Papers by Claudia Bita-Nicolae
Diversity, Mar 11, 2023
Fritillaria is highly endangered in their natural habitats, and these species are perennial bulbo... more Fritillaria is highly endangered in their natural habitats, and these species are perennial bulbous plants with an important medicinal and ornamental value whose reproductive strategies and adaptive evolution mechanisms are still not fully clear. Therefore, the reproductive strategies of endemic species, like Fritillaria michailovskyi Fomin are important to detect the community structure and the diversity patterns of ornamental plants. The current paper on the reproductive strategy of F. michailovskyi, a rare endemic species, was carried out at the Erzincan Horticultural Research Institute, Turkey. Our results indicate that the flowering stages of F. michailovskyi may be divided into eight phases. According to pollination experiments and the pollen/ovule ratio, and the selfincompatibility index (SII) in an ex-situ population, F. michailovskyi indicated high levels of xenogamy and self-incompatibility. It was determined that the pollination of F. michailovskyi mostly depended on pollen vectors, and the effective pollinators of F. michailovskyi were Apis mellifera and Bombus terrestris. In addition, average seed number, seed germination, and average seed viability were found as 144, 46%, and 67%, respectively. The stigma receptivity, pollen grains, and pollen viability were detected as 83%, 252,000, and 95%, respectively. Our study is the first report providing a detailed explanation of the reproductive strategy of this rare endemic species, which could aid in the genetic evolution and conservation of this valuable taxa.
Sustainability
The Carpathian region harbors a wide range of threatened species, making it an area of exceptiona... more The Carpathian region harbors a wide range of threatened species, making it an area of exceptional conservation value. In the Alpine belt, grasslands cover the entire region and this study aims to describe the communities in the Bucegi Massif of the Romanian Carpathians and highlight their importance for conservation. The Braun–Blanquet approach was used to record floristic data from 47 phytosociological surveys, identifying a total of 235 plant species from 40 different families, including 30 threatened species. Canonical correspondence analysis was used to analyze the data, revealing that the distribution of vegetation is mainly influenced by elevation, slope and vegetation cover. Dominant grass species in these communities include Nardus stricta, Festuca violacea, Kobresia myosuroides, Festuca amethystina, Festuca airoides, Sesleria rigida, Festuca versicolor and Festuca carpatica. The alpine and boreal siliceous grasslands of the Carpathian Mountains, identified by Natura 2000 c...
Diversity
Salix riparian communities are particularly diverse and of extraordinary ecological importance. T... more Salix riparian communities are particularly diverse and of extraordinary ecological importance. This study will analyze the diversity of Salix riparian communities (S. alba, S. fragilis, S. purpurea and S. triandra), their distribution, ecological importance, and conservation. There were 444 records for S. alba, 417 for S. fragilis, 457 for S. purpurea, and 375 for S. triandra, both from the literature and herbaria. Thus, it can be seen that the distribution of the four Salix species studied is very widespread throughout the territory where this study was carried out. According to EIVE (Ecological Indicator Values of Europe) but also to the national list values for niche positions and niche widths, they were noted to be very close for all ecological indicators: M (soil moisture), L (light), and T (temperature), but not for the ecological indicator of soil nitrogen (N) availability or R (soil reaction). Obviously, those riparian Salix communities are important for the functions they ...
Sustainability
Mountain wetland habitats are of particular importance because of their biodiversity, their aesth... more Mountain wetland habitats are of particular importance because of their biodiversity, their aesthetic and recreational functions, and for providing services to humans (e.g., water for domestic use and livestock). At the same time, these practices can also have significant environment costs, including biodiversity loss and deterioration of water quality. For all their importance, these habitats are not well managed or conserved. The aim of the paper is to study the distribution of two of the most important and vulnerable habitats. The communities of Cardamino-Montion and Cratoneurion commutati belong, according to the European Red List of Habitats, to the habitats base-poor spring and spring brook (C2.1a) and calcareous spring and spring brook (C2.1b), respectively. This study draws on both original studies and national literature to highlight the characteristic features of mountain wetlands. The main objective of our research is to provide a management framework to facilitate the pr...
Description of the files: <strong>ADDITIONAL_RAW_DATA_E-Ukraine_Ca</strong>: Compleme... more Description of the files: <strong>ADDITIONAL_RAW_DATA_E-Ukraine_Ca</strong>: Complementary data with Ca measurements compiled from Eastern Ukraine (Excel) <strong>ADDITIONAL_RAW_DATA_E-Ukraine_pH</strong>: Complementary data with pH measurements compiled from Eastern Ukraine (Excel) <strong>Ca_imp_RAW_DATA_used_for_modelling</strong>: Calcium-imputed data used for spatial modelling (Excel) <strong>detailed_maps-panels_Ca_pH</strong>: Final map outputs with details, by European zones (JPEG) <strong>pH_RAW_DATA_used_for_modelling</strong>: Coordinates and pH values used for modeling (Excel) <strong>Raster_data_for_GIS</strong>: Model outputs for GIS (ASCII with ArcGIS project and legends) <strong>sites_ca_GIS_points</strong>: Point data with Calcium measurements used for modelling (shapefile) <strong>sites_pH_GIS_points</strong>: Point data with pH measurements used for modelling (shapefile)
Applied Vegetation Science, 2022
AimsClassification of European bog vegetation (Oxycocco‐Sphagnetea class); identification of diag... more AimsClassification of European bog vegetation (Oxycocco‐Sphagnetea class); identification of diagnostic species for the class and vegetation subgroups (orders and alliances); development of an expert system for automatic classification of vegetation plots; and production of distribution maps of the Oxycocco‐Sphagnetea class and its alliances.LocationEurope.MethodsA data set of vegetation‐plot records was compiled to include various bog types over most of the European continent. An unsupervised classification (beta‐flexible linkage method, Sørensen distance measure) and detrended correspondence analysis (DCA) ordination were applied. Formal definitions of syntaxa based on species presence and covers, and respecting the results of the unsupervised classification, were developed and included in a classification expert system.ResultsThe Oxycocco‐Sphagnetea class, its two orders (Sphagno‐Ericetalia tetralicis and Sphagnetalia medii) and seven compositionally distinct alliances were forma...
Earth System Science Data, 2021
Water resources and associated ecosystems are becoming highly endangered due to ongoing global en... more Water resources and associated ecosystems are becoming highly endangered due to ongoing global environmental changes. Spatial ecological modelling is a promising toolbox for understanding the past, present and future distribution and diversity patterns in groundwater-dependent ecosystems, such as fens, springs, streams, reed beds or wet grasslands. Still, the lack of detailed water chemistry maps prevents the use of reasonable models to be applied on continental and global scales. Being major determinants of biological composition and diversity of groundwater-dependent ecosystems, groundwater pH and calcium are of utmost importance. Here we developed an up-to-date European map of groundwater pH and Ca, based on 7577 measurements of near-surface groundwater pH and calcium distributed across Europe. In comparison to the existing European groundwater maps, we included several times more sites, especially in the regions rich in spring and fen habitats, and filled the apparent gaps in eastern and southeastern Europe. We used random forest models and regression kriging to create continuous maps of water pH and calcium at the continental scale, which is freely available also as a raster map (Hájek et al., 2020b; ). Lithology had a higher importance than climate for both pH and calcium. The previously recognised latitudinal and altitudinal gradients were rediscovered with much refined regional patterns, as associated with bedrock variation. For ecological models of distribution and diversity of many terrestrial ecosystems, our new map based on field groundwater measurements is more suitable than maps of soil pH, which mirror not only bedrock chemistry but also vegetation-dependent soil processes.
Applied Vegetation Science, 2020
AimsRiver gravel bars are endangered habitats in Europe. However, classification schemes of their... more AimsRiver gravel bars are endangered habitats in Europe. However, classification schemes of their vegetation and habitat types differ among European countries, and they are even ignored in some national schemes. This causes problems in conservation planning, monitoring and management. Hence we aimed at building the first unified vegetation classification for river gravel‐bar habitats across European mountain systems.LocationEurope.MethodsIn total 4,769 vegetation plot records of river gravel‐bar plant communities were collected from national, regional or private databases, digitized from the literature and newly collected in the field. A hierarchical classification expert system with formal definitions of vegetation types was created. The definitions combined the criteria of presence or cover of groups of species with similar ecology or single species narrowly specialized to a particular gravel‐bar habitat. The TWINSPAN classification was applied to early‐successional vegetation typ...
Applied Vegetation Science, 2020
Aims: To create a comprehensive, consistent and unequivocal phytosociological classification of E... more Aims: To create a comprehensive, consistent and unequivocal phytosociological classification of European marsh vegetation of the class Phragmito-Magnocaricetea. Location: Europe.
Figure 2 from: Dengler J, Jansen F, Chusova O, Hüllbusch E, Nobis MP, Van Meerbeek K, Axmanová I, Bruun HH, Chytrý M, Guarino R, Karrer G, Moeys K, Raus T, Steinbauer MJ, Tichý L, Tyler T, Batsatsashvili K, Bita-Nicolae C, Didukh Y, Diekmann M, Englisch T, Fernández-Pascual E, Frank D, Graf U, Há...
Supplementary material 3 from: Dengler J, Jansen F, Chusova O, Hüllbusch E, Nobis MP, Van Meerbeek K, Axmanová I, Bruun HH, Chytrý M, Guarino R, Karrer G, Moeys K, Raus T, Steinbauer MJ, Tichý L, Tyler T, Batsatsashvili K, Bita-Nicolae C, Didukh Y, Diekmann M, Englisch T, Fernández-Pascual E, Fra...
Figure 3 from: Dengler J, Jansen F, Chusova O, Hüllbusch E, Nobis MP, Van Meerbeek K, Axmanová I, Bruun HH, Chytrý M, Guarino R, Karrer G, Moeys K, Raus T, Steinbauer MJ, Tichý L, Tyler T, Batsatsashvili K, Bita-Nicolae C, Didukh Y, Diekmann M, Englisch T, Fernández-Pascual E, Frank D, Graf U, Há...
Supplementary material 7 from: Dengler J, Jansen F, Chusova O, Hüllbusch E, Nobis MP, Van Meerbeek K, Axmanová I, Bruun HH, Chytrý M, Guarino R, Karrer G, Moeys K, Raus T, Steinbauer MJ, Tichý L, Tyler T, Batsatsashvili K, Bita-Nicolae C, Didukh Y, Diekmann M, Englisch T, Fernández-Pascual E, Fra...
Supplementary material 6 from: Dengler J, Jansen F, Chusova O, Hüllbusch E, Nobis MP, Van Meerbeek K, Axmanová I, Bruun HH, Chytrý M, Guarino R, Karrer G, Moeys K, Raus T, Steinbauer MJ, Tichý L, Tyler T, Batsatsashvili K, Bita-Nicolae C, Didukh Y, Diekmann M, Englisch T, Fernández-Pascual E, Fra...
Figure 5 from: Dengler J, Jansen F, Chusova O, Hüllbusch E, Nobis MP, Van Meerbeek K, Axmanová I, Bruun HH, Chytrý M, Guarino R, Karrer G, Moeys K, Raus T, Steinbauer MJ, Tichý L, Tyler T, Batsatsashvili K, Bita-Nicolae C, Didukh Y, Diekmann M, Englisch T, Fernández-Pascual E, Frank D, Graf U, Há...
Supplementary material 1 from: Dengler J, Jansen F, Chusova O, Hüllbusch E, Nobis MP, Van Meerbeek K, Axmanová I, Bruun HH, Chytrý M, Guarino R, Karrer G, Moeys K, Raus T, Steinbauer MJ, Tichý L, Tyler T, Batsatsashvili K, Bita-Nicolae C, Didukh Y, Diekmann M, Englisch T, Fernández-Pascual E, Fra...
Figure 4 from: Dengler J, Jansen F, Chusova O, Hüllbusch E, Nobis MP, Van Meerbeek K, Axmanová I, Bruun HH, Chytrý M, Guarino R, Karrer G, Moeys K, Raus T, Steinbauer MJ, Tichý L, Tyler T, Batsatsashvili K, Bita-Nicolae C, Didukh Y, Diekmann M, Englisch T, Fernández-Pascual E, Frank D, Graf U, Há...
Figure 1 from: Dengler J, Jansen F, Chusova O, Hüllbusch E, Nobis MP, Van Meerbeek K, Axmanová I, Bruun HH, Chytrý M, Guarino R, Karrer G, Moeys K, Raus T, Steinbauer MJ, Tichý L, Tyler T, Batsatsashvili K, Bita-Nicolae C, Didukh Y, Diekmann M, Englisch T, Fernández-Pascual E, Frank D, Graf U, Há...
Supplementary material 8 from: Dengler J, Jansen F, Chusova O, Hüllbusch E, Nobis MP, Van Meerbeek K, Axmanová I, Bruun HH, Chytrý M, Guarino R, Karrer G, Moeys K, Raus T, Steinbauer MJ, Tichý L, Tyler T, Batsatsashvili K, Bita-Nicolae C, Didukh Y, Diekmann M, Englisch T, Fernández-Pascual E, Fra...
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Papers by Claudia Bita-Nicolae