Daniela Smarandache

Potential Impact of Climate Change on Alpine Habitats from Bucegi Natural Park, Romania

The current chapter aims to highlight some of the potential threats that alpine habitats in Bucegi Natural Park might face given the anticipated climate changes, to document the potential prediction of vulnerability of one representative alpine grassland (Natura 2000 code 6150) and to promote the need to reduce the anthropic stress as an element of the adaptive management, in conditions of climate change.

Symphyotrichum ciliatum an invasive species in the romanian flora: Contributions to the knowledge of the vegetative organs structure

Abstract Symphyotrichum ciliatum (Ledeb.) G.L. Nesom is an adventive plant first reported in Romania in 1967, which has spread rapidly over the last few decades in Moldova, Muntenia and, more recently, in Transylvania. Although the species has been known for a while in Europe and Romania, there is no information about the anatomy of the vegetative organs of this invasive taxon. This paper presents a series of structural aspects of the vegetative body, of Symphyotrichum ciliatum collected from a sandy and salty substrate (Sacalin Island - Danube Delta). These demonstrate the ability of this plant to adapt to the environment and its capacity to achieve a wide spread. As such, although this plant is an annual species, the root and stem achieve secondary growth in their width, which offers robustness to the corm; the palisade tissue has an ecvifacial disposition which enhances efficiency in capturing light, especially on sandy soil that reflects light; there are aeriferous and aquiferous formations that ensure efficiency in adapting to a wet and relatively salty environment. These results are documented by original photographs of optical microscopy and a distribution map of the taxon in Romania as at 2011.

Xanthium italicum: anatomy and histology data

Abstract The species of the genus Xanthium L. raise a number of taxonomic problems, and in some cases their identification is difficult and involves to a great extent the features of the fruit. The identification of some additional criteria, such as anatomical and histological features of the vegetative organs, would be highly beneficial. In this context, the current paper analyses the species Xanthium italicum Moretti, one of the six species of the genus Xanthium, recognised as being present in Romania. The paper highlights few anatomo-histological features of the above-ground vegetative organs, which should subsequently be evaluated in other species of the genus Xanthium, with the purpose of identifying those structural criteria, which could contribute to the identification of the species. The paper also completes with new data and original pictures the limited information available in the literature as regards the anatomy of the above-ground vegetative organs of the species Xanthium italicum.