INTRODUCTION: Analysis of aboveground vegetation and soil seed bank is an important source of data on the state and dynamics of vegetation. It is especially important in landscapes exposed to disturbances, which have lost their functions. For our research, a post-mining area in the region of the Upper Silesian Black Coal Basin was selected, whose relief and ecosystems are strongly disturbed by underground mining and are currently also affected by ongoing climate change. METHOD: Data collection for our research took place in the territory of two waterlogged subsidence basins in the Karvina region, Czech Republic. We evaluated 30 phytosociological releves using techniques of Zurich - Montpellier school and 540 soil cores using cultivation and extraction method. RESULTS: In the above-ground vegetation, 115 plant species were identified. By cultivating soil samples, we determined 60 species from 1,487 seedlings, by extraction method 66 species from 5,999 seeds. A statistically significant effect of the presence of the tree layer on the number of species obtained by the extraction method was demonstrated. There is also a statistically significant difference between the selected analysis methods in terms of the length of the captured seeds and their seed mass. DISCUSSION: The construction of a rarefaction curve demonstrated that the use of cultivation and extraction methods leads to a greater capture of soil seed bank species. The similarity between the species composition of aboveground vegetation and the soil seed bank correspond to similarities observed in other studies from degraded habitats. Very low similarity between the species of the soil seed bank from cultivation and extraction method is probably caused by the highly variable distribution of seeds in the soil in time and space.

• Klíčová slova
• above-ground vegetation, cultivation method, extraction method, post-mining landscape, similarity of species composition, soil seed bank,
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH

We present a biological profile of 16 Aspergillus niger environmental isolates from different types of soils and solid substrates across a pH range, from an ultra-acidic (<3.5) to a very strongly alkaline (>9.0) environment. The soils and solid substrates also differ in varying degrees of anthropic pollution, which in most cases is caused by several centuries of mining activity at old mining sites, sludge beds, ore deposits, stream sediments, and coal dust. The values of toxic elements (As, Sb, Zn, Cu, Pb) very often exceed the limit values. The isolates possess different macro- and micromorphological features. All the identifications of Aspergillus niger isolates were confirmed by molecular PCR analysis and their similarity was expressed by RAMP analysis. The biochemical profile of isolates based on FF-MicroPlate tests from the Biolog system showed identical biochemical reactions in 50 tests, while in 46 tests the utilisation reactions differed. The highest similarity of strains isolated from substrates with the same pH, as well as the most suitable biochemical tests for analysis of the phenotypic similarity of isolated strains, were confirmed when evaluating the biochemical profile using multicriterial analysis in the Canoco program. The isolates were screened for mycotoxin production by thin-layer chromatography (TLC), as well. Two of them were able to synthesise ochratoxin A, while none produced fumonisins under experimental conditions. Presence of toxic compounds in contaminated sites may affect environmental microscopic fungi and cause the genome alteration, which may result in changes of their physiology, including the production of different (secondary) metabolites, such as mycotoxins.

• Klíčová slova
• Aspergillus niger environmental isolates, Biolog FF MicroplateTM, extrolite profile, molecular analyses, multi-criteria data analysis,
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH