Climate fluctuations during the Last Glacial Period between 115,000 and 11,500 years ago (Lokrantz & Sohlenius, 2006) played an important role in shaping the current species composition, distribution, and genetic diversity of mammals in Europe. During glaciations, the ranges of cold sensitive species were limited to refugial areas located in the Balkan, the Iberian and the Apennine Peninsulas (Hewitt, 2004;Taberlet et al., 1998) and south-eastern part of the continent (the Black Sea region and the Caucasus Mts.; Markova & Puzachenko, 2019). Contribution of a given refugium into postglacial recolonization processes varied a lot among species such as, for example, red deer Cervus elaphus (Niedziałkowska, Doan, et al., 2021), wild boar Sus scrofa (Niedziałkowska, Tarnowska, et al., 2021), or common vole Microtus arvalis (Stojak et al., 2015). Cold-adapted species such as, for example, reindeer Rangifer tarandus (Sommer et al., 2014), saiga antelope Saiga tatarica (Nadachowski et al., 2016), or arctic fox Alopex lagopus (Dalén et al., 2007), thrived in the glacial stages, expanded their ranges southward, and during the onset of interglacial they underwent massive, large-scale extinctions. Species of mammals that have very broad biogeographic niche (from the Mediterranean to the boreal zone) had more diverse response to geological time-scale pulsation of climate, most likely with several glacial refugia located at both lower and higher latitudes, where subpopulations diverged into different lineages and could have developed adaptations to different climate, habitat, and food-related conditions. Examples of such species include the bank vole Clethrionomys glareolus (Tarnowska et al.,

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Roe deer (Capreolus capreolus L.) have greatly expanded in both distribution and abundance during the last few decades, and are the most abundant cervids in Europe today. The aim of this paper is to determine the factors that have the most considerable impact on roe deer numbers in the Vojvodina region (North Serbia). Environmental (area in ha, total area of forest and total area of meadows and pastures in hunting ground) and anthropogenic (number of registered hunters, number of hunting sections, number of gamekeepers and roads in km on 1,000 ha) factors had been shown to influence the number of roe deer in Vojvodina region. A multiple regression analysis was carried out as the main statistical approach. The mapping of certain parameters was done using ArcGIS 9.2 software in order to establish the relation between the roe deer population and the different environmental and anthropogenic conditions. The results signify that the roe deer number dependency in the Vojvodina region is a very complex and multi-factorial phenomenon, strongly influenced by human induced modifications. The effect of natural and human-induced habitat conditions on number of roe deer: case study of Vojvodina, Serbia 59

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The aim of this study was to determine the effect of selenium concentration in early lactation on mammary gland health and histological characteristics of the udder. The experiment included 30 high-yielding Holstein-Friesian cows. Selenium concentrations in blood and milk serum, and the average somatic cell count in the first and sixth months of lactation were analyzed. After exclusion of the experimental cows from the herd, histological characteristics of the udder were examined (the degree of leukocyte infiltration and the number of granulomas in the parenchyma). The mean selenium concentration in the blood serum was 0.62±0.11 mmol/L and that in the milk serum was 0.12±0.07 mmol/L. Optimal blood levels of selenium were found in 19 cows and suboptimal levels in 11 cows. A significant negative correlation was observed between blood and milk selenium concentrations and somatic cell count in early and mid lactation. There was no relationship between blood selenium concentration, milk selenium concentration and the amount of milk produced. Selenium-deficient cows had a significantly higher milk somatic cell count in early and mid lactation and significantly lower levels of selenium in milk. Upon histological analysis, 120 samples of individual quarters of the udder were grouped according to the degree of leukocyte infiltration and number of granulomas. Results showed that an increase in the degree of leukocyte infiltration and number of granulomas leads to an increase in the proportion of quarters from selenium-deficient cows and a decline in the percentage of quarters from cows exhibiting normal blood selenium concentrations. Selenium has a significant impact on udder health. Changes caused by selenium deficiency occur due to marked inflammation process in the mammary gland.