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The aim of our study is to reconstruct the human influence on the current vegetation in selected parts of the cadastral territory of Svätý Jur. Svätý Jur is a town with more than 700 years of winemaking tradition, located on the oak-hornbeam-forested slopes of the Little Carpathians and surrounded by terraced vineyards. Human activity has changed the natural landscape of Svätý Jur since the Neolithic period. It is possible to trace the influence of past human activities on current vegetation by mapping vegetation onto historical landscape structures. For our research, we chose two study sites—Biely Kameň Castle and Hillfort Neštich. Our research has shown that there are significant differences in plant communities as well as in their environmental requirements between the investigated sites. Nitrophilous species indicative of human activities were recorded at both sites. At Hillfort Neštich, we recorded the occurrence of an interesting combination of species of Atropa, Phytolacca and Rubus. We have recorded their current occurrence and searched for its causes. In addition, we evaluate the current state of the vegetation of the castle and the hillfort in relation to the human past and today’s use.

This review is aimed at summarizing the current state of knowledge of biosphere reserves (BRs) in Slovakia and assessment of research activities undertaken there and how they contribute to the mission and fulfillment of the goals of the designation process to the World Network of BRs. We based our methodological approach on the literature review of the studies found in the scientific database Web of Science through keyword searches. The 121 studies were characterized by research subject, BR function examined, and contribution to the development of which particular aspect of BR. Most of the studies focused on biodiversity protection, management of BR, land use changes, and scenario modeling. The strengths of BR in Slovakia are a long history and continuity of research, close cooperation with some scientists and institutions, case studies of BR included in international projects, existing examples of participatory studies, and a wide range of research topics. An important contribution to research is that provided by existing long-term monitoring sites. The transboundary BRs in particular are involved in developing international collaborations within the World Network of BRs. We summarized the results of the literature review and gave a scientist’s perception of the development of BR in a SWOT analysis, including recommendations for further development in the form of a discussion of opportunities and threats.

Due to the destruction of alpine ecosystems by extreme human trampling, some alpine areas are closed to tourists. After years of regeneration, a tendency toward reopening these areas for tourism is envisaged. Although numerous studies have documented vegetative responses to trampling disturbance, research that thoroughly examines the trampling impacts on the vegetation at different organizational levels is often limited. Most of the previous studies on the human disturbance of vegetation focused on the impacts on vascular plants, while the impacts on lichens or mosses are less well-documented. To understand how regenerated communities respond to further trampling disturbance, we repeated the experimental research on short-term trampling after 14 years in three high-altitude communities in the Tatras in northern Slovakia. According to Cole and Bayfield’s protocol, we evaluated the resistance of communities trampled in 2008 and 2022, with a focus on groups of lichens and mosses and their individual species. This research brings new knowledge regarding the different behaviors of regenerated vegetation, especially lichens and mosses, to trampling disturbance. The results show that human trampling in alpine communities has a large negative impact and, therefore, management plans should discourage off-trail hiking and limit recreational activities in sensitive or reopened alpine areas.