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Roadside verges are a key corridor for the spread of invasive species and are often considered as invasion hotspots. Invasive plant species are a source of serious problems for both road managers and conservationists. Grassland restoration with seeds of native grassland plant species is a promising solution to control these species. In a recent publication, the CER ‘Lendület’ Seed Ecology Research Group reviewed grassland restoration methods on roadside verges.

The global road network is more than 64 million km long and growing, with road verges occupying nearly 1% of the land area of developed countries. Roadside verges are generally not suitable for industrial, agricultural, or other uses, and can therefore be suitable sites for habitat restoration and creating ecological corridors. For road managers, the ideal situation is to establish a low-input, low-maintenance, permanent vegetation adapted to the site conditions. In many biogeographical regions, roadside verges can provide suitable habitat for drought-tolerant grassland species native to the region, so a well-designed grassland restoration can be an ideal solution from both a conservation and a road management perspective. In the article, the researchers highlight the synergies between these two aspects and the potential and limitations of grassland restoration on roadsides with native species. The most effective way to control invasive plant species is to sow seed mixtures of drought-tolerant and highly competitive plant species native to the region. Although the cost of purchasing these mixtures may exceed the cost of purchasing seed mixtures commonly available commercially, they can provide a more cost-effective solution. Usually, commercial seed mixtures contain seeds of species that are not native or not adapted to the site conditions, and therefore the establishment and survival of the species sown is often unsuccessful. The main message of the review article is that grassland restoration in roadside habitats offers a unique opportunity to control invasive species, establish green corridors, create new habitats, and provide a range of ecosystem services.

The paper can be downloaded from here:
Valkó, O., Fekete, R., Molnár V., A., Halassy, M., Deák, B. (2023): Roadside grassland restoration: Challenges and opportunities in the UN decade on ecosystem restoration. Current Opinion in Environmental Science and Health 34:100490.

The Eurasian beaver is a native species with community interest in the European Union. The species was previously extinct in Hungary, but today it is spreading intensively in the country, recolonising its former habitats. The selective foraging activity of the beaver can induce significant changes in the woody vegetation along streams and canals, influencing the competition of native and invasive plant species, as well as the structure of floodplain forests.

An extensive study was conducted by researchers working in the Institute of Ecology and Botany, which aimed at the understanding of the beavers’ foraging strategy. In their new publication, they examined the difference in the frequency of utilization between woody plant taxa, and they also explored the impact of the trunk diameter on the utilization. Based on their results, the selective foraging has a stronger direct impact on the native willow and poplar species than on other native species and on the invasive species present in the supply. Even though smaller trunks are generally preferred against the larger ones, thicker trunks of willow and poplar species can gain a high utilization ratio.

A detailed analysis of the vegetation’s response to this disturbance is still a task for the future. The changes in the floodplain vegetation following the beavers’ activity depends on the survival, sprouting, and regeneration abilities of different woody plant species. Native willow and poplar species, which are foundation species in the floodplain ecosystems, can be supported by improving the hydrological conditions and conducting landscape-level water retention.

Publication:
Juhász, E., Molnár, Z., Bede-Fazekas, Á., & Biró, M. (2023). General patterns of beavers’ selective foraging: how to evaluate the effects of a re-emerging driver of vegetation change along Central European small watercourses. Biodiversity and Conservation 1-24.

Timing and the right quantity and composition of the seed mixture are key in seeded grassland restoration. Research by the Centre for Ecological Research has sought to answer the question of how to time the sowing of seed mix components to best establish grassland species and effectively control invasive species and weed. Grasses are usually the backbone of seed mixtures: they form the matrix of the grassland and play an important role in suppressing weed. In landscape-scale habitat restoration projects, it is often not feasible to sow a large area with a diverse seed mix, as there is often not enough seed mix with the right species composition available. In case of the restored species-poor, closed grasslands, additional effort and work is required to establish forb species and control invasive species in later stages of restoration.

In this study, the researchers of the ‘Lendület’ Vegetation and Seedbank Dynamics Research Group combined the sowing of a diverse seed mixture of 20 dry grassland species with the sowing of grass seeds (Festuca pseudovina). They tested how the composition of the plant communities varied depending on whether forb species were sown at the same time as the grass seeds or in the 1st, 2nd or 3rd year after sowing.

The results showed that more work invested in the early stages of grassland reconstruction pays off and leads to more successful outcomes. The results suggest that the best solution is to sow the forb species seeds at the same time as the grass seeds. These plots had the highest diversity of established grassland, the lowest levels of weed infestation and invasive species cover, and the most successful establishment of companion species. The results suggest that the most cost-effective and efficient method is to sow a diverse seed mix at the same time as grass seed sowing, at the beginning of the reconstruction.

The first author of the paper, Réka Kiss, has been awarded the MTA Environmental Youth Prize in recognition of her results.

Publication:

Kiss, R., Deák, B., Tóth, K., Lukács, K., Rádai, Z., Kelemen, A., Miglécz, T., Tóth, Á., Godó, L., Valkó, O. (2022). Co-seeding grasses and forbs supports restoration of species-rich grasslands and improves weed control in ex-arable land. Scientific Reports 12: 21239. Doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-25837-4

Ornamental plants are introduced to new habitats when they are planted in gardens, where the maintaince creates the suitable conditions for them. Later, in natural habitats, they can easily occupy open niches by escaping from gardens and become invasive. This is the path taken by the great blanketflower, whose ecological effects have been studied by researchers at the Centre for Ecological Research.

The great blanketflower and its relatives are ornamental species planted all over the world. Its escape from gardens and establishment in new habitats have been reported in several countries, but its invasive behaviour has been unknown. However, this species has found suitable habitat conditions in Hungary and has become invasive in some places. Therefore, the researchers aimed to map the distribution of great blanketflower in Hungary, evaluate its impact on the local plant community and determine its invasive potential.

The distribution data show that great blanketflower occurs mainly as casual escapes, but a significant number of naturalised and invasive populations have been found within the country. The species spreads successfully mainly near gardens and disturbed or sandy habitats, but also occurs in semi-natural and natural grasslands. Its establishment has reduced the species richness of the local plant community. Its invasion is facilitated by its well germination capacity, long flowering period and spread by the fur of grazing animals. The great blanketflower does not yet appear to be a strong ecosystem transformer species, but more attention needs to be paid to it, as it could spread strongly and become invasive in the future due to drier weather caused by climate change.

The results of the research suggest that planting blanketflower species in gardens is not recommended, as they can easily colonise natural plant communities once out of the garden, and their sale in seed mixtures is not recommended. There is a need for a survey of great blanketflower and similar alien ornamental plant populations, their long-term monitoring and a more detailed evaluation of their invasion properties.

Publication:

Süle, G., Miholcsa, Z., Molnár, C., Kovács-Hostyánszki, A., Fenesi, A., Bauer, N., Szigeti, V. Escape from the garden: spreading, effects and traits. NEOBIOTA, 83 pp. 43-69. , 27 p. (2023)

Invasive plant species have a negative impact on local fauna, such as pollinating insects, by transforming vegetation and decreasing floral resources. In three recent studies, researchers from the Centre for Ecological Research and Babeş-Bolyai University have investigated the effects of twelve herbaceous invasive plant species with different characteristics on vegetation (Fenesi et al. 2023), pollinator communities (Kovács-Hostyánszki et al. 2022) and functional traits of pollinating insects (Szigeti et al. 2023). Their results suggest that plant invasions do not have universal effects, with a few exception e.g. reduction of native vegetation diversity. There are differences among the studied invasive plants for almost all investigated ecological indicators. From a pollinator point of view, invaded sites act similarly to oilseed rape or sunflower fields: during flowering they provide a large amount of food for pollinating insects compatible with the flowers of the invasive plants present there, while over the blooming period they are green deserts. Effective conservation actions against invasive plant species are also important for the protection of pollinators. In contrast, some invasive species can provide important food resources for even protected pollinating insects. Thus, instead of only eradication, important to consider the local and species specific situation, and also consider the needs of the associated pollinator species.

Publications:

Fenesi, A., Botta-Dukát, Z., Miholcsa, Zs., Szigeti, V., Molnár, Cs., Sándor, D., Szabó, A., Kuhn, T., Kovács-Hostyánszki, A. (2023). No consistencies in abundance-impact relationships across herbaceous invasive species and ecological impact metrics. Journal of Ecology;

Kovács-Hostyánszki, A., Szigeti, V., Miholcsa, Zs., Sándor, D., Soltész, Z., Török, E., Fenesi, A. (2022). Threats and benefits of invasive alien plant species on pollinators. Basic and Applied Ecology, 64:89–102;

Szigeti, V., Fenesi, A., Botta-Dukát, Z., Kuhlmann, M., Potts, S.G., Roberts, S., Soltész, Z., Török, E., Kovács-Hostyánszki, A. (2023) Trait-based effects of plant invasion on floral resources, hoverflies and bees; Insect Conservation and Diversity;

In a new study, the Mosquito Monitor Group has used a model-based approach to demonstrate that so-called “citizen science” data collected with the public’s participation can be used to draw scientific conclusions.

By “citizen science” or “community science” we mean scientific research that involves society in shorter or longer scientific projects, and in this way is able to collect large amounts of data efficiently and actively link science and the public. The Mosquito Monitor programme launched by the group is based on this approach, and for the fifth year in a row, the researchers are asking the general public to help them map the distribution of invasive biting mosquitoes in their country. There is no question that the programme is working well, with more and more mosquito reports coming in from all over the country every year, giving researchers an increasingly accurate picture of the presence of invasive species (Asian tiger mosquito, Japanese bush mosquito, Korean mosquito) in the country. In this study, after taxonomic verification of about 3,000 mosquito reports received so far (following the identification of mosquito species), the researchers investigated whether the data obtained reflect the reality, i.e. the true distribution pattern of the mosquito species searched for, and whether the data can be reliably used to draw scientific conclusions. By comparing the spatio-temporal patterns of occurrence generated from the reports, based on the presence/prevalence data of individual species, with the information collected by the researchers during direct field monitoring, it was concluded that the maps based on the reports correspond well with the results of direct field sampling using traditional trapping protocols.

Considering the amount of effort invested in sampling, the reports can be used to answer biological questions and draw scientific conclusions about the distribution of invasive biting midges. This can make national monitoring of mosquitoes significantly more effective, which is also of particular benefit for mosquito control programmes and for epidemiological risk assessment.

Publication

Garamszegi, L., Kurucz, K., Soltész, Z. Validating a surveillance program of invasive mosquitoes based on citizen science in Hungary. JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY (2023)

Short-term effects of control of the invasive plant (Asclepias syriaca L.): secondary invasion of neophyte plants instead of regeneration of native species.

In this study, we investigated the effects of the common milkweed, a perennial, vegetatively well-spreading invasive plant species from North America, on the main soil properties and vegetation composition in a field experiment on abandoned sandy old-fields in Kiskunság. We also studied the effects of mechanical control (cutting) of milkweed on other native and non-native plant species. We found that common milkweed invasion alters the composition of the vegetation, but had no effect on the basic properties of the soil. Short-term cutting (three years) decreased the cover of common milkweed, but native plants did not regenerate, and secondary invasion by other non-native plants occurred. This suggests that more time or additional treatments are needed for the native plants to regenerate after the invasive species has been controlled.

Publication:

Berki, B., Botta‐Dukát, Z., Csákvári, E., Gyalus, A., Halassy, M., Mártonffy, A., Rédei, T. & Csecserits, A. Short-term effects of the control of the invasive plant Asclepias syriaca: secondary invasion of other neophytes instead of the recovery of native species, Applied Vegetation Science, e12707.

The raccoon (Procyon lotor) is an alien species that is widespread in mainland Europe (e.g., France, Belgium, Germany, Poland). Populations originated from escaped pets and introductions. The raccoon is already confirmed in the fauna of Hungary. The spread of this invasive species from North America could threaten native ecosystems. For this reason, the 1st European Raccoon Conference was organised in Lyon, France, on 16-17 March 2023. At the meeting, the Invasion Biology Division of the National Laboratory for Health Security was represented by MATE with a presentation by Krisztián Katona and his colleagues.

The presentation summarized the most important knowledge on the occurrence of the species in Hungary to help future research and management of the species. According to the annual wildlife management reports available in the National Game Management Database (Csányi et al. 2022), the raccoon appeared in the hunting bag in 1998 with 9 individuals, and since then there have been a few hunted individuals per year. The most recent yearly hunting bag of raccoon was 19 individuals in 2021/2022. The occurrence of the species is sporadic, but most of the individuals were shot in the central part of Hungary, in Pest County. In the last two decades, there is evidence of occasional urban occurrence of the species in Budapest. In the framework of our invasive species project (RRF-2.3.1-21-2022-00006), funded by the National Research, Development and Innovation Office, we are conducting research on the condition, reproduction and diet composition of the hunted individuals, we are analysing their genetic origin and relatedness, and investigating the nest predation and urban appearance of the raccoon.