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Diversity, migration routes, and worldwide population genetic structure of Lecanosticta acicola, the causal agent of brown spot needle blight /
No full textLecanosticta acicola is a pine needle pathogen causing brown spot needle blight that results in premature needle shedding with considerable damage described in North America, Europe, and Asia. Microsatellite and mating type markers were used to study the population genetics, migration history, and reproduction mode of the pathogen, based on a collection of 650 isolates from 27 countries and 26 hosts across the range of L. acicola. The presence of L. acicola in Georgia was confirmed in this study. Migration analyses indicate there have been several introduction events from North America into Europe. However, some of the source populations still appear to remain unknown. The populations in Croatia and western Asia appear to originate from genetically similar populations in North America. Intercontinental movement of the pathogen was reflected in an identical haplotype occurring on two continents, in North America (Canada) and Europe (Germany). Several shared haplotypes between European populations further suggests more local pathogen movement between countries. Moreover, migration analyses indicate that the populations in northern Europe originate from more established populations in central Europe. Overall, the highest genetic diversity was observed in south-eastern USA. In Europe, the highest diversity was observed in France, where the presence of both known pathogen lineages was recorded. Less than half of the observed populations contained mating types in equal proportions. Although there is evidence of some sexual reproduction taking place, the pathogen spreads predominantly asexually and through anthropogenic activity
Small mammal diversity changes in a Baltic country, 1975-2021: A review /
No full textSimple Summary Mediated through functional and numerical responses, the community structure and diversity of small mammal communities over the long term may show the influences of climate change, landscape changes and local disturbances. We present an overview of small mammal trapping and owl pellet analysis results in pre- and post-soviet Lithuania (the most southerly of the three Baltic States, Northern Europe), covering the period 1975-2021. All available sources, including grey literature, were included where the raw data were available. Based on the decades-long period, we analysed diversity changes and proportions within the main trophic groups. Diversity increase and dominance decrease occurred in the aftermath of changes within the country in 1990 and have not subsequently changed. Thus, there are two periods-before and after large-scale agricultural changes in the country. The proportions of the trophic groups changed gradually: a large increase in granivores coincided with a decrease in omnivores and insectivores, while the proportion of small herbivorous mammals increased less notably. The structure and diversity of small mammal (SM) communities over the long term may show the influences of climate change, landscape changes and local disturbances. We review published data regarding SM trapping and owl pellet analysis from Lithuania (the most southerly of the three Baltic States, Northern Europe), covering the period 1975-2021. Over decades, we analysed trends in the diversity of SM communities and the proportions of species and proportions of trophic groups. The large increase in granivores, from 6.9% in 1975-1980 to 45.4% in 2011-2020 and 54.7% in 2021, coincided with a decrease in omnivores and insectivores. The proportion of herbivores increased less notably. At the species level, significant decreases in the proportions of M. arvalis, C. glareolus and S. araneus were accompanied by notable increases in the proportions of A. flavicollis and A. agrarius, the latter from 1.0% in 1975-1980 to 25.3% in 2021. Concluding, two periods were identified, specifically before the 1990s and subsequently. In the second period, in the aftermath of land-use changes within the country in 1990, diversity increased, and dominance decreased, a situation that has not subsequently changed. Not excluding the concomitant effects of climate change, we relate these patterns to the alterations in habitat and anthropogenic impact
Bronzos amžiaus Pietryčių Baltijos regiono ekonomikos ir kultūros geresnio pažinimo link. Tarbiškių gyvenvietė.
No full textIn 2020, rescue excavations due to construction of a pipeline connecting Poland and Lithuania took place at the Bronze Age sites Tarbiškės 1 and Tarbiškės 2, eastern Lithuania, both dated to 1050–900 cal BC. They revealed a rather homogeneous archaeological assemblage which fills a gap in the development of the Bronze Age culture and economy in the southeastern Baltic. Tarbiškės Ware, from a typological as well as chronological point of view, stands in an intermediate position linking Trzciniec culture pottery with Žalioji and Early Striated Wares. Macrobotanical analysis of charred plant remains revealed that Bronze Age people at Tarbiškės cultivated Panicum miliaceum, Hordeum vulgare and Triticum sp. The Tarbiškės sites demonstrate that early farmers used to settle areas at higher elevations with sandy soils, further from large bodies of water. They used flint and other stone tools widely and lacked bronze. Tarbiškės is the first and only ancient settlement discovered in Lithuania with a workshop for on-site manufacturing of polished stone axes with drilled holes
Significant impact of allochthonous nutrient loads on microarthropods in forest soils /
No full textAim of study: To investigate the impact of allochthonous material from piscivorous birds on forest soil microarthropod communities. Area of study: Six study zones in the Curonian Spit peninsula (western Lithuania) were designated in Pinus sylvestris stands with nesting sites of the great cormorants, taking into account the relief and the duration of the ornithogenic impact. Materials and methods: The total abundance of mites and Collembola and the species richness and diversity of Oribatida and Gamasina mites were assessed and compared. Main results: The abundance of Collembola, Tarsonemidae and Acaridae mites positively correlated with ornithogenic activity, while Oribatida and Gamasina mites decreased significantly. The structure of microarthropod communities was similar in most of the studied zones, except for the active nesting zone and the abandoned part of the colony on the dune slope. The greatest species richness of Oribatida and Gamasina was found in the unaffected forest in the dune hollow, whereas the lowest value was found in the active nesting area and in the abandoned part of the colony on the dune slope. Of the environmental parameters studied, soil pH (r = -0.725) and tree layer (r = 0.827) were those most significantly related to the changes of microarthropod communities. Research highlights: We found that cormorant colonies have a strong impact on forest ecosystems and soil properties, leading to signi-ficant changes in soil microarthropod communities. Birds thus create a natural disturbance experiment that can help reveal the factors that determine the diversity and composition of natural microarthropod communities
Reproduction parameters, diet composition and interactions with some raptor species in the increasing White-tailed Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla).
No full textIn the twentieth century many raptors in Europe decreased due to habitat degradation, use of the organochlorine pesticide, industrial pollution, and deliberate killing by humans. Over the last decades, many populations of raptors have been recovering as a result of the implementation of various conservation programmes and have spread in previously abandoned areas. The aim was to study the breeding performance of recovered and increasing population of the White-tailed Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla), diet composition and interactions with some raptor species. The data for this study were collected by the author between 1997 and 2020 from two research areas, but for each task the dataset used varied depending on the course of research. The study results indicated that breeding performance of the White-tailed Eagle pairs did not differ among habitats and did not decline with an increase in the density of nesting pairs. During the breeding season, fish and water birds were the most common prey and key prey species was the Northern Pike. The species composition of the prey varied among pairs reproducing in different habitats, but the White-tailed Eagle, despite its increasing population, was not limited by the abundance of prey in the environment. The impact of the White-tailed Eagle on internationally protected bird species during the breeding season was insignificant. Adult raptors were rare White-tailed Eagle prey; however, nestlings of the Common Buzzard were more frequent as a prey. The larger-bodied White-tailed Eagle has a no effect on the smaller-bodied Lesser Spotted Eagle reproduction and its local population dynamics in a region where both species were abundant
Weichselian soft-sediment deformation structures induced by uneven loading and glacigenic earthquakes (Baltmuiža site, W Latvia) /
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Control of fungi isolated from cereals: variations in the susceptibility of fungal species to essential oils, ozone, and UV-C /
No full textHidden in plain sight: novel molecular data reveal unexpected genetic diversity among paramphistome parasites (Digenea: Paramphistomoidea) of European water frogs /
No full textParasites might represent a helpful tool in understanding the historical dispersion and phylogeography of their hosts. In order to reveal whether the historical migration routes and diversification of hosts can be traceable in the genetic structures of their parasites, we investigated the diversity of paramphistomoid trematodes of Pelophylax frogs in two geographically distant European regions. Water frogs belonging to the genus Pelophylax represent a striking example of a species with a high variety of ecological adaptations and a rich evolutionary history. The parasites were collected from two Balkan endemic species, P. epeiroticus and P. kurtmuelleri, and two species in Slovakia, P. esculentus and P. ridibundus. While in Slovakia, Pelophylax frogs harboured two species, the diplodiscid Diplodiscus subclavatus and the cladorchiid Opisthodiscus diplodiscoides, only the former was recorded in the south-western Balkans. Remarkably high genetic diversity (16 unique mitochondrial cox1 haplotypes, recognized among 60 novel sequences) was observed in D. subclavatus, and subsequent phylogenetic analyses revealed a strong population-genetic structure associated with geographical distribution. We also evidenced the existence of two divergent D. subclavatus cox1 haplogroups in the south-western Balkans, which might be associated with the historical diversification of endemic water frogs in the regional glacial microrefugia
The Spatial pattern of the two genetic lineages of the field vole in Lithuania /
No full textThe phylogeography of the filed vole (Microtus agrestis) in Eurasia was thoroughly examined using mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) of the cytochrome b (cytb) gene. However, the former conclusions about genetic variability and the contact zone of eastern and western genetic lineages in Lithuania were based on the analysis of a very limited number of individuals. In the present study, we examined 74 M. agrestis individuals trapped in four sites in the eastern, northern, and western parts of the country using sequence analysis of cytb and D-loop. Totals of 25 new cytb haplotypes and 19 new D-loop haplotypes were identified for this species. Higher nucleotide diversity was observed for D-loop (pi = 0.01147 +/- 0.00070) as compared to cytb (pi = 0.00694 +/- 0.00039). The phylogenetic analysis based on both loci revealed the presence of two genetic lineages, i.e., the eastern and western ones, which were mixed in Lithuanian samples, with the exception of the Rusne site in the west of the country. Only the western lineage was observed in this island population of M. agrestis; the sample differed in low genetic variability and genetic differentiation from other investigated samples. We found D-loop to be an appropriate locus for the evaluation of the genetic variability of M. agrestis