Article
Agronomy
Clyton Moyo, Kerry C. Harrington, Peter D. Kemp, Johannes P. J. Eerens, Hossein Ghanizadeh
Summary: Wiper applicators are effective in selectively controlling Cirsium arvense, a troublesome weed in pastures. Double passes with glyphosate, clopyralid, and metsulfuron in a rotary weed wiper achieved significant reductions in stem density. However, damage to pasture plants can occur, particularly if rain follows wiper application. Glyphosate is the best choice for managing C. arvense with wipers, as it causes the least damage if washed off by rain.
Article
Ecology
Orsolya Valko, Balazs Deak, Peter Torok, Katalin Toth, Reka Kiss, Andras Kelemen, Tamas Miglecz, Judit Sonkoly, Bela Tothmeresz
Summary: Planting grasses can help establish closed perennial vegetation quickly, but creating diverse and natural-like grasslands is challenging. Understanding seed bank changes and vegetation dynamics is crucial for effective grassland restoration management. Long-term management is necessary for controlling weed emergence from dense seed banks in restored grasslands.
RESTORATION ECOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Csaba Tolgyesi, Csaba Vadasz, Robert Kun, Andras Istvan Csatho, Zoltan Batori, Alida Habenczyus, Laszlo Erdos, Peter Torok
Summary: Grassland restoration globally is seeing progress in addressing biodiversity loss and ecosystem service depletion. The choice of post-restoration management plays a crucial role in the long-term community reassembly, potentially having a comparable impact to the restoration method chosen. Selecting an optimal post-restoration management strategy is essential for ensuring successful restoration outcomes in grasslands.
ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Sergei Schaub, Robert Finger, Nina Buchmann, Vera Steiner, Valentin H. Klaus
Summary: The study reveals that increasing plant diversity in grasslands can be expensive, as seed mixtures with higher diversity tend to have higher prices. The origin of plant provenance and the diversity of seed mixtures significantly impact the price, highlighting the need to consider these costs when making recommendations to farmers and stakeholders.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Rebecca S. Barak, Zhao Ma, Lars A. Brudvig, Kayri Havens
Summary: Research shows that managers consider biodiversity as the most important restoration objective, and factors influencing seed mix design include seed availability. The survey found that managers most frequently used their own experience and consultation with other practitioners to guide seed mix design, and commonly used tools developed within their organization.
RESTORATION ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Agriculture, Multidisciplinary
Marion Lang, Johannes Kollmann, Julia Prestele, Klaus Wiesinger, Harald Albrecht
Summary: The study investigated the population growth of three winter annuals under different agricultural management methods, finding that the best conditions for planting these plants were in fields with limited crop competition, preferably with no cover crop. This suggests good opportunities for the reintroduction of rare arable plants under different crop rotations, with best results for extensively managed fields with low crop competition.
AGRICULTURE ECOSYSTEMS & ENVIRONMENT
(2021)
Article
Agriculture, Multidisciplinary
Raja Imran Hussain, Ronnie Walcher, Nora Vogel, Bernhard Krautzer, Leonid Rasran, Thomas Frank
Summary: Intensification of grassland management leads to a decrease in insect diversity. Flower strips have a restorative effect on preserving and restoring native grassland insect diversity. Heteroptera and syrphid species richness and abundance are higher in flower strips, while butterfly abundance and species richness are higher in extensive grasslands. Restoring insect diversity is a slow process influenced by local vegetation conditions and connection to source populations.
AGRICULTURE ECOSYSTEMS & ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Agriculture, Multidisciplinary
Giacomo Ortis, Luca Mazzon, Giacomo Cavaletto, Federico Marangoni, Lorenzo Marini
Summary: The effects of land use on orthopterans are mainly reflected in species richness and abundance, with abandoned grasslands having the highest richness and vineyards the lowest. Increasing forest cover can increase Ensifera species richness. Olive groves may be more suitable than vineyards for the conservation of habitats for both Ensifera and Caelifera.
AGRICULTURE ECOSYSTEMS & ENVIRONMENT
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Xiangyang Shu, Weijia Liu, Yufu Hu, Longlong Xia, Kunkun Fan, Yanyan Zhang, Yulin Zhang, Wei Zhou
Summary: This study investigated the impacts of different restoration modes on microbial communities and ecosystem functioning. The results showed that planting shrub and grasses together is a promising restoration mode that can enhance ecosystem multifunctionality and improve microbial diversity and stability in the alpine degraded grassland.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Environmental Studies
Kathryn Prive, Matthew R. Orr, Francis F. Kilkenny, Ronald J. Reuter, Holly R. Prendeville
Summary: The study found differences in detailed reproductive phenology among populations within two of the Seed Transfer Zones (STZs), indicating that 10-27% of individuals from a seed lot could be excluded during a single-pass harvest.
Article
Agronomy
Jesper Rasmussen, Saiful Azim, Jon Nielsen
Summary: New data platforms have made satellite data freely available, allowing farmers to generate variable rate application maps for nitrogen fertilisers based on satellite images；Satellite imagery is mainly relevant for detecting unique spectral characteristics of large, dense weed patches；The study showed that UAV imagery offers greater potential for herbicide savings due to higher resolution, allowing the detection of individual C. arvense shoots.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF AGRONOMY
(2021)
Article
Agriculture, Multidisciplinary
Michele Scotton
Summary: The effects of different fertilization treatments on grassland seed production and plant richness were studied. The results showed that mineral fertilizer NPK treatment produced the highest viable seed amount, but had the lowest environmental value. Proper mineral fertilizer 0pk treatment can achieve relatively high seed production and diversity.
AGRICULTURE ECOSYSTEMS & ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Csaba Tolgyesi, Zoltan Batori, John Pascarella, Laszlo Erdos, Peter Torok, Peter Batary, Klaus Birkhofer, Laura Schererj, Radek Michalko, Ondrej Kosulic, Johann G. Zallerm, Robert Galle
Summary: Renewable energy production, particularly solar energy, is gaining momentum worldwide as a way to combat climate change. However, the land requirement for ground-mounted solar panels often leads to conflicts with other land uses, such as agriculture and biodiversity conservation. This study provides a framework for reconciling solar development with biodiversity conservation by considering ecological interactions and adopting a land-sharing approach. The framework covers key aspects of solar park planning and maintenance and aims to create a new multifunctional land use type called the ecovoltaic park.
BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Monika Carol Resch, Martin Schuetz, Raul Ochoa-Hueso, Nina Buchmann, Beat Frey, Ulrich Graf, Wim H. van der Putten, Stephan Zimmermann, Anita C. Risch
Summary: Evaluation of restoration activities is crucial, and network analyses prove to be powerful in assessing the recovery of ecosystems by examining the response of both biotic and abiotic components.
JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Environmental Studies
Raja Imran Hussain, Daniela Ablinger, Walter Starz, Juergen Kurt Friedel, Thomas Frank
Summary: Land abandonment has a significant impact on true bugs and syrphids, with extensive grasslands having higher abundance compared to abandoned grasslands. However, species richness does not differ among the studied grassland regimes. Abandoned grasslands have a high number of unique species, and their true bug assemblages differ significantly from those in intensive and extensive grasslands. Extensive grasslands can increase the abundance of true bugs and syrphids, while undisturbed abandoned grasslands support the survival of more unique species. A mosaic landscape of abandoned and extensively managed grassland is ideal for alpine biodiversity conservation.
Article
Plant Sciences
Laszlo Erdos, Khanh Vu Ho, Zoltan Batori, Gyorgy Kroel-Dulay, Gabor Onodi, Csaba Tolgyesi, Peter Torok, Attila Lengyel
Summary: Ecosystems with forest and grassland patches as alternative stable states contain various habitats aligned along a vegetation cover gradient, showing different patterns of taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic diversity. Taxonomic diversity peaks in the middle of the gradient, functional diversity is high in woody habitats but lower in grassland, and phylogenetic diversity varies depending on the evolutionary age of the habitats. The community assembly in grasslands may be dominated by environmental filtering, while competition may be decisive in woody habitats.
JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Gergely Kovacsics-Vari, Judit Sonkoly, Katalin Toth, Andrea McIntosh-Buday, Patricia Diaz Cando, Viktoria Toro-Szijgyarto, Nora Balogh, Luis Roberto Guallichico Suntaxi, Francis David Espinoza Ami, Laszlo Demeter, Bela Tothmeresz, Peter Torok
Summary: By analysing cattle-and sheep-grazed sand grasslands in the Nyirseg region, East Hungary, the study aimed to determine the effects of livestock type and grazing intensity on vegetation characteristics. The results showed that livestock type did not have a significant independent effect on the studied characteristics, but the interaction between livestock type and grazing intensity did have an impact. It was concluded that careful adjustment of grazing intensity and long-term experiments studying different livestock and habitat types are essential for the management of sand grasslands.
APPLIED VEGETATION SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Forestry
Khanh Vu Ho, Gyorgy Kroel-Dulay, Csaba Tolgyesi, Zoltan Batori, Eszter Tanacs, Miklos Kertesz, Peter Torok, Laszlo Erdos
Summary: This study investigated the differences in species composition and ecological value between natural poplar forests and three common types of tree plantations in central Hungary. The results showed that natural poplar forests had the highest species richness and diversity and the highest ecological and conservation value compared to the plantations. The study suggests that conservation and restoration efforts should prioritize the protection of natural poplar forests.
FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Edina Csakvari, Nora Saradi, Boglarka Berki, Aniko Csecserits, Anna Cseperke Csonka, Bruna Paolinelli Reis, Katalin Torok, Orsolya Valko, Marton Voros, Melinda Halassy
Summary: Invasion of alien species is a major cause of land degradation, and ecological restoration is crucial in controlling invasion. This study investigated the effectiveness of controlling invasive alien species (IAS) through native seed addition. The results showed that the establishment of IAS can be reduced by adding native species at high densities, especially a competitor perennial grass of sand grasslands. Therefore, invasion-resistant restoration can be achieved by combining high-density sowing of native species with traits that match IAS in the early stage of development.
RESTORATION ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Agronomy
Henrietta Bak, Reka Fekete, Peter Torok, Kristof Suveges, V. Attila Molnar
Summary: Garlic pennycress (Mummenhoffia alliacea) is a rare weed protected in Hungary, and three new sites of this species were discovered in 2021. A study was conducted to investigate the effects of habitat management practices on seed mass and germination. Late-spring mowing was found to be optimal for the reproduction of M. alliacea, and traditional mowing methods were more beneficial for the species' survival compared to modern lawnmowers. The highest observed NaCl concentration for germination was 0.75 m/m%, indicating that anthropogenic habitats could be suitable for the species.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Viktoria Toro-Szijgyarto, Nora Balogh, Tamas Henn, Andrea McIntosh-Buday, Judit Sonkoly, Attila Takacs, Gergely Kovacsics-Vari, Patricia Diaz Cando, V. Attila Molnar, Gabor Matus, Balazs Teleki, Kristof Suveges, Balazs A. Lukacs, Adam Lovas-Kiss, Bela Tothmeresz, Edina Toth, Katalin Toth, Peter Torok
Summary: Seed weight is an important and measurable physical characteristic of plant seeds, influencing crucial ecological processes. It affects dispersal, predation, germination, growth, and survival of seedlings. Providing trait data for species missing from international databases is essential for advancing our understanding of plant communities and ecosystems in the face of global climate change and biodiversity loss.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Orsolya Valko, Reka Fekete, V. Attila Molnar, Melinda Halassy, Balazs Deak
Summary: Restoring near-natural grasslands on roadsides is a great way to support native biodiversity and provide ecosystem services for road networks. To achieve this, we need to enhance collaboration between ecologists and agencies responsible for roadside vegetation management, prioritize the use of native plant species and increase regional capacities for native seed production, promote biodiversity-friendly management practices, and inventory and conserve remnant semi-natural roadside grasslands.
CURRENT OPINION IN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & HEALTH
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Orsolya Valko, Adam Bede, Zoltan Radai, Balazs Deak
Summary: Place names are an important part of cultural diversity, but little is known about how the diversity of toponyms affects human-nature relationships and decision-making regarding land use. To address this, a multidisciplinary survey was conducted in Hungary, examining ancient burial mounds and their associated toponyms. The study found that a higher number of toponyms was associated with a higher degree of naturalness of the vegetation on the landscape features.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Balazs Deak, Adam Bede, Zoltan Radai, Iwona Dembicz, Iva Apostolova, Peter Batary, Robert Galle, Csaba Albert Toth, Jozsef Dozsai, Ivan I. Moysiyenko, Barbara Sudnik-Wojcikowska, Maria Zachwatowicz, Georgi Nekhrizov, Fedor N. Lisetskii, Zhanna A. Buryak, Szabolcs Kis, Sandor Borza, Laura Godo, Tatyana M. Bragina, Ilya Smelansky, Abel Molnar, Miklos Ban, Ferenc Bathori, Zoltan Argay, Janos Dani, Reka Kiss, Orsolya Valko
Summary: Ancient civilizations have shaped global ecosystems through the coevolution of landscapes and humans. However, the cultural legacies of these civilizations are often overlooked in the conservation of the Eurasian steppe biome. This study investigated how ancient burial mounds can contribute to grassland conservation in the Eurasian steppes. The results showed that these burial mounds played a significant role in preserving grasslands, particularly in transformed landscapes outside protected areas. The study suggests that considering cultural values in conservation efforts can lead to positive synergistic effects. Rating: 8/10.
CONSERVATION BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Sandor Borza, Laura Godo, Orsolya Valko, Zsolt Vegvari, Balazs Deak
Summary: The rapid growth of global road networks has led to increased pressures on terrestrial ecosystems and an increase in human-wildlife conflicts, with animal-vehicle collisions (AVCs) being the main manifestation. These collisions pose serious problems for both biodiversity conservation and traffic safety, resulting in millions of vertebrate roadkills annually and substantial economic damage. However, there is a lack of comprehensive surveys on the habits and attitudes of drivers influencing AVCs. In our study, we filled this knowledge gap by conducting a comprehensive questionnaire survey involving a large number of respondents (1942 completed questionnaires), aiming to understand how driving habits and attitudes affect the likelihood of AVCs. We found that male drivers, those who drive longer distances per year, have more driving experience, use country roads, or drive large vehicles have a higher number of lifetime AVC cases. Additionally, nearly half of the surveyed drivers reported experiencing at least one AVC in their lifetime. Drivers' attitudes towards nature conservation, traffic safety, and fear of collision were significantly correlated with experienced AVC cases. Notably, physical objects such as fences and wildlife crossings were identified as the most trusted and desired AVC prevention measures according to the drivers' opinions. Our research provides guidelines for targeted initiatives in the future to increase awareness of the significance of AVCs and target the most vulnerable drivers.
JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Laura Godo, Sandor Borza, Orsolya Valko, Zoltan Radai, Balazs Deak
Summary: Seed dispersal is crucial for the survival of plant populations, and zoochory is a widely observed method that enables long-distance dispersal through animals. Secondary seed dispersal by far-ranging raptors, such as barn owls, plays a role in colonizing new habitats. In this study, we found that barn owls primarily dispersed seeds through herbivorous Microtus arvalis, indicating the importance of habitats with abundant small mammals. Furthermore, the remains of prey enhanced seedling establishment, suggesting the potential of barn owl-mediated seed dispersal to increase dispersal distance and seed exchange between habitat types.
GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Hajnalka Malik-Roffa, David Tozser, Bela Tothmeresz, Tibor Magura
Summary: Automated video tracking of experimental organisms is crucial for reliable quantitative analyses in behavioral ecology and other disciplines. BugTracker, a Python-based software, effectively addresses the limitations of existing tracking software by utilizing computer vision technologies. It enables reliable tracking of unmarked organisms under varying lighting conditions, providing accurate measurements of their movements. BugTracker is a user-friendly and compatible tracking software for Windows, Linux, and MacOS.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Csaba Tolgyesi, Alida Anna Habenczyus, Andras Kelemen, Peter Torok, Orsolya Valko, Balazs Deak, Laszlo Erdos, Benedek Toth, Nandor Csikos, Zoltan Batori
Summary: Tree planting is a widely used nature-based solution for mitigating climate change. However, it can have adverse effects in naturally open biomes, such as water shortage due to increased evapotranspiration. This study assessed how soil texture affects the trade-off between tree cover and water balance in the forest-steppe biome.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
