The Western Carpathians, as part of the Carpathian mountain range, are one of the most important centres of vascular plant endemism in Europe. We analysed the distribution patterns of 85 vascular plant taxa (excluding apomictic groups) that are endemic to this region (Western Carpathian endemics) or to the whole Carpathians (pan‐Carpathian endemics) across 125 operational geographic units (OGUs) delimited in the area, and assessed their niche and altitudinal breadths, habitat preferences, and life‐history traits. Spatial pattern of endemic richness was not random, but was geographically structured with the highest values recorded in the OGUs from the central part of the Western Carpathians. The pan‐Carpathian endemics had, on average, larger distributional ranges in the Western Carpathians than the Western Carpathian endemics and showed slightly different distribution patterns, probably affected by historical migrations from the Eastern and Southern Carpathians. A significantly higher proportion of endemics occurred in open non‐forest habitats (i.e. rocks/screes and grasslands, 74%) than in forests (18%). Almost 64% of endemic taxa occurred on calcareous bedrock, while only 12% and 21% were confined to siliceous or both types of bedrocks, respectively. We found a strong positive correlation between the distribution range of endemic taxa and altitudinal and niche breadths. There were no differences between diploids and polyploids in any of tested traits, niche and altitudinal breadths and range size. The best linear model explained almost 75% of endemic richness patterns, and included maximal altitude and its interactions with the proportion of calcareous areas and total area of OGUs as the best predictors. Our data suggest that both environmental conditions and historical migrations have shaped the current pattern of endemic richness in the Western Carpathians.

Knowing the spatial distribution of individual soil taxonomic units is a key factor in managing efficient land use not only for agriculture but also for forestry. The use of a comprehensive soil surveys held in past decades and based on fieldwork created the basis for the initial spatial representation of the soil fund structure. However, the spatial distribution of the soil cover was the result of fieldwork and the experience of the person who drew this map. Often this led to some errors in determining the types of soils and their boundaries. To date, there is a growing need for precise methods of land taxation, based on correct information on soil cover. In countries with a large area, such as Ukraine, field surveys still do not cover the whole territory, often the density of the allocation of soil pits was too low, which in some cases led to an incorrect demarcation of soil boundaries. Since such a problem is very urgent for Ukraine, the search and identification of probable problem soil maps by constructing their predicted versions, their comprehensive analysis and cross-validation is an important task. The conducted investigations revealed that morphometric parameters of the relief and their derivatives obtaining from the analyses of DEM are a reliable basis for the predictive modelling of the spatial distribution of soil cover with sufficiently high accuracy, and the methodology based on 11 types of prognostic algorithms would have a significant prospect in solving scientific and production problems. Very important in this process is the selection of predictors derived from the DEM, as well as the structure and distribution of the training dataset, based on which the model will be built later. Afterwards the results need to be validated, in our case, on the basis of the cross-validation of the models and by comparing the results with field survey. The article presents the results of 11 simulations, evaluates the quality of predictive algorithms and the models obtained. Therefore, several possible ways to check the cartographic and simulation results of the spatial distribution of soil taxonomic units were described, as well as their comparison with those actually existing in nature. The most reliable method of the 11 presented is a direct study of the soil in the field and comparing them with the soil map. It is recommended to use it in case of suspicion of poorly executed maps, although financially it is very expensive. More preferred is a set of modelling methods that is based on the data already collected. With reliable sources, they provide an opportunity to predict the soil in places where the survey was not conducted at all. Verification of the quality of the tested models was carried out on a fragment of the Ukrainian region within the boundaries of the Chernivtsi region, confined to the Prut-Dniester and Prut-Siret interfluves.

The accumulation of sediment in river channels is a phenomenon that is not only influenced by the channel morphology, but also by the physical and geographical characteristics and the endogenous and exogenous processes taking place in the catchment. This paper presents an analysis of the impact the changes in lithological conditions have on the morphological and morphometric parameters of the Udava River channel and their relation to the channel accumulation forms representative of the river's longitudinal profile as well as of its planform. Results document when accumulation forms occur and what is their spatial distribution within the longitudinal and cross-sectional river profiles. More resistant structures created sections with a lower degree of sedimentation, while in depression segments the degree of sedimentation was higher. With the increase in longitudinal slope, the impact of channel width on the average channel bar size increased. Also a difference in the accumulation was observed between the left and right bank which could be possibly explained by the impact of Coriolis force.

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