Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz

About: Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz is a education organization based out in Bydgoszcz, Poland. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Luminescence & Population. The organization has 1109 authors who have published 2923 publications receiving 19548 citations. The organization is also known as: Casimir the Great University & Uniwersytet Kazimierza Wielkiego w Bydgoszczy.

Microarthropod communities of industrially disturbed or imported soils in the High Arctic; the abandoned coal mining town of pyramiden, Svalbard.

Abstract: The terrestrial environment of the High Arctic consists of a mosaic of habitat types, both natural and anthropogenic. At the abandoned coal mining town of Pyramiden, Svalbard, topsoil was imported from southern European Russia. This, and further industrial disturbance in the town, offers new opportunities for the native invertebrate fauna, but may also introduce alien, potentially invasive, species. Few studies have examined anthropogenic habitats in the High Arctic. But increasing activity, including industry and tourism, requires an understanding of the responses of the Arctic to such pressures. The microarthropod communities observed in the settlement were substantially different from the natural tundra. In the settlement, nine species of mesostigmatid mite occurred (three new records for Svalbard; Dendrolaelaps foveolatus) and two additional not identified to species (Halolaelaps sp., Arctoseius sp.), 26 species of Collembola (12 not seen in the natural tundra close to Pyramiden) and two new records (Thalassaphorura debilis and Desoria tigrina), but only five Oribatida. This is set against 8, 20 and 24 species respectively for Mesostigmata, Oribatida and Collembola from natural tundra in the vicinity. The imported soils remain to be yet fully exploited by the native microarthropod fauna. Taxa disparities may result from differential mortality during collection and shipping of the soil, and subsequent colonisation. While none of the introduced species appear to be invasive, responses to climate change scenarios are difficult to project. Understanding of alien species and the timespans required for colonization by native faunas are of importance for remediation and reclamation projects in polar regions.

Isolation-by-distance within naturally established populations of European beech (Fagus sylvatica)

Abstract: In plants, the magnitude of seed and pollen dispersal plays a pivotal role in shaping genetic structure of populations. Restricted dispersal of genes can stimulate the increase of inbreeding as well as spatial clustering of relatives. These phenomena are explained by the theory of isolation-by-distance. Because of its biology, European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) seems to be susceptible to isolation-by-distance. However, to date fine-scale effects, including biparental inbreeding and a spatial genetic structure are not fully recognized for this species. In this study, two populations of European beech were investigated, both representing a dense beech forest, typical for Central Europe. Using nine microsatellite markers and a recently developed method, we found a significant level of biparental inbreeding in both populations. Spatial autocorrelation analysis revealed that both populations exhibit clustering of related individuals up to 40 m. The observed spatial genetic structure fit well to the log-linear...