The results of long standing and systematic monitoring of quality of river Danube's water, done by the net of stations for controllingquality of water of the Republic Hydrometeorological Service of Serbia (Yugoslavia) are given in this paper. The amount of organic matter (HPK, BPK5), concentration of dissolved oxygen, nutritive matters (NH4(+), NO2(-), NO3(-) and total PO4(3-) and conductivity are specially examined. The results are shown depending on seasonal measuring (average values for spring, summer, autumn and winter) during the period 1995-1998, and the changes are analyzed.

Alcohol and yeast production is the most important part of the biotechnological production in Yugoslavia, with annual production of 13 667 867 liters of absolute alcohol and of 20 947 490 kg of yeast in the year 1998. Large environmental load is produced by wastewaters from alcohol and yeast factories (512 000 P.E.), especially by alcohol stillage (BOD 40 000 - 50 000 mg/L). Anaerobic treatment is suitable process for treatment of alcohol stillage, and of yeast factory wastewater. In this paper, effects of treatment process (organic load reduction, energy of produced biogas) are discussed; and potential of anaerobic treatment os wastewaters from Yugoslavia's alcohol and yeast factories is reviewed.

In April 1997 and 1998 investigations of algae, Rotatoria, Cladocera, Copepoda and Hydracarina were conducted. The investigated localities were 8 small water bodies at around 800 m a.s.l., at Mali Krs, in the surrounding of Bor, Serbia (Yugoslavia). The aim was to examine composition of these groups and to give the evaluation of the quality of water. Among algae, according to the number of taxons, the dominant group was Bacillariophyta (45), then Chlorophyta (17), Cyanophyta (3), Euglenophyta (4), Xanthophyta (1) and Pyrrophyta (1). Rotatoria were present with the highest number of taxons among microfauna. In these investigations 48 taxons were present. The highest number of taxons was among Cephalodella, Corurella, and Trichocerca. Among Cladocera 4 taxons were present, and among Copepoda 9 taxons, and all the present species were found in our previous investigations. Hydracarina were present with 3 species, also with high diversity. Around two thirds of all taxons are oligosaprobionts, which indicates to the good quality of the water.

Monthly sampling in the Grosnica water reservoir near Kragujevac, Serbia (Yugoslavia), was carried out in the period October 1996 - September 1998. Comparison of the results with those obtained in 1950-1952 revealed changes in the qualitative and the quantitative composition of zooplankton. The presence of a considerably greater number of species was recorded, including some that were registered for the first time in this reservoir and which represent a very significant component in the dynamics of its zooplankton. A multi-fold increase of zooplankton production was also observed. The number of recorded species fluctuated from 26 in the winter to 59 in the summer. Average total abundance of zooplankton ranged from 100.7 ind./l (late spring to 2508.6 ind./l (summer). The results indicate an intensive process of eutrophication in the Grosnica water reservoir, the oldest artificial lake in the this part of Yugoslavia.

In this paper there were given research results obtained during many years of investigation of hydrophytes of the Tisza river, Serbia (Yugoslavia), and their bioindicating values. The plant world of the Tisza river is characterized by floristical diversity, with three characteristics band: band of submerged, band of floating and band of emerged hydrophytes. Among submerged plants these are distinguished by abundance, covering values and occurrence degree: Ceratophyllum demersum, Elodea canadaensis, Potamogeton crispus, Potamogeton perfoliatus and Potamogeton pectinatus. In the floating band species of the fam. Lemnaceae: Lemna minor, Lemna gibba, Spirodela polyrrhiza and Potamogeton fluitans are most frequent. In the closest coastal band, these species are most frequent: Typha angustifolia, Typha latifolia, Phragmites communis, Sagittaria sagittifolia and Typhoides arundinacea. On the basis of determined floristical composition and bioindicating values there can be noticed the organic pollution increasing trend.

The present paper cites results of studying phytoplankton in the Grosnica Water Reservoir, Serbia (Yugoslavia). Seasonal investigations during 1997 and 1998 enabled us to establish composition and structure of the phytoplankton community, quality of the lake's water, and its trophic status. During the period of investigation, the phytoplankton community was characterized by forms of Cyanophyta, Pyrrophyta, Chrysophyta, Bacillariophyta, Euglenophyta and Chlorophyta. Qualitative analysis indicated that algae of the divisions Bacillariophyta and Chlorophyta are dominant in the phytoplankton, while saprobiological analysis using bioindicatory algal species showed that water of the Grosnica Water Reservoir during the given period was of the 1st and 2nd quality class.

The increased inorganic nitrogen (N) deposition in the last decades has become a major concern for the health of forests. In forest ecosystem, where N might no longer be limiting to primary production, the excess N is thought to be related to forest decline and a concept of ‘N saturation ‘ has been developed. In particular, N, in the form of NH4, in excess to plant and microbial demands could lead to soil acidification if nitrified in the soil and leached, causing loss of base cations or mobilisation of phytotoxic aluminium. As part of the CORE project (CEC), investigating nutrient dynamics in European coniferous forest soils, we studied the effects of continuously increased (NH4)2SO4 deposition and soil characteristics on Norway spruce (Picea abies [L.] Karst) and Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) fine root biomass, vitality and chemistry with an ingrowth core technique. The same experiment was performed in a Norway spruce stand on clay soil (Grizedale, UK) and a Scots pine stand on sandy soil (Wekerom, NL), using soil from each of the two sites. Root-free ingrowth cores reproduced organic and mineral soil horizons to 15 cm depth. They were covered to exclude native throughfall and watered every 2 weeks with throughfall or throughfall with (NH4)2SO4 added to increase deposition by 75 kg ha-1 a-1 NH4+-N. The ingrowth cores were sampled after 19 months, divided into layers, roots washed and analysed for biomass, necromass, root length, root tip number (RTN), root tip vitality and fine root chemistry. A previous field experiment had shown high soil solution Al concentrations at both sites, and an increase in NO3- and Al concentrations in response to increased (NH4)2SO4 deposition at the Grizedale site. The effects of high (NH4)2SO4 deposition depended on tree species, soil type and soil horizon. For Norway spruce, (NH4)2SO4 deposition did not result in any significant changes in root growth or vitality when growing into the native clay soil. However, when growing into the sandy soil, RTN and the proportion of dead roots were increased by N deposition. Norway spruce fine root N content was also increased in the organic horizon of both soil types. For Scots pine, (NH4)2SO4 treatment caused increased fine root Al content and a decreased Mg/Al ratio in the mineral layer of the sandy soil, with opposite effects in the clay soil. This (NH4)2SO4 treatment effect in the sandy soil for Scots pine was the only indication of a potential adverse effect of (NH4)2SO4 deposition on fine roots. Further results demonstrated the dominant importance of inherent soil characteristics and the stratification into soil horizons on fine root growth and chemical composition. For example, a negative correlation between root biomass and fine root Al content was established for Norway spruce.

International audience

International audience | The implementation of Nature-based Solutions (NBS) in cities has shifted to an integrated approach paradigm, raising the need for a shared, explicit and formal representation of knowledge on NBS in urban water management. A solution is building an ontology: it is a representation that merges data and expert knowledge, prevents miscommunication, handles heterogeneous data types and formats, and can draw inferences. The ontology we present here was focused on describing a water treatment chain (core ontology), classifying NBS (notably Treatment Wetlands (TW)) and treatment mechanisms. Its construction has mobilized expert knowledge, existing ontologies and explicitation of relations between concepts, sometimes from different knowledge domains: technical, geographical, socio-environmental. The ontology is not only for description of NBS in urban water management, but also for better future database structuration and modelling purposes (for predictions in a decision-making support tool). The ontology will improve from iterative expert feedback.

The chloroplast genome has been widely addressed to describe genetic diversity in tree species with regard to phylogeographic studies. In contrast, there is little information on the pattern of genetic differentiation in tolerant and sensitive tree populations, responding to different types of environmental stress. The results demonstrate that chloroplast microsatellites markers are useful tools for elucidating and for testing the pattern of genetic differentiation in stress-exposed populations of Norway spruce, offering to prove the feasibility of marker-aided selection in future