Peter Fleischer
Slovak Academy of Sciences
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Featured researches published by Peter Fleischer.
Environment International | 2003
Andrzej Bytnerowicz; Ovidiu Badea; Ion Barbu; Peter Fleischer; Witold Frączek; Vladimir Gancz; Barbara Godzik; Krystyna Grodzińska; Wojciech Grodzki; David F. Karnosky; Milan Koren; Marek Krywult; Zbigniew Krzan; Roman Longauer; Blanka Mankovska; William J. Manning; Michael L. McManus; Robert C. Musselman; Julius Novotny; Flaviu Popescu; Daniela Postelnicu; Wiesław Prus-Głowacki; Paweł Skawiński; Stefan Skiba; Robert C. Szaro; Stefan Tamas; Cristian Vasile
An international cooperative project on distribution of ozone in the Carpathian Mountains, Central Europe was conducted from 1997 to 1999. Results of that project indicated that in large parts of the Carpathian Mountains, concentrations of ozone were elevated and potentially phytotoxic to forest vegetation. That study led to the establishment of new long-term studies on ecological changes in forests and other ecosystems caused by air pollution in the Retezat Mountains, Southern Carpathians, Romania and in the Tatra Mountains, Western Carpathians on the Polish-Slovak border. Both of these important mountain ranges have the status of national parks and are Man & the Biosphere Reserves. In the Retezat Mountains, the primary research objective was to evaluate how air pollution may affect forest health and biodiversity. The main research objective in the Tatra Mountains was to evaluate responses of natural and managed Norway spruce forests to air pollution and other stresses. Ambient concentrations of ozone (O(3)), sulfur dioxide (SO(2)), nitrogen oxides (NO(x)) as well as forest health and biodiversity changes were monitored on densely distributed research sites. Initial monitoring of pollutants indicated low levels of O(3), SO(2), and NO(x) in the Retezat Mountains, while elevated levels of O(3) and high deposition of atmospheric sulfur (S) and nitrogen (N) have characterized the Tatra Mountains. In the Retezat Mountains, air pollution seems to have little effect on forest health; however, there was concern that over a long time, even low levels of pollution may affect biodiversity of this important ecosystem. In contrast, severe decline of Norway spruce has been observed in the Tatra Mountains. Although bark beetle seems to be the immediate cause of that decline, long-term elevated levels of atmospheric N and S depositions and elevated O(3) could predispose trees to insect attacks and other stresses. European and US scientists studied pollution deposition, soil and plant chemistry, O(3)-sensitive plant species, forest insects, and genetic changes in the Retezat and Tatra Mountains. Results of these investigations are presented in a GIS format to allow for a better understanding of the changes and the recommendations for effective management in these two areas.
Environmental Monitoring and Assessment | 2011
Erika Gömöryová; Katarína Střelcová; Peter Fleischer; Dušan Gömöry
This study focused on the responses of soil microorganisms to different management regimes on disturbed windthrow areas. Microbial parameters potentially serving as indicators of environmental changes within a long-term monitoring of forest development after large-scale disturbance events were assessed. Basal and substrate-induced respiration, N mineralisation, catalase activity, microbial biomass as well as functional diversity based on Biolog assay were determined in soil samples from three disturbed plots and an undisturbed reference plot in the Tatra National Park (Slovakia) since 2006. A relative congruence of inter-annual trends of microbial activity indicators at all plots results from a common response of microbiota to changes of climate at the landscape level after forest stands were destroyed. While catalase activity and functional diversity proved to be useful indicators of temporal trends, microbial biomass seems to reflect different management regimes at the disturbed plots.
Forestry Journal | 2014
Zuzana Sitková; Paulína Nalevanková; Katarína Střelcová; Peter Fleischer; Marek Ježík; Roman Sitko; Pavel Pavlenda; Tomáš Hlásny
Abstract We focus on the analysis of sap flow and stem circumference changes in European beech (Fagus sylvatica, L.) in relation to available soil water and weather conditions during the growing seasons 2012 and 2013. The objective was to examine how soil water potential affects growth and transpiration of a mature beech stand situated at the lower distributional limit of beech in Slovakia. To be able to evaluate beech response to soil water shortage, we irrigated a group of 6 trees during the period of pronounced drought, while the control group of other 6 trees remained exposed to actual weather conditions. Mean air temperatures of both seasons were considerably above the long-term average and the temporal pattern of precipitation differed between the years. During the whole growing season 2012, beech samples transpired an average volume of 6.9 m3 of water in the control and 7.7 m3 in the irrigated group. A slightly higher average volume was found in the growing season 2013 under both treatments (7.7 m3 in control and 10.5 m3 in irrigated trees). In the drought period 2012, when the irrigation experiment was commenced, the sap flow in the control group was reduced by 30% as compared with the irrigated group. In 2013, a 38.1% difference in sap flow was observed between the groups. Sap flow in the non-irrigated trees decreased with reducing soil moisture, and ceased at soil water potential -0.6 MPa. In both treatments and years, we found significant correlations between hourly sap flow and investigated weather variables. A reduction in stem circumferences of the control trees, which was observed during stem shrinkage phase, was up to 19% in 2012 and 10% in 2013. We conclude that stem circumference shrinkage during the peak of soil drought was induced by the cessation in the sap flow process. Abstrakt V práci sa zameriavame na analýzu transpiračného prúdu a zmien obvodov kmeňa buka lesného (Fagus sylvatica L.) vo vzťahu k disponibilnej pôdnej vode a meteorologickým podmienkam vo vegetačnom období 2012 a 2013. Cieľom bolo zistiť, ako vodný potenciál pôdy ovplyvňuje rast a transpiráciu bukového porastu na spodnej hranici výskytu buka na Slovensku. Počas periódy pôdneho sucha bola skupina 6 jedincov buka intenzívne zavlažovaná, zatiaľ čo kontrolná skupina 6 jedincov bola vystavená aktuálnym meteorologickým podmienkam. Vo vegetačnej sezóne oboch rokov boli zistené nadpriemerné mesačné teploty vzduchu. Časové rozloženie zrážok počas vegetačnej sezóny sa medzi rokmi líšilo. Vo vegetačnom období 2012, jedince buka transpirovali priemerne 6,9 m3 vody v kontrolnej skupine a 7,7 m3 v zavlažovanej skupine. V roku 2013 bol v oboch skupinách zistený vyšší objem transpiračného prúdu (priemerne 7,7 m3 v kontrolnej a 10,5 m3 v zavlažovanej skupine). V priebehu zavlažovacieho experimentu v období sucha 2012 bol transpiračný prúd jedincov kontrolnej skupiny v porovnaní so zavlažovanými jedincami buka nižší o 30 %. V roku 2013 bol medzi skupinami pozorovaný rozdiel 38,1 %. Vplyv pôdneho sucha na transpiráciu sa začal významne prejavovať pri hodnote vodného potenciálu pôdy −0,6 MPa. V oboch skupinách aj rokoch bol preukázaný štatisticky významný vzťah medzi hodinovými údajmi transpiračného prúdu a väčšinou skúmaných meteorologických charakteristík. Počas fázy zmršťovania kmeňov v období sucha, bol u jedincov kontrolnej skupiny pozorovaný 19 % pokles na obvode stromov v roku 2012 a 10 % v roku 2013. Na základe našich pozorovaní môžeme konštatovať, že kontrakcie obvodov kmeňov v období vrcholiaceho pôdneho sucha boli vyvolané útlmom v procese transpiračného prúdu.
Biologia | 2009
Katarína Střelcová; Jiří Kučera; Peter Fleischer; Stefano Giorgi; Erika Gömöryová; Jaroslav Škvarenina; Ľubica Ditmarová
The canopy transpiration of mountain mixed forest was investigated during summer 2006 at research plot Smrekovec in Tatra National Park in Slovakia after heavy windstorm in November 2004 on the area of 12,000 hectares. The research plot is situated in untouched forest at altitude 1249 m on the southern-east oriented slope. The forest is mixed with 80% of spruce trees and 20% of larch trees with rich under storey vegetation, 120 years old, 7th altitudinal vegetation stage. Whole tree sap flow based on up to dated stem tissue heat balance method was continuously measured in nine 120-years old larch and spruce trees. Stem basal area was used for tree-canopy up-scaling. Meteorological parameters were measured on the top of eddy stuff tower above investigated forest. Two virtual monocultures were assumed for characterizing of both species. The sap flow and tree transpiration were calculated for the whole measured period for both spruce and larch virtual forests.
Forestry Journal | 2016
Peter Fleischer; Ján Ferenčík; Pavol Hlaváč; Milan Kozánek
Abstract The number of Ips typographus generations developed in a year might be indicative of its population size and of risk to Norway spruce forests. Warm weather and unremoved fallen trees after natural disturbances are thought of as key factors initiating large population increase. We studied I. typographus development in a spruce forest of the Tatra National Park, which was heavily affected by large-scale disturbances in the last decade. Repeated windthrows and consequent bark beetle outbreaks have damaged almost 20,000 hectares of mature Norway spruce forests, what is a half of the National Park forest area. Current I. typographus population size and its response to the environment and to forestry defense measures attract attention of all stakeholders involved in natural resource management, including public. In this paper we analyse the potential I. typographus population size in two consecutive years 2014 and 2015, which represented a climatologically normal year and an extremely hot year, respectively. We used bark temperature and phenology models to estimate the number of generations developed in each year. In 2014, the average bark temperature of standing living trees at study sites was 14.5 °C, in 2015 it increased to 15.7 °C. The bark temperature of fallen logs was 17.7 °C in 2014, and 19.5 °C in 2015. The bark temperature of standing living trees allowed to develop one and two generations in 2014 and 2015, respectively. The elevated bark temperature of fallen logs allowed to develop two generations in 2014 and three generations in 2015. The good match between the predicted and observed timing of each generation emergence as well as the large increase in the number of catches in pheromone traps in 2015 indicated a dramatic increase of the I. typographus population in the extremely warm year, especially at the unmanaged windthrown site.
Archive | 2005
Peter Fleischer; Barbara Godzik; Svetlana Bičárová; Andrzej Bytnerowicz
Synergistic effects of air pollution, extreme weather conditions and biotic agents related to global climate change have caused serious deterioration of forest condition in the Tatra National Park since early 1990s. Atmospheric deposition of sulfate (SO4 2−), nitrate (NO3 −) and acidity (H+) are above the established critical load limits for forests. In addition, ambient ozone (O3) concentrations are also elevated mainly due to a long-range transport of polluted air masses. Ambient O3 concentrations have been monitored since 1992 with active UV monitors and passive samplers showing significant differences along the elevational gradient. High O3 values in spring indicate a potential for O3 stratospheric intrusion into troposphere. Ozone AOT40 index for protection of natural forest vegetation (10,000 ppbh) is commonly exceeded in the middle of vegetation period.
Scandinavian Journal of Forest Research | 2004
Andrzej Bytnerowicz; Ovidiu Badea; Peter Fleischer; Barbara Godzik; Krystyna Grodzińska
US-Central and Eastern European (CEE) collaborative studies on the distribution and effects of air pollution on CEE forests have been conducted since 1992. Based on 1997-1999 ambient ozone (O3) monitoring, maps of O3 distribution in the Carpathian Mountains of central Europe were developed. These maps helped to understand air pollution risks in the Carpathian forests and to develop national regulations for the protected areas and for forest vegetation monitoring. The Carpathian study led to the establishment of two international long-term ecological research (ILTER) sites in the Retezat (Romania) and Tatra Mountains (Poland and Slovakia). During 2000-2002, differences in responses of natural versus managed forest to air pollution, including biodiversity changes, were investigated. During 2003-2005, research in these two ILTER sites focuses on the evaluation of resources and responses of Swiss stone pine (Pinus cembra L.) to the increasing O3 concentrations. The US-CEE collaboration helps in establishing a strong partnership between scientists and managers, and comparing the status and effects of air pollution in mountain forests of North America and Europe.
Zdrowie Publiczne i Zarządzanie. Zeszyty Naukowe Ochrony Zdrowia | 2012
Vladimir Pohanka; Marek Pohanka; Peter Fleischer; Svetlana Bičárová
The climatotherapy associated with favourable environmental conditions is an important factor for improvement human health. In this paper, we had presented results from selected studies carried out in Srobar´s institute for tuberculosis and respiratory dieseases Dolný Smokovec in the High Tatras. Srobar´s institute was for many years specialised health care institution providing complete in patients and outpatients terapeutical and preventive care for children of 0 - 18 years of age. Cooperation all together with Pediatric clinic St Andrea hospital of Universita La Sapienza in Roma performed in 2002 all together with Rabka Zdroj Institute and Motol hospital Prague,showed interesting results. We had found–out that children suffered respiratory allergy and asthma had lower level of values of MEF25 (middle forced respiratory flow on the level of 25% of peak respiratory flow) at the first day of hospitalization in opposite to the values after one-week treatment. On the other hand, the level of FeNO concentration (forced expired nitrogen monoxide) was significantly lower after one-week treatment. Children ´s without chronic allergy and asthma, values of MEF 25 and FeNO were unchanged.
Forestry Journal | 2014
Erika Gömöryová; Peter Fleischer; Dušan Gömöry
Abstract Soil microbial communities were studied in the Tatra National Park, which was affected by a windthrow in 2004 and by fire in 2005. The objective of the study was to compare the response of soil microorganisms to different management regimes on disturbed areas and to evaluate the microbial community changes during the period 2006-2013. Soil samples were taken from the A-horizon along 90 m transects on 4 plots (reference intact plot, plot with extracted wood, burnt plot, plot with fallen trees left in situ). Basal and substrateinduced respiration, microbial biomass carbon (C), nitrogen (N) mineralisation, catalase activity, and richness and diversity of microbial functional groups were determined in soil samples using the BIOLOG EcoPlates. Generally, the highest microbial activity and biomass C were revealed at the reference and fire plots. No distinct differences in microbial attributes were found between the extracted and nonextracted plots. At all windthrow plots, substrate-induced respiration, microbial biomass C and N-mineralisation showed a significant increasing linear trend with time what indicates a gradual recovery of microbial community at plots after windthrow. Abstrakt Na plochách v Tatranskom národnom parku, ktoré boli postihnuté veternou kalamitou v roku 2004 a požiarom v roku 2005, sme študovali pôdne mikrobiálne spoločenstvo. Cieľom tejto práce je porovnať odozvu pôdnych mikroorganizmov na rozdielny manažment plôch a hodnotiť vývoj mikrobiálneho spoločenstva v priebehu rokov 2006-2013. Pôdne vzorky sme odoberali z A-horizontu pozdĺž 90 m dlhého tranzektu na 4 plochách (referenčná plocha, plocha s vyťaženou drevnou hmotou, plocha po požiari, plocha s nevyťaženou drevnou hmotou). V pôdnych vzorkách sme stanovovali bazálnu a potenciálnu respiráciu, mikrobiálnu biomasu, N-mineralizáciu, aktivitu katalázy, abundanciu a diverzitu funkčných skupín pôdnych mikroorganizmov použitím BIOLOG Eco platní. Vo všeobecnosti, najvyššiu aktivitu a biomasu pôdnych mikroorganizmov sme zaznamenali na ploche referenčnej a ploche po požiari. Nezistili sme významné rozdiely medzi plochou vyťaženou a nevyťaženou. Na všetkých kalamitných plochách sme v sledovanom období zaznamenali mierny trend nárastu hodnôt mikrobiálnej biomasy, potenciálnej respirácie a N-mineralizácie, čo poukazuje na proces postupnej obnovy mikrobiálneho spoločenstva na kalamitných plochách.
Archive | 2013
Katarína Střelcová; Dagmar Magová; Peter Fleischer; Erika Gömöryová
The transpiration and stem circumference changes of spruce (Picea abies [L.] Karst.) and larch (Larix decidua Mill.) trees were investigated during the vegetative period of 2009 in the Smrekovec research plot, which is located in Tatra National Park in Slovakia. The plot is situated in a primeval 125-year-old mixed forest (80 % spruce trees and 20 % larch trees) at an altitude of 1,250 m. Meteorological parameters and soil water potentials were also measured during the same period within the investigated plot. Whole-tree transpiration was continuously measured based on the stem-tissue heat balance method in five larch and five spruce tree samples. Stem circumference changes were continuously measured using automatic dendrometers. We also investigated the seasonal and diurnal changes in transpiration. Air temperatures from 6 to 10 °C appeared to control the initiation of cambial bole growth in both species at the beginning of June. The stem circumference increment experienced accelerated growth through the end of June, at which point 80 % of the annual growth in diameter had occurred. Diameter increment ceased to grow in early October. The transpiration rates and stem circumference changes of both species were significantly correlated with micrometeorological factors. On sunny days, we found a linear relationship between transpiration and stem circumference changes (R2 = 0.60 for spruce trees and R2 = 0.56 for larch trees). After the leaves were fully developed, transpiration in larch exceeded that in spruce and lasted as long as the needles were retained on larch trees. We suggest that the phenological state of the larch tree needles is important for regulating the timing of physiological processes, such as transpiration and growth, and that the differences in transpiration rates between these species support the formation of mixed (larch–spruce) multistory stands in an area that was disturbed by a heavy windstorm in 2004.