Ábrahám Levente (szerk.): Válogatott tanulmányok IV. - Natura Somogyiensis 15. / Miscellanea 4. (Kaposvár, 2009)
Bódis Judit - Molnár Edit: Himantoglossum adriaticum H. Baumann populáció hosszú távú monitorozása a Keszthelyi-hegységben
Natura Somogyiensis 15 27-40 Kaposvár, 2009 Long-term monitoring of Himantoglossum adriaticum H. Baumann population in Keszthely Hills, Hungary Judit Bódis1 & Edit Molnár2 'University of Pannonia, Georgikon Faculty, Department of Plant Sciences and Biotechnology, H-8360 Keszthely, Festetics u. 7., Hungary, e-mail: sbj@georgikon.hu •^Institute of Botany and Ecology, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, H-2163 Vácrátót, Alkotmány u. 2-4., Hungary, e-mail: moedit@botanika.hu Bódis, J. & Molnár, E.: Long-term monitoring of Himantoglossum adriaticum H. Baumann population in Keszthely Hills, Hungary. Abstract: Long-term monitoring of populations contributes to the better understanding of population dynamics of species. A population of the orchid Himantoglossum adriaticum H. Baumann was monitored in Keszthely Hills in western Hungary during the period 1992-2008. To assess reproductive output in each year, the number of flowering individuals, as well as the number of flowers and fruits produced per plant were recorded. The reproductive traits studied (except the number of flowering plants and seedpods) did not varied considerably, they showed low temporal variability over years, while the other two characteristics mentioned had high temporal variability. Mean number of flowers produced per plant over all years was 31. Fruitproduction was often low or zero. Significant correlations between the rate of fecundity and any of the flowering traits could not be found. Years with high fruit-production do not coincide with years of great number of inflorescences. Thus, the number of inflorescences measured in any one year can not be used as a substitute for reproductive performance measurements. Years with high fruit-set may be able to insure long-term survival of the population. Keywords: orchid, Himantoglossum adriaticum, flowering, fruit-set production Introduction In general “the term ‘monitoring’ has been used to describe many types of activities”, and it can be defined as “the process of gathering information about some system” (Yoccoz et al. 2001). The monitoring is an essential tool for science, conservation and management, even if it has been last for long periods. In this case the long-term responses of species and ecosystems to different disturbances (e.g. climate change, experimental manipulations) can also be evaluated (Lindenmayer and Likens 2009). The goal of species monitoring is to detect the temporal changes in population size (e.g. stable, declining, or increasing over time) and find out trend in population dynamics (Kull et al. 2008). In Hungary the monitoring of protected and endangered species has been carried out in the framework of the Hungarian Biodiversity Monitoring System since 1998 organized by the Hungarian National Parks and controlled by government. The species studied, Himantoglossum adriaticum is included in the list of species to be monitored.
