PNRP 31(2) za 2012 r.

Present distribution of Snow Morel Gyromitra gigas (Krombh.) Cooke
in Poland and threats assessment

SUMMARY

Present distribution of Gyromitra gigas localities in Poland is described. The species in Poland is regarded as vulnerable (category V). Gyromitra gigas was recorded in Poland in 40 localities. As species producing fruiting bodies in spring, it is presumably commonly overlooked. In the paper threats to the species are analyzed in respect to IUCN criteria, the area of occurrence is defined, favorable habitat availability is evaluated as well as the Polish population size is estimated. The authors regard the species as commonly occurring and not vulnerable to extinction (LC category).

Diversity of vascular plants of the upper course of the Rawka river

SUMMARY

The paper presents the results of investigation on vascular flora of the upper course of the Rawka river. The study area is located within the ódzkie Uplands (Kondracki 2002) and includes the source part of the river valley within the reserve boundaries and three tributaries are not included in the reserve. The length of the test upper course is about 26.5 km and area of about 3.95 km².
The main objectives of the study were: inventory of vascular plant species, determinate the present distribution of populations of protected species and of rare native species.
The study was conducted in growing seasons of 2008 and 2009. 384 vascular plant taxa were recorded, belonging to 75 families and 236 types. The analysis took into account factors: naturalness, antropophitization and kenophytization. 60 species of foreign origin have been reported, of which 19 were invasive plants. Antropophitization indicator shows that the flora of the studied area is substantially transformed by man. The presence of 23 protected, rare and endangered plants species was also determined. The most valuable part of Rawka valley is located between the villages Kochanów and Olszewo, along with starting a tributary near the village of Popowo.

Zodarion germanicum C.L. Koch (Araneae, Zodariidae)
in The gen. Dezydery Chłapowski Landscape Park - new localities in Wielkopolska

SUMMARY

The paper presents two new localities of the spider Zodarion germanicum C.L. KOCH in Poland. Two adult and four young specimens were stated in an agricultural landscape of Wielkopolska, on the area of The gen. Dezydery Chłapowski Landscape Park and its vicinity. The Park is characterized by mosaic landscape formed by intensively farmed crop fields and the net of wooded stripes between them. One of the stands were situated in well insolated one-year old shelterbelt and the other one in a stone pile in the vicinity of Rąbiń village. The specimens were collected with pitfall traps during researches of araneofauna in different agroecosystems. Zodarion germanicum is a south - and Central-European spider species, which is known from near 50 localities in Poland, where the northern boundary of its range runs. The species is placed on "The Red List of Threatened and Endangered Animals of Poland" with the VU status. This myrmecophagous spider lives in dry and sunny biotopes. It is uncommon in agricultural landscape, where strong anthropopression occurs. The above paper revealed that both stable (shelterbelts) and ephemeral (stone piles) elements of landscape are the habitats of uncommon spider species.

Preliminary studies on aquatic beetles (Coleoptera)
of the Nadwieprzański Landscape Park (Middle-Eastern Poland)

SUMMARY

In the year 2009 the central and northern part of the Nadwieprzański Landscape Park was studied. 70 aquatic beetle species were recorded, belonging to 8 families: Gyrinidae (3), Haliplidae (5), Noteridae (2), Dytiscidae (34), Helophoridae (5), Hydrochidae (1), Hydrophilidae (16) and Hydraenidae (4). The most interesting were: Aulonogyrus concinnus, Haliplus immaculatus, Agabus pseudoclypealis, Graphoderus austriacus, Syphrodytes figuratus, Helophorus grandis, Berosus signaticollis and Hydrochara flavipes. For A. concinnus the study area is an important part of the range on its northern edge; this species probably inhabits there large rivers (Wieprz, Bug) in continuous way as well as lower courses of some tributaries of their. Two given sites of A. pseudoclypealis determine the new western border of the occurrence of this species and suggest the presence of its range island in the Lublin Region. H. flavipes was recorded close to the northern border of its range. The fauna of the area was typical of the valleys of medium and large rivers of eastern Poland, showing the highest similarity to the fauna of the middle River Bug. The most important for species richness were temporary and permanent standing waters, the most stenotopes (rheophiles mainly) inhabited the River Wieprz. Ecological structure and richness of the fauna reflected well the division of the area into southern, lowland part (belonging to Polesie), and northern, influenced by the gorge (belonging to the Lublin Upland). In southern part almost more than twice the number of species were recorded, and among stenotopes tyrphophilous species were dominating. In northern part rheophiles were predominating.

Herpetofauna of the Milechowy nature reserve

SUMMARY

The forest nature reserve "Milechowy" is located in the central part of the Świętokrzyskie Province. It covers 133 ha of a part of the Grząby Bolmińskie Mountains and Brodowa Mountain. The terrain relief is very diverse, with numerous gullies, gorges and rocky outcrops. The rolling hills of the reserve are covered by forest communities along with some xerothermic grasslands. The observations were carried out in the years 2008 - 2009. They included an inventory of amphibians and reptiles, along with breeding ecology of chosen species.
The following species were found: great crested newt Triturus cristatus LAUR., smooth newt Lissotriton vulgaris L., common toad Bufo bufo L., European tree frog Hyla arborea L., pool frog Pelophylax lessonae CAM., edible frog Pelophylax kl. esculentus L., common frog Rana temporaria L., moor frog Rana arvalis NILSS., sand lizard Lacerta agilis L., viviparous lizard Zootoca vivipara JACQUIN, slow worm Anguis fragilis L., grass snake Natrix natrix L. and common European adder Vipera berus L. The research included breeding ecology of the pool frog, edible frog and common frog.
The main threats for herpetofauna results from unfavorable changes in water relationships, causing a decrease in water level and desiccation of water bodies. The other types of direct impact are deadly traffic collisions involving migrating fauna and the mineral resource industry (so called White Basin), especially the cement plant "Lafarge" in the town of Małogoszcz.

Herpetofauna of the Biesak-Białogon nature reserve

SUMMARY

The research was carried in the Biesak-Białogon nature reserve and adjacent areas (total area of 239 ha). The inanimated nature reserve Biesak-Białogon in Kielce is located in the central part of the Świętokrzyskie Province (central Poland). The reserve covers 13.08 ha and includes a small pond surrounded by outcrops, fresh coniferous forests and mixed coniferous forest. Wavy hills of the research area (up to 366 m above sea level) are covered with dominating forest communities along with some meadows.
The observations were carried out in the years 2010 - 2011. They included inventory of amphibians and reptiles, along with breeding ecology of chosen species. The following species were found: Great Crested Newt Triturus cristatus LAUR., Smooth Newt Lissotriton vulgaris L., Common Toad Bufo bufo L., European Green Toad Pseudepidalea viridis LAUR., Pool Frog Pelophylax lessonae CAM., Edible Frog Pelophylax kl. esculentus L., Common Frog Rana temporaria L., Moor Frog Rana arvalis NILSS., Sand Lizard Lacerta agilis L., Viviparous Lizard Zootoca vivipara JACQUIN, Slow Worm Anguis fragilis L. and Grass Snake Natrix natrix L. The research included breeding ecology of the Edible frog and Common frog.
The main threats include human presence (from nearby Kielce), what results in littering, mushrooming and fire setting. Moreover, it was found drying out of little water bodies.

Amphibian fauna of the Nadmorski Landscape Park and its buffer zone

SUMMARY

During the four-year research carried out in the Nadmorski Landscape Park 1255 alive amphibian specimens belonging to 12 species were caught. Most common were: the common toad Bufo bufo, common frog Rana temporaria, and green frogs Pelophylax esculentus complex. Less numerous were: moor frog Rana arvalis, smooth newt Lissotriton vulgaris and green toad Pseudoepidalea viridis. The rarest were: natterjack Epidalea calamita, great crested newt Triturus cristatus and spadefoot Pelobates fuscus. In the NPK and its buffer zone we did not observe the marsh frog Pelophylax ridibundus.
Amphibians breed in 51 of 70 water reservoirs penetrated in the Park. Some species probably breed in 35 of them. The most valuable for breeding were water bodies located in the nature reserves: Bielawa, Mechelińskie Łąki and Beka.
During night road penetrations we found 357 animals (dead and alive) belonging to 5 species. Most frequent among killed amphibians were: the common frog, common toad and brown frogs not classified into species. Roads with the highest amphibian mortality were located mostly near their breeding sites.

Amphibian mortality on roads in the years 1999 and 2009 on the three selected sites
in Tricity Landscape Park and in its neighborhood - Gdańsk

SUMMARY

The aim of this study was to present data on amphibian road mortality during their spring migration in three selected localities in Gdańsk city, northern Poland (Fig. 1). The observations were carried out in 1999 and 2009. The sites were as follows (Fig. 2):
site I - Góralska street (ca 2080 m),
site II - Polanki street (ca 510 m),
site III - Bytowska street (ca 2420 m).
Each site was divied on several linear sections of different length, based on habitat characteristic - vegetation structure, man-made constructions and proximity to water bodies, used as breeding pools by amphibians.
Total of 2602 amphibians were found dead on the roads. There were: smooth newt Lissotriton vulgaris, common toad Bufo bufo and common frog Rana temporaria. The most numerous victim of car traffic was the common toad, while the smooth newt was the rarest (Tab. 1). There were differences in number of killed animals between years and sites (Tab. 1). The latter was due to the number of small water reservoirs in the sites´ neighbourhood and the size of local amphibian populations. In the site II in 2009 no dead amphibian on road was observed, as the road was finally closed and car traffic completely blocked (Tab. 1). The mortality differed significantly between sections withn every site. The highest mortality occured on the parts of the roads with water bodies in their vicinity (Tab. 2). The mortality index (quotient of the number of dead individuals and length of the section or total length of road on particular site) varied between sites and within them and was not corellated with traffic intensity (Tab. 3). The obtained data showed clearly that the phenology of spring migration changed between 1999 and 2009 (Fig. 3). This phenomenon was connected with differences in weather conditions (temperature and precipitation).
On the base of obtained results it is possible to propose some solutions to reduce the problem of amphibian mortality on some road of Gdańsk city.

Is reproductive potential of European bison decreasing?

SUMMARY

The aim of this study was to analyse reproductive parameters of the European bison Bison bonasus based on data from the Polish part of Białowieża Forest (free-roaming and captive populations) in 1971 - 2010 and to compare the current reproductive potential of bison with data from 1950s and 1960s. Fecundity coefficients of both free-roaming and captive bison were significantly higher in 1954 - 66 than in the last 10 years (2001 - 10), respectively 70.3% and 41.3% in the freeroaming population, and 76.8% and 63.8% in the captive herd. Variation in the reproductive success of female bison was influenced mainly by the length of reproductive period of a female, then her fecundity and survival of offspring over one month of age. Reproductive success equalled 6.5 calves among bison females born in 1948 - 68, the value was significantly higher than that for cows born in 1986 - 99 that have calved within the last 20 years (4.9 calves). Distribution of births during a year did not change in comparison with data from the first half of the 20th century, about 70% of births took place from May through July. The age at first calving also remained unchanged (about 48 months). Birth sex ratio of captive calves did not change; however, in the free-roaming population a share of males among calves is constantly decreasing and the differences are statistically significant. Possible causes of decrease in reproductive parameters of bison are discussed.

Short floristic, faunistic and micobiotic notes

Locality of Thelotrema lepadinum (Ach.) Ach. (Thelotremataceae, lichenized Ascomycota)
in the "Pupy" nature reserve (Puszcza Piska Large Forest)

SUMMARY

Thelotrema lepadinum is a very rare, endangered in the country, and strictly protected by law in Poland species of lichen. It is usually recorded in old forests of primeval character. In June, 2012, the new locality of this lichen has been found in the "Pupy" nature reserve (Puszcza Piska Forest, N Poland). The species occurs there on the bark of 250-year-old oak, in oak-spruce mixed forest (Querco - Piceetum). Because of the poor condition of the tree on which the species has been found, as well as the lack of continuity between generations of phorophytes suitable for T. lepadinum, the newly discovered population of this lichen could be considered extremely endangered.

Diphasiastrum issleri in the Babia Góra National Park

SUMMARY

Diphasiastrum issleri is one of the rarest species of Polish flora and it was found on several locations in the Sudetes and the Carpathians. So far, it was found on several locations on Babia Góra. Its location has been confirmed on the northern slope of the Szeroki Żleb gully, for the time being. Diphasiastrum issleri grows in the subalpine grasslands (Calamagrostietum villosae), 1450 - 1457 m a.s.l. Due to the stability of its habitat, the site is not threatened.