Rare and threatened vascular plants of the railways in Slovakia

Abstract

The paper presents data on the occurrence and secondary spreading of rare and threatened vascular plant species in railway habitats of Slovakia. We recorded 17 threatened vascular plant species and other 9 species that we considered to be rare in Slovakia. They grew at railway stations, mainly directly in the rail yard and also at the platforms or other similar facilities. Records of further 39 species were excerpted from literature sources. More native thermophilous species were represented among the recorded species as railway substrates provide suitable conditions for their growth. Also some archaeophytic segetal species were found quite frequent in the studied biotopes due to spreading of their seeds together with cereals transported by trains. Various habitats of railway transport facilities often provide suitable conditions for the secondary occurrence and further spreading not only of synanthropic or adventive, but also of rare and threatened plant species.

Az alacsony libatop (Chenopodium pumilio R.Br.) Zuglóban és új adatok Északkelet-Magyarország idegenhonos fajainak elterjedéséhez

“…Az elmúlt egy-két évtizedben vasútvonalak mentén is terjed, elsősorban a kőzúzalék peremén és a peronokon jellemző. A szomszédos szlovákiai területekről nem ismert, csak a Kisalföldről, leginkább Pozsonyból (Bratislava) van kevés számú adata (ELIÁŠ 2009, MEDVECKÁ et al 2012, ami azért is figyelemre méltó, mert vannak célzott kutatások a vasútvonalak menti flóra feltárására (JEHLÍK et al 2013, MÁJEKOVÁ et al 2014.…”

Survival on railway tracks of Geranium robertianum—a glyphosate-tolerant plant

“…These plants prefer shady and fertile forest habitats with a high content of phosphorus and nitrogen in the soil. However, opposite conditions prevail on railway tracks-strong insolation and very nutrient-poor substrate (crushed stone mixed with river sand), and extensive use of herbicides (Falinska and Piroznikov 1983;Tofts 2004;Buriánek et al 2013;Májeková et al 2014;Wierzbicka et al 2014). It is interesting, therefore, as a result of which processes this ecological niche is colonized by the G. robertianum plants.…”

New floristic records from Central Europe 4 (reports 41–53)

“…This two reports seem to be the easternmost, and at the same time the first findings from eastern Slovakia. In the past, the species was relatively rare with the distribution only in south-western Slovakia, but in the present it spreads very intensively across country by railway traffic to secondary habitats (Májeková et al 2014).…”