Výzkumná Stanice Vinohradnická

Abstract After encountering a potentially dangerous stimulus, the human body and mind might react with a cascade of physiological, emotional, and cognitive responses to minimize impending harm. However, whether this system can be activated by modern (ontogenetic) threats to the same extent as by ancestral (evolutionary) threats remains uncertain, since the existing results are ambiguous. In this study, we aimed to compare the skin resistance (SR) response to ancestral and modern threats; the focal categories were venomous snakes, heights, airborne diseases, and firearms. We collected recordings of 119 participants, about 30 per threat category, supplemented by participants’ rating of the stimuli according to elicited fear. Results showed that participants reacted (SR change) with higher probability to all experimental categories than to control stimuli, with the most frequent reactions to photos simulating the threat of heights, followed by snakes, firearms, and airborne diseases. The largest amplitudes, indicating response intensity, were observed for heights but also for venomous snakes. Further examination showed that higher subjective fear corresponded to an increased probability of SR change. Although the results suggest a slight advantage for ancestral threats, responses to the threat of heights differed in several respects from responses to snakes, demonstrating that ancestrality-based categorisation cannot capture all aspects of the response. Moreover, both ancestral and modern threats can evoke similar electrodermal responses, depending on subjective stimulus salience and/or threat relevance.

We introduce the initial modification to the most recently issued inventory of European wild bees published by Ghisbain & Rosa et al. in 2023. We report new changes and taxonomic acts including: the description of a new species, Panurginus cypricus Hopfenmüller, 2025 sp. nov.; the lectotype designation of Hylaeus subtilis Förster, 1871; the upgrade or resurrection of five subspecies to species rank: Lasioglossum aeneidorsum (Alfken, 1921) stat. rev., Osmia bulgarica Friese, 1923 stat. rev., Seladonia alpina (Alfken, 1907) stat. rev., Seladonia glacialis (Ebmer, 1979) stat. nov., and Seladonia perkinsi (Blüthgen, 1926) stat. rev.; the resurrection of two species from previous synonymy: Hylaeus subtilis Förster, 1871 spec. resurr. and Protosmia mirabilis (Friese, 1899) spec. resurr.; and Hoplitis taurica (Radoszkowski, 1874) is here considered to be a nomen dubium. Finally, the following six new synonymies are proposed: Anthophora larvata Giraud, 1863 syn. nov. of Anthophora fulvipes Eversmann, 1846; Protosmia monstrosa (Pérez, 1895) syn. nov. of Protosmia tiflensis (Morawitz, 1875); the following taxa are all synonyms of Hylaeus subtilis Förster, 1871: Hylaeus nigrifacies Bramson, 1879 syn. nov., Prosopis gracilicornis var. luteifrons Strand, 1909 syn. nov., Prosopis moricella Bischoff, 1954 syn. nov., and Prosopis moricella f. atricallosa Bischoff, 1954 syn. nov. We also report 4 new species for Europe: Andrena immaculata Warncke, 1975, Anthophora bifasciata Fedchenko, 1875, Nomada felici Schwarz, 1977, and Systropha anatolica Warncke, 1977. Ancyla nitida Friese, 1902 replaces the use of the name Ancyla nigricornis Friese, 1902 in Europe. Nomada chrysopyga Morawitz, 1871 replaces the use of the name N. mauritanica Lepeletier, 1841 in Europe. The presence and identity of species belonging to the genus Schmiedeknechtia in Europe is discussed. Seven species were overlooked and are now added to the European list: Andrena pinguis Ariana, Scheuchl, Tadauchi & Gusenleitner, 2009, Clavipanurgus anatolicus (Warncke, 1972), Eucera cressa (Tkalců, 1984), Eucera mavromoustakisi (Tkalců, 1984), Icteranthidium floripetum (Eversmann, 1852), Seladonia pici (Pérez, 1895) and Megachile sanguinipes Morawitz, 1875. Conversely, seven species are excluded from the European list: Halictus constantinensis Strand, 1910, Halictus rufipes (Fabricius, 1793), Hoplitis turcestanica (Dalla Torre, 1896), Hoplitis caucasicola Müller, 2012, Lasioglossum andromeda Ebmer, 1978, Lasioglossum edessae Ebmer, 1974, and Seladonia confusa Smith, 1853. Heriades labiata Pérez, 1895 is confirmed as being described from Europe (Barcelona), and not Algeria as previously thought. We also report taxonomic changes recorded after the publication of the latest European checklist (Ghisbain & Rosa et al. 2023), including: the revaluation of two genera, Acanthonomada Schwarz, 1966 and Eupavlovskia Popov, 1955; the synonymy of the subgenus Royanthidium with the genus Pseudoanthidium, which is the senior synonym; the report of the neotype designation of Tetralonia malvae (Rossi, 1790); 32 new species recently described as new to science; 12 species recently synonymized and ten subspecies upgraded to species rank; seven species recently resurrected from previous synonymy; eight species recently recorded as new for Europe; one species noticed as overlooked in the previous European checklists; six species recently removed from the European list; and other various changes such as transfer of species from one genus or subgenus to another. We provide corrections to 136 names of authors and specific epithets, years of publication, and gender agreements demonstrated to be incorrect for various reasons. Overall, the present work revises the total number of species for Europe sensu IUCN to 2,187.

The origin of the common wall lizards (Podarcismuralis) populations in south-eastern Europe (namely in Bulgaria and Romania), representing the north-eastern range border of this species, was addressed using mitochondrial DNA. We compared cytochrome b sequences from Bulgaria and Romania with those from the contiguous range in Central Europe that are available from previous studies. We recorded five main haplogroups in Bulgaria and Romania, belonging to the Central Balkan clade. However, haplogroup III was recorded in more localities than previously found. Additionally, signs of haplotype admixture were identified in several populations along the Danube River. The presence of the Southern Alps haplotype in one population from Otopeni, Bucharest (Romania) and its close phylogenetic relationships to north Italy populations suggests human-mediated introductions of this wall lizard clade in Romania. Our results confirm that P.muralis can have non-native lineages and admixture through active human-mediated transport.

Morocco is a well known hot-spot of biodiversity in the Mediterranean basin. While some taxa like vascular plants are relatively well recorded, important groups of pollinators like bees are still understudied. This article presents an updated checklist of the bee species of Morocco and includes a summary of global and regional distribution of each species. A total of 961 species belonging to six bee families and 68 genera are recorded: Andrenidae (8 genera, 217 species); Apidae (15 genera, 241 species); Colletidae (2 genera, 74 species), Halictidae (12 genera, 144 species), Megachilidae (28 genera, 271 species) and Melittidae (3 genera, 14 species). Among them, 67 species are recorded for the first time in Morocco. Around 70% of the bee fauna of Morocco consists of widespread Palaearctic species. Only 18% of Moroccan species recorded are restricted to North Africa and 8% are Moroccan single-country endemics (81 species). Afrotropical elements in the Moroccan fauna are few, with only 3% of Morocco species co-occuring in that region. This checklist is intended to stimulate new regional research on bees including their taxonomy and biogeography. As many groups of bees have been understudied, discovery of new species for science and new records for the country can be expected. Additional research including inventorying, monitoring, and integrative taxonomic studies are needed to develop a comprehensive strategy for bee conservation in Morocco.

Abstract The body mass index (BMI), recommended also by the World Health Organization, is currently used as the leading body condition indicator in clinical and epidemiological studies and has become popular among the general public. Here we provide evidence of a systematic bias in BMI, showing that BMI is dependent on body height. As a result, shorter persons have a greater chance of being classified as underweight, while taller persons as overweight, even if they have identical nutritional status. Use of BMI should be thus abandoned in diagnosis as well as in clinical and experimental studies.

Aim Urbanization is associated with strong changes in biodiversity, but the diversity of plant and animal assemblages varies among urban habitats. We studied effects of urban habitats on the diversity of vascular plants and land snails in 32 large cities. Location Central Europe, Belgium and the Netherlands. Methods The species composition of all vascular plants that had not been planted by humans, and all land snails, was recorded in seven 1-ha plots within each city. Each plot contained one urban habitat type representing a different disturbance regime: historical city square, boulevard, residential area with compact building pattern, residential area with open building pattern, park, early successional and mid-successional site. For each plot, we obtained temperature and precipitation data. The effects of climate and habitat types on species composition were quantified using ordination methods with an adjusted variation partitioning algorithm. Differences in species composition among urban habitats were described using statistically determined diagnostic species, and differences in alpha, beta and gamma diversity were quantified. Results A total of 1196 plant and 87 snail species were recorded. Habitat type explained higher proportions of the total variation in both plant and snail species composition (11.2 and 8.2%, respectively) than did climate (4.6 and 6.3%). For both taxa, the main differences in species composition were observed between strongly urbanized sites in city centres and early successional and mid-successional sites. For vascular plants, the number of species was lowest in city squares and boulevards, and highest at successional sites and in residential areas with compact building patterns. Beta diversity of vascular plants calculated for the same habitat types among cities was highest for squares and successional sites. The number of snail species was lowest in city squares and at early successional sites, and highest at mid-successional sites. The highest beta diversity of snail assemblages among cities was observed within the city square and early successional habitat types, and the lowest within residential area habitat types. Main conclusions Urban habitats differ notably in the diversity of their vascular plant flora and land snail fauna. Understanding the habitat-related biodiversity patterns in urbanized landscapes will allow projections of future impacts of urban land-use changes on the biota.