Issues

In the Right-Bank Forest-Steppe of Ukraine, 6 species, 2 hybrids, 2 varieties and about 10 cultivars of the genus Forsythia Vahl are cultivated. The phoenology of the species of the genus is not sufficiently covered in the literature. The available information is mostly about flowering and fruiting periods of individual species, varieties and cultivars at various points of introduction. Due to the lack of information on the rhythms of growth and development of plants of most taxa of the genus Forsythia in the Right-Bank Forest-Steppe of Ukraine, there was a need to conduct such studies. The purpose of the work is to recognize the features in seasonal rhythms of growth and development of Forsythia taxa in th Right-Bank Forest-Steppe of Ukraine and to study their con- sistency with the natural and climatic conditions of this region. The studied objects are within the normal limits of 3–4 phoenodata. Only Forsythia ovata Nakai, whose phoenophases are shorter than normal, does not fit into this range. 20 % of the research objects are within the normal range for all phoenodata, and 93.33 % are within the normal range for 3–4 phoenodata. F. giraldiana Lingelsh., F. ovata ‘Tetragold’, F. suspensa (Thunb.) Vahl, F. suspensa var. fortunei, and F. suspensa var. sieboldii, growing in the city of Kyiv, are within the norm for the dates of onset of all phoeno- phases and have an unused part of the growing season in reserve. In the majority of forsythias (86.67 %), the phoenological atypicality indicator is less than 1, which indicates the correspond- ence of the seasonal rhythms of growth and development of most of the studied forsythias to the climatic conditions of the Right-Bank Forest-Steppe of Ukraine.

Received: 07 February 2024 / Accepted: 14 July 2024 / Available online: 02 August 2024

 Open Access: This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

This study aims to examine the impact of silvicultural interventions on the height and diameter growth, survival, and canopy structure of naturally regenerated European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) saplings. In a field study, a system of six experimental sites was set up across three areas in the West Stara Planina region, selected according to the various types of cutting regimes within them. At each area, we chose two experimental sites – one of them with silvicultural intervention (Group selection system, Group shelterwood system and Short-term shelterwood system cuttings) and the other one – without silvicultural intervention during the last minimum twenty years (control). Biometric measurements of sapling number, height, and diameter were taken in 2018 and 2022, alongside assessments of the leaf area index (LAI). The results showed that cutting regimes influence beech regeneration growth patterns. Small canopy gaps (0.111 and 0.125 ha) in the Group selection and Short-term shelterwood systems led to similar survival and growth changes, selecting resilient individuals and increasing sapling sizes compared to controls, with no significant change in LAI. In contrast, the Group shelterwood system, with a larger canopy gap (0.555 ha), resulted in similar sapling numbers and sizes to the control but increased LAI over four years without sapling size growth. This indicates that larger gaps may have a less stimulating effect on beech regeneration compared to smaller gaps.

Received: 07 June 2024 / Accepted: 31 August 2024 / Available online: 05 August 2024 

Open Access: This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

The primary objective of this study was to determine the growth parameters of Thracian barbel in the middle zone of the Mesta River within the Aegean basin in Bulgaria. For this purpose, a total of 106 fish were caught and examined. The sample was collected by electrofishing along the Mesta River. Fish age was determined using scalimetry, while length and mass were calculated using scale length-radius and mass-length relationships, respectively. The study identified six age groups, with the majority of the sample comprising two and three-year-old fish. The lengths ranged from 46 mm to 242 mm. Growth analysis was performed by back-calculating the length using the equation L = 3.0858·S+20.759 (r2 = 0.955). Furthermore, a relationship between gutted weight (W) and standard length (L) was established using the equation W = 0.00001∙L2.9799 (r2 = 0.967).

Received: 24 June 2024 / Accepted: 07 October 2024 / Available online: 17 October 2024

Open Access: This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. 

Global climate change impacts all aspects of human life, including agriculture. Coffee is a major export commodity for Lampung Province. El Niño and La Niña can reduce coffee produc- tion by 80 %. Agroforestry coffee planting pattern is one of the steps to minimize the impact of climate change. This research, conducted from November 2022 to March 2023 in West Lampung Regency, focused on the Way Tenong, Air Hitam, and Batu Brak sub-istricts. A survey method was employed, and a sample of 233 coffee farmers was selected through random sampling. The samples in this research were divided into three groups, namely monocropping coffee systems (MCS), simple agroforestry systems (SAFS), and complex agroforestry systems (CAFS). The level of livelihood vulnerability of farm households was analysed using the Livelihood Vulnerability Index. Overall, farm households on monoculture coffee farms had higher livelihood vulnerability compared to farm households on SAFS and CAFS. Factors significantly affecting the vulnerability of coffee farming households to climate change include farmers’ knowledge of climate change, drought, rainfall patterns, pest and disease outbreaks, as well as the adoption of SAFS and CAFS. Implementing agroforestry systems in coffee farming can help reduce this vulnerability.

Received: 18 July 2024 / Accepted: 09 October 2024 / Available online: 17 October 2024

Open Access: This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. 

Falcataria falcata is valuable species for timber production in Indonesia. Yields from this species, however, are reduced by gall rust caused by Uromycladium falcatarium. The aim of this research was to identify whether extracts of Salix babylonica and Clerodendrum paniculatum could induce systemic resistance of F. falcata to gall rust. Experiments were conducted at the nursery of Vocational College, Universitas Gadjah Mada. Three factors were tested, i.e. plant extract (S. babylonica or C. paniculatum), extract concentration (diluted or undiluted), and time of application (inoculated one day or seven days after elicitor application). Parameters measure were total phenolic compounds and the symptom of gall rust. The total phenolic compounds produced by seedlings treated with C. paniculatum extract were significantly lower than other treatments. After 5 months of observation, gall rust symptoms were only found on seedlings treated with C. paniculatum extract, i.e. stiff and bent shoot, stiff and slightly bent with a white stripe on branch, stiff and slightly bent leaf stalk, and gall formation.

Received: 07 June 2024 / Accepted: 14 October 2024 / Available online: 18 October 2024

Open Access: This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

In this research, we focused on the following question: What element can be used for phylogeography and phylogenetic studies for all species using results of the genome-wide analysis (GWA) of numerous model organisms (e.g., Homo sapiens, Mus musculus, Drosophila melanogaster)? We especially paid attention to the average mutation rate variation in the DNA fragment size across alleles from diverse loci (i.e., related to length-dependent mutation processes). Over the past 30 years, all molecular markers have been developed from the fundamentally different mechanisms of four mutations: single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), simple sequence repeats (SSRs), insertions–deletions (INDELs), and chromosome aberrations. The challenge is to accurately fix the molecular clock for size-variant DNA marker data to uncover the phylogeographic histories of many plants and animals. In this paper, we provided a lot of examples from a Homo sapience to a forest tree from Pinus genus, illustrating the importance of differentiating between molecular markers, their origins, and the locus molecular size to better calibrate the molecular clock for back-in-time simulation analyses.

Received: 14 August 2024 / Accepted: 17 October 2024 / Available online: 25 October 2024

Open Access: This work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

The article deals with the methodology for detecting and monitoring of wildfires with remote sensing data. The development’s purpose is to demonstrate the ways and methods of using free satellite data, as well as their practical application. We selected NASA’s largest fire monitoring platform, which offers free access and data from the European Space Agency’s Sentinel 2 satellites, for this purpose. This paper presents an overview of the physical basis for forest fire detection and provides a comparative study of the application of various satellite systems and equipment in the process of managing forest fire risks.

Received: 19 September 2024 / Accepted: 23 October 2024 / Available online: 31 October 2024

Open Access: This work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. 

Perennial flowering plants are important parts of the urban green spaces with their beautiful flowers, colours and foliage. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the blooming stage and vegetative growth parameters for 12 perennials flowering taxa of Digitalis purpurea and Gaillardia sp. in the agro-ecological conditions of Kosovo. During the 2022–2023 growing periods, the object of research in our experimental field were totally 12 taxa. The experiment was ′Randomized block′ type with four replications and 200 plants for each cultivar. All taxa were studied for: beginning and end of the flowering stage, features of petal fusion/ligules per flower head, flower opening stage, colour of flowers, dynamic of growth in length of flower stems, diameter of flower stems, number of flower stems per plant, fragrance of flowers. Digitalis cultivars and Gaillardia sp. have demonstrated high ornamentally and long period with flowers, good growing, leaves and flowers of different colours. Because of their good performance, studied taxa deserve more important place in public green spaces in the context of greater sustainability in urban landscape and should be included in the design and planting structure in Kosovo.

Received: 10 June 2024 / Accepted: 22 October 2024 / Available online: 31 October 2024

 Open Access: This work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

In this study, we examined the diversity of bird populations in an agricultural environment in Northern Algerian Sahara (Ghardaia province) over a period of 9 months. Using the point count technique, we collected data on birds at different levels of vertical stratification based on the number of cultivated plant species. An analysis of variance was used to assess the impact of plant strata number and cultivated species number on species richness and bird abundance. During this study, 35 bird species belonging to 7 orders and 18 families were identified. The highest values of Shannon-Wiener diversity index (H’ = 2.804), Simpson index (D = 0.913), and Margalef index (D = 4.761) were observed in the most complex areas. The differences in the number of species and abundance were significant between the different levels of complexity in agricultural environments, with areas having three vertical plant strata (trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants) and a greater number of cultivated plant species hosting the highest number of bird species and displaying high populations.

Received: 18 September 2024 / Accepted: 26 October 2024 / Available online: 07 November 2024

 Open Access: This work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Retraction Notice:

This article, originally published in Forestry Ideas (2024, Vol. 30, No. 2), has been retracted by the Editorial Board.

After publication, significant weaknesses in the study were identified and confirmed through further review.

The authors attempted revisions, but the issues could not be satisfactorily resolved.
In agreement with the authors, the Editorial Board has therefore decided to retract the article.
This decision follows the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Received: 20 October 2024 / Accepted: 20 November 2024 / Available online: 10 January 2025

Retracted on: 11 September 2025

Open Access: This work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.