Ivan Mihál

Response of fungal and plant communities to management-induced overstorey changes in montane forests of the Western Carpathians

The effect of forest management on biodiversity is a crucial issue for sustainable forestry and nature conservation. However, the ways in which management affects macrofungal and plant communities and diversity of mountain temperate forests still remain poorly understood. We performed a random sampling stratified by stand age and stand type on the sites of temperate montane fir–beech forests. Diversity of macrofungi and the vascular plant understorey in beech- and spruce-dominated managed stands was investigated and compared to primeval forests located in the Poľana Biosphere Reserve, Western Carpathians. Both the vascular plant and the macrofungal communities were altered by management, and the response of the macrofungal species (especially wood-inhabiting fungi) was more pronounced in terms of species composition change. Species turnover evaluation seems to be an important tool of forest natural status assessment, because alpha diversity did not change as much as species composition. Certain species of Carpathian primeval forests were confirmed as good indicators for natural forest change; others were proposed. Species pool and mean number of species per plot were the highest in unmanaged fir–beech forests, and species diversity significantly decreased in spruce plantations. The number of species decreased significantly due to the change of canopy tree species composition only in the macrofungal communities. As an outcome for forest management, we recommend keeping mixed forests involving all natural tree species and providing at least a minimal amount of dead wood necessary for wood-inhabiting organisms and leaving some area of unmanaged natural forests within complexes of managed stands.

Beech ( Fagus sylvatica L.) Bark Necrotic Damage as a Serious Phytopathological Problem in Central and Southeastern Europe

The results of long-term monitoring of beech bark necrotic damage in a mature stands in Czech Re - public, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Serbia and Bulgaria are presented in paper. Overall, 10,863 beech trees were evaluated at 121 localities. The majority of trees (6,679) were evaluated at 55 localities in Slovakia and the re - maining 2,684 trees at 50 localities in Bulgaria. In each country, we noted a wide interval of the values of beech stem necrotization index (I SN ) - e.g. in Bulgaria from 0.22 to 1.50 and in Slovakia from 0.53 to 1.97. The average value of I SN in Slovakia (1.22) was higher than the value in all other countries except for the Czech Republic (1.35). Overall, in Bulgaria, we found a more favourable state of beech bark necrotic damage than in Slovakia. As much as 80% of the Bulgarian localities had I SN values 1.5, whilst there was no Bulgarian locality recorded in this interval. We consider Slovakia and Bulgaria as the countries where the issue of beech bark necrotic damage is relatively well established.

Harvestmen (Arachnida: Opiliones) of open biotopes in the Poloniny National Park (north-eastern Slovakia)

Opiliofauna of open biotopes in the Poloniny National Park is presented. The biotopes include the variably utilized or successively overgrowing grasslands. During the period 2011–2013, we found 21 species of harvestmen which represent 60% of the Slovak opiliofauna. The highly eudominant species was Phalangium opilio. The open andsunny biotopes as meadows and pastures proved to be typical habitats for P. opilio and Oligolophus tridens. Other dominant species were: Trogulus nepaeformis and Lacinius ephippiatus. The Carpathian endemics: Paranemastoma kochi and Ischyropsalis manicata as well as thermophilic species Egaenus convexus, Lacinius horridus and Zachaeus crista were also found in the study sites.