the effect of soil and phanerogam characteristics on bryophytes composition, richness, abundance and functional groups were investigated in order to understand the factors responsible for bryophytes distribution patterns. three different sand dunes were selected: untouched, artificial sod-covered and planted by ammophila. along 10 transects perpendicular to the shore, a total of 142 permanent r...

(1) The release of inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus in ten mires in The Netherlands with different vegetation and hydrology was measured by incubating soil in situ in polyethylene bottles at depths of 10 and 25 cm. At the same time, cellulose decomposition was estimated by means of tensile strength loss of in-situ cotton strips. (2) The size of the inorganic N pool was not related to depth, mi...

Chemical investigation of the rhizomes of the marine phanerogam Cymodocea nodosa resulted in the isolation of two new prenylated flavon-di-O-glycosides, cymodioside A (1) and B (2), along with known phenolic compounds 3-7, some of which never reported from seagrasses to date. The structures of compounds 1 and 2 were established by extensive nuclear magnetic resonance analysis. In addition, the ...

Seasonal flooding is the most important ecological phenomenon in the Pantanal. Every year many parts of the biome change from terrestrial into aquatic habitats and vice-versa. The degree of inundation creates a range of major habitats. Flooding occupies about 80% of the whole Pantanal. In contrast, during the dry season, most of the flooded areas stay dry, when the water returns to the river be...

Iberus gualtieranus gualtieranus is an arid-dwelling land snail that needs to use karstic fissures as refuge in order to survive in arid environments. Karstic fissures are primarily on vertical rocky walls. Because displacement is costly to terrestrial gastropods, it is predictable that this snail will move on vertical substrates near its refuges. However, this species eats primarily phanerogam...

The diversity of microorganisms present in a sediment colonized by the phanerogam Zostera noltii has been analyzed. Microbial DNA was extracted and used for constructing two 16S rDNA clone libraries for Bacteria and Archaea. Bacterial diversity was very high in these samples, since 57 different sequences were found among the 60 clones analyzed. Eight major lineages of the Domain Bacteria were r...