Cikk a színes békaszőlőről a Preslia című folyóiratban

Lukács Balázs András első szerzőségével megjelent  „The decline and recovery of populations of Potamogeton coloratus in Hungary” című cikkünk a Preslia című folyóiratban.

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Abstract

Fen pondweed (Potamogeton coloratus) is characteristic species of oligotrophic waters, therefore, one of the rarest and most endangered aquatic plants in Europe; being characterised by habitat loss and population decline all over the continent. In Hungary, all of its population disappeared during the 1950s and 1960s, but the species exhibited a massive recovery in recent years, many populations that once disappeared now recovered; moreover, new populations also emerged. In this study, we investigated the role of the environmental variables in the re-emergence of the species, and in determining its phenology-environment dependency, as well as the role of dispersal potential in the emergence of new populations. Our study is the first to assess the dispersal ability of P. coloratus by means of endozoochory, evaluated within the framework of a forced-feeding experiment of its seeds. We found that variation in annual precipitation does not affect the presence of P. coloratus; however, the variation of karst water level coincides with the number of populations in the studied region. This suggests that the disappearance-reappearance of P. coloratus has been driven by fluctuations in regional karst water levels, which was basically controlled by the development of the socialist heavy industry, and especially by the operation of the bauxite and coal mines. Moreover, we show that water temperature determines the phenology of the species. Importantly, we also demonstrate that a relatively high proportion of forcefed P. coloratus seeds passed through the digestive tract of mallards and many of them contained viable embryos after passage. Thus, birds could serve as possible dispersal vectors of P. coloratus seeds, hence they might be responsible for the emergence of new populations. Overall, P. coloratus appears to be recovering, but regular monitoring should be conducted to ensure its persistence.

Hivatkozás

Lukács B. A., Molnár V. A., Mészáros A., Lovas-Kiss Á., Vincze O., Süveges K., Fekete R. & Mesterházy A. (2020): The decline and recovery of populations of Potamogeton coloratus in Hungary. – Preslia 92: 73–86.