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The main objective of the study was to evaluate the population characteristics of Betula nana under different anthropogenic influences. The study was conducted in the vicinity of the exploited Šepeta peatland (northeastern Lithuania). The population status of B. nana was determined by comparing the ramet density and morphology (height, branching, and leaf size), the age structure, the number of generative ramets, and their flowering characteristics in four study areas at different distances from the exploited peatlands and in different habitats. Around 20 environmental factors were included in the analysis, covering water levels, peat, and vegetation characteristics. Shading, drainage and increased amounts of nitrogen in the habitats are the main factors contributing to the differences and structure of B. nana cenopopulations. Although taller ramets with larger leaves are observed under the changed conditions as an adaptation to shading, the negative anthropogenic effects in the most affected habitats are reflected in a reduction in the number of flowering ramets, lower vegetative regeneration, and an increase in the number of dead twigs on mature ramets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zapiski bryologiczne, a book written by Kazimierz Szafnagel, is a report on the author's bryological studies conducted between 1882 and 1885 in the territories of present-day Belarus, Lithuania, Poland, and Ukraine. The book was published in 1908 by the Society of Friends of Science in Vilnius after a long period of publishing stagnation caused by the closure of Vilnius University in 1832. Amateur botanist Szafnagel was among the first members to establish the society and was responsible for its botanical collections. In Zapiski bryologiczne, Szafnagel provided 245 moss species from the study areas. In 2018, Szafnagel's bryophyte collection, comprising 667 moss specimens, was found at the Vilnius University Herbarium. These voucher specimens cover all the collection sites described in Szafnagel's work. The majority of herbarium specimens (88%) were collected in the territory of Belarus. Szafnagel recognized 225 species in his original collection, but as a result of the current revision, their number decreased to 211 species. This set opened up new possibilities for evaluating the results of Szafnagel's study, such as confirming the exact specimen referred to in his publication, clarifying the species according to modern nomenclatural concepts, and assessing the impact of landscape changes on the distribution and conservation status of rare species. Szafnagel's published work and his herbarium can be considered as common heritage of the history of the natural sciences in Belarus, Lithuania, Poland, and Ukraine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article analyses founding, formation and development of the Laboratory of Plant Physiology of the Institute of Botany in the background of the most significant plant physiology investigations in Lithuania. Principal scientific research trends developed at the laboratory are discussed. Contribution of the researchers to general development of plant growth physiology is revealed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]