Fast-growing trees such as Salix viminalis L. and Populus tremula L. are well suited to phytoremediate heavy metal contaminated soils. However, information on tree performance, particularly leaf function, under conditions of heavy metal contamination is scarce. We used yearly coppiced saplings of S. viminalis and P. tremula growing in model ecosytems to test four hypotheses: (1) heavy metal con...

The chemical composition and the antibacterial activity of the essential oils obtained by hydrodistillation from the leaves of Callistemon citrinus and Callistemon viminalis were analyzed by GC and GC/MS. Twenty-four and twelve components were identified for C. citrinus and C. viminalis, representing 92.0% and 98.3% of the total oils. The major components of C. citrinus and C. viminalis were 1,...

The objective of this study was to screen extracts of twenty Eastern European medicinal plants, using wild-type and reporter Chromobacterium violaceum bioassays, for novel components that target bacterial cells and their quorum sensing (QS) communication systems. Three types of activity and their combinations were revealed: (i) direct antimicrobial growth-inhibitory activity, (ii) non-specific ...

In the present study, an iron(II)-nanoscale organic complex (Fe-NO) was used as enhancement factor by two different Rhodopseudomonas species of purple non-sulphur bacteria (PNSB) to produce hydrogen (H2). The Fe-NO synthesised using FeSO4·7H2O and Eucalyptus viminalis—a native Australian plant leaf extract—in a 1:2 2:1 concentration ratio. Besides, also source iron(II) for comparison with compl...

Understanding the ability of koalas to respond to changes in their environment is critical for conservation of the species and their habitat. We monitored the behavioural response of koalas to declining food resources in manna gum (Eucalyptus viminalis) woodland at Cape Otway, Victoria, Australia, from September 2011 to November 2013. Over this period, koala population density increased from 10...

Species distribution models (SDMs) are often used during the planning stage of reintroduction programmes to model species' occurrence with aim selecting potential release sites. However, for many endangered species, only a low number records available, leading accuracy. When reintroductions rare an alternative approach may be surrogate species that more abundant or easier locate. Here, we model...