species in Hungary, but the list also includes rarer weeds (Adonis flammea, Althaea cannabina, Aphanes arvensis, Bunias orientalis, Legousia speculum-veneris, Vicia lutea) and adventive species (Helminthia echioides, Oxybaphus nyctagineus, Rubia tinctorum). Several species of phytogeographical importance were also found in the forest-steppe vegetation of the loess areas studied. Occurrence of Linaria biebersteinii should be highlighted. L. biebersteinii is a very rare species in the Transdanubian region, and is no longer found in Europe west of this region. The occurrence of Himantoglossum adriaticum is a new contribution to the flora of the southern Transdanubian region.
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The occurrence of Pterygoneurum squamosum Segarra et Kürschner on a reclaimed waste storage near town Győr (NW Hungary)
23-27Views:124In the article a new locality, range map and habitat description of Pterygoneurum squamosum is provided from Hungary. Differently from up to the present known localities, the moss was found on anthropogenic habitat, eroded and clayey soil surface. Considering the climatic and soil conditions there, probably this rare Mediterranean species has wider ecological tolerance, so we come across it on further man-made habitats, as well as on loess walls.
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Data on the distribution of some protected plant species and on their presence in secondary habitats
183-199Views:1828In this paper, I publish my floristic data on some protected and strictly protected plant species collected in Hungary between 2016 and 2021. The data published in this paper cover 31 micro regions of Hungary, but most of them come from the Great Hungarian Plain, especially from Pest and Bács-Kiskun counties. I describe the occurrences of 41 protected and three strictly protected vascular plant species (two ferns and 42 flowering plants), some of which represent new data for the particular micro region or even larger geographical areas (e.g. Botrychium matricariifolium, Thlaspi alliaceum and Nasturtium officinale). For some species, the published data either come from floristically understudied areas (e.g. Ranunculus illyricus, Vinca herbacea and Cardamine amara) or are considered rare in the certain region and/or in the whole country (e.g. Apium repens, Cnidium dubium and Vicia narbonensis). For other species, the newly reported occurrences are presented as complement to the already known distribution data (e.g. Cephalanthera damasonium, C. rubra, Linaria biebersteinii, Sonchus palustris and Agrostemma githago). In support of the nature conservation actions, I provide data from the flora of some floristically understudied micro regions (e.g. Dorozsma-Majsai Sand Ridge, Bácskai Loess Plain) and try to highlight the role of canals in Hungary in species and biodiversity conservation, by the example of the Danube-Tisza canal. In this manuscript, I publish data on twelve protected plant species from the Danube-Tisza canal and its canal bank (eg. Peucedanum palustre, Carex paniculata, Clematis integrifolia).
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Contributions to the flora of kurgans in the Middle Tisza region
94–105Views:552Kurgans are ancient burial mounds built by nomadic steppic cultures. Embedded in the heavily transformed landscapes of the Carpathian Basin they often serve as last refuges for rare and endangered plant species. In our paper we publish floristic data collected on 82 kurgans located in the area of the Hortobágy National Park Directorate. Our dataset covers 64 CEU quarter quadrates, and the territory of 45 settlements. We provide data on 39 taxa that are either protected (e.g. Anchusa barrelieri, Centaurea solstitialis, Ranunculus illyricus and Phlomis tuberosa) or regionally rare (e.g. Aegilops cylindrica, Astragalus austriacus, Glaucium corniculatum and Trifolium diffusum). Our records demonstrate that kurgans have a vital role in maintaining the populations of rare and endangered grassland species even in transformed landscapes.
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The flora of Bolondvár (Central Hungary, Colocense)
133-141Views:108A 0.26 km2 sized Natura 2000 area called Bolondvár, located in Central Hungary, near the village Mezőfalva was studied. It is used regularly as a meadow or sometimes as a pasture. Floristic data were collected between 2010 and 2013. The total number of taxa recorded was 362. The species diversity was high compared to other places of Hungary. There were 11 protected (e.g. Ajuga laxmannii, Astragalus asper, Cirsium boujartii, Inula germanica) and numerous locally rare species (e.g. Hieracium densiflorum, Lavatera thuringiaca, Orobanche lutea, Veronica austriaca).