Search Results (50)

Technological advancements keep influencing religious landscapes in unpredictable ways. This implies changes at the level of personal spirituality and also at the level of community building and civic engagement across different denominations. In this paper, we present survey data (N = 443) from Malta (Southern Europe), Serbia (Balkans), and Denmark (Northern Europe), which assessed participants’ prayer intensity, Christian identity, Christian belief, and civic engagement behaviors, among other variables. The participants in our sample were all Christians: the participants from Malta were mostly Catholic, those from Serbia were mostly Orthodox, and those from Denmark were mostly Lutheran, reflecting the dominant Christian contexts and denominations in all three countries. We conducted multiple regression analysis showing how prayer intensity predicts civic engagement, even when adjusting for other covariates, notably those tapping Christian identity and Christian belief. The relationship was significant across all three countries. Moreover, we conducted further multiple regression analyses with two prayer intensity sub-indices: one tapping technologically mediated prayer (e.g., using apps or podcasts) and the other tapping non-technologically mediated prayer (e.g., praying directly to God or going to mass). In this model, only non-technologically mediated prayer predicted civic engagement in Malta and Denmark, and no sub-index predicted civic engagement in Serbia. Our discussion focuses on the implications of these patterns for engagement and community building, with a particular focus on religious collectives across denominations and the impact of technology. Full article

This study examines the seasonality of Black Carbon (BC) and Brown Carbon (BrC) spectral absorption characteristics at a continental background site (Kozani) in southern Balkans (NW Greece). It aims to assess the seasonality and impact of different sources on light absorption properties, BC concentrations, and the fraction of BrC absorption. Moderate-to-low BC concentrations were observed, ranging from 0.05 µg m⁻³ to 2.44 µg m⁻³ on an hourly basis (annual mean: 0.44 ± 0.27 µg m⁻³; median: 0.39 µg m⁻³) with higher levels during winter (0.53 ± 0.33), reflecting enhanced emissions from residential wood burning (RWB) for heating purposes. Atmospheric conditions are mostly clean during spring (MAM) (BC: 0.34 µg m⁻³), associated with increased rainfall. BC components associated with fossil fuel combustion (BC_ff) and biomass burning (BC_bb), maximize in summer (0.36 µg m⁻³) and winter (0.28 µg m⁻³), respectively, while the absorption Ångstrôm exponent (AAE_370–880) values ranged from 1.09 to 1.93 on daily basis. The annual mean total absorption coefficient (b_abs,520) inferred by aethalometer (AE33) was 4.09 ± 2.65 Mm⁻¹ (median: 3.51 Mm⁻¹), peaking in winter (5.30 ± 3.35 Mm⁻¹). Furthermore, the contribution of BrC absorption at 370 nm, was also high in winter (36.7%), and lower during the rest of the year (17.3–29.8%). The measuring station is located at a rural background site 4 km outside Kozani City and is not directly affected by traffic and urban heating emissions. Therefore, the regional background atmosphere is composed of a significant fraction of carbonaceous aerosols from RWB in nearby villages, a characteristic feature of the Balkan’s rural environment. Emissions from the lignin-fired power plants, still operating in the region, have decreased during the last years and moderately affect the atmospheric conditions. Full article

Invasive species pose a growing threat to global biodiversity, agricultural productivity, and ecosystem health, as climate change worsens their spread. This study focused on modelling the current and projected distribution of the Japanese beetle (Popillia japonica Newman), an invasive pest with potentially devastating impacts on crops and natural vegetation across Europe. Using the MaxEnt species distribution model, we integrated beetle occurrence data with bioclimatic variables, analyzing current and future climate scenarios based on Shared Socio-economic Pathways (SSP1-2.6, SSP2-4.5, SSP5-8.5) for near-term (2021–2040) and mid-term (2041–2060) periods. By reclassifying the model results, we identified European regions with negligible, low, medium, and high exposure to this invasive pest under climate change pathways. The results identified regions in central Europe covering an area of 83,807 km² that are currently at medium to high risk of Japanese beetle infestation. Future projections suggest northward expansion with suitable areas potentially increasing to 120,436 km² in the worst-case scenario, particularly in northern Italy, southern Germany, the Western Balkans, and parts of France. These spatially explicit findings can inform targeted monitoring, early detection, and management strategies to mitigate the economic and ecological threats posed by the Japanese beetle. Integrating species distribution modelling with climate change scenarios is imperative for science-based policies to tackle the growing challenge of biological invasions. This research provides a framework for assessing invasion risks at the European scale and guiding adaptive responses in agricultural and natural systems. Full article

This article provides a short introduction to Balkan Romance, examining and exemplifying a number of its principal features. In particular, the discussion begins in §2 with a review of the main morphosyntactic features of the four principal sub-branches of Old Romanian spoken today within the Balkan Sprachbund (Daco-Romanian, Aromanian, Istro-Romanian, and Megleno-Aromanian), tracing the treatment of such Balkanisms both in the traditional philological literature (§3) and their more recent formalization and expansion in the theoretical literature dedicated to the Balkan Sprachbund (§4). This is followed in §5 by a discussion of some of the dialects spoken in southern Italy and their key morphosyntactic features. These varieties, although not situated in the Balkan Sprachbund proper, have nonetheless either developed under contact with Balkan languages, as in the case of the Romance dialects of the extreme south of Italy which have been in centuries-long contact with Greek (§5.1), or, in the case of Italo-Albanian, have evolved under contact with local Italo-Romance varieties (§5.2). The discussion concludes in §6 with an overview of the principal issues discussed in each of the contributions. Full article

An oceanographic cruise from the southern Adriatic to the northern Ionian Sea in May 2013 allowed us to describe the spatial abundance and distribution of decapod crustacean larval assemblages with a multidisciplinary approach. Seventeen locations on the Apulian and Albanian shelves and offshore waters, including the Strait of Otranto, were sampled by a BIONESS electronic multinet. A swarm of zoeae (11 Brachyura taxa, mostly at first instar, with Xantho granulicarpus at 87%) was recorded in the neuston of the Italian side. Decapod larvae were concentrated in the first 20–30 m surface layer, strongly linked to the thermocline and generally above the Deep Chlorophyll Maximum (DCM), suggesting that they are carried by surface water circulation. The migratory behavior of decapod larvae in coastal stations is quite regular at between 20 and 60 m depths and independent of the time of day. In offshore stations, migration is compatible with the day–night cycle, where a minimum Weighted Mean Depth (WMD) value is evident at about 20 m at night. The availability of four satellite-tracked surface drifters in the same area and during the period of larvae presence presented a possibility to explore the link between the geographic dispersal of larvae and their surface circulation in successive days. Only one drifter crossed the south Adriatic, passing from the Italian to the Balkan neritic area, taking about 40 days. The actual genetic homogeneity of many Brachyura coastal species populations on opposite sides of the Adriatic Sea suggests the existence of a genetic connection that does not rely exclusively on larvae circulation and appears to be fueled by additional strategies of biological communication. Full article

The finding also represents the first detection of this trematode on the Balkan Peninsula. The study was conducted between 2014 and 2023. Nineteen road-killed polecats, mainly from southern Bulgaria, were examined. A four-year-old male polecat road-killed near Chepelare, a town in the Somlyan Province in the Rhodope Mountains, was infested with six adult Troglotrema acutum within its frontal sinus. The skull exhibited only weakly developed lesions. The prevalence of 5.26% observed in this sample was lower than values reported from other European countries. This finding extends the known southeastern distribution range of T. acutum by over 700 km. Full article

The main goal of this article is to examine in detail an area of the grammar where standard Romanian, a Balkan Sprachbund language of the Romance phylum, and the Romance dialects of Southern Italy (here we used the dialect of Ragusa, in South-East Sicily) appear to converge, namely differential object marking (DOM). When needed, additional observations from non-Romance Balkan languages were also taken into account. Romanian and Ragusa use a prepositional strategy for differential marking, in a conjunctive system of semantic specifications, of which one is normally humanness/animacy. However, despite these unifying traits, this paper also focuses on important loci of divergence, some of which have generally been ignored in the previous literature. For example, Ragusa does not easily permit clitic doubling and shows differences in terms of binding possibilities and positions of direct objects, two traits that set it aside from both Romanian and non-Romance Balkan languages; additionally, as opposed to Romanian, its prepositional DOM strategy cannot override humanness/animacy. The comparative perspective we adopt allow us to obtain an in-depth picture of differential marking in the Balkan and Romance languages. Full article

This article provides useful information on the distribution of sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa) and presents additional data on the ecology, chorology and phytocenology of the species in the Oltenia region, Romania, based on literary sources, herbaria and field observations. By providing accurate and detailed data, this study contributes significantly to the existing knowledge, as well as mapping efforts of the species at the European level. In the subspontaneous flora of the Oltenia region, the C. sativa species is found in sheltered resorts in the counties of Gorj (Glogova, Valea Perilor, Tismana, Pocruia, Polovragi, etc.) and Mehedinți (Comăneşti, Baia de Aramă, etc.), on mesobasic soils, balanced from a hydraulic point of view. The phytocenoses where this species grows are rich in southern elements (e.g., Cornus mas L., Cerasus avium (L.) Moench, Quercus dalechampii Ten., Tilia tomentosa Moench). They are included in the Castaneo-Quercetum Horvat 1938 association. In Romania, habitats that include areas occupied by sweet chestnut are classified within habitat R4141—Daco-Balkan forests of oak (Quercus petraea) and chestnut (C. sativa) with Genista tinctoria. This habitat has a very high biodiversity conservation value and ecological importance. According to the Natura 2000 directive, sweet chestnut forests are included in the habitat category 9260, which underlines the importance at the European level for biodiversity conservation. Full article

On 22 April 2022, a M_w 5.7 earthquake was generated near Stolac (Bosnia and Herzegovina). The mainshock was succeeded by several aftershocks, three of which were significant. Two M_b 4.3 earthquakes occurred on 23 April 2022, and a M_w 4.8 earthquake was generated on 24 April 2022. Available data from fault mechanism solutions revealed that the mainshock activated a reverse fault, while the aftershock generated a normal fault with a right-lateral component. The Balkan Peninsula stands as one of the most active geodynamic areas in Central and Eastern Europe due to its location within the collision zone between Eurasian and African tectonic plates and the Anatolian microplate. Recorded earthquakes in Bosnia and Herzegovina are related to the energy generated by the subduction of the African tectonic plate under Eurasia. Furthermore, the seismicity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, particularly its southern part, is profoundly influenced by the subduction of the Adriatic microplate under the Dinarides. The Dinarides are a mainly fold and thrust belt that extends from the Southern Alps in the northwest to the Hellenides in the southeast and make dominant the tectonic system of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In this study, two pairs of SAR images obtained from the Sentinel-1 satellite mission were utilized to generate satellite LOS surface displacements using the DInSAR method. Moreover, LOS displacements were decomposed into vertical and east–west horizontal components by combining ascending and descending satellite orbits. Ultimately, the InSAR results were analyzed and compared with the data obtained from the CROPOS CORS GNSS station in Metković (MET3). Full article

This is the first report on morpho-anatomical and phytochemical differentiation of 19 native populations representing different Pinus nigra J.F.Arnold subspecies (banatica (Borbás) Novák, dalmatica (Vis.) Franco, nigra, and pallasiana (Lamb.) Holmboe) in the Balkans and Southern Carpathians. The 9 morpho-anatomical characteristics and 10 headspace volatiles of needles were analyzed with multivariate statistical analyses. The combination of results from all multivariate analyses with both types of markers revealed that P. nigra is differentiated into three groups within the studied area (the Dalmatian coast, Greece, and the rest of the Balkans with the Southern Carpathians). The first group included the population from an island in Dalmatia that corresponds to P. nigra subsp. dalmatica. The third group consisted of populations from continental Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Romania, and Bulgaria, which corresponds to P. nigra subsp. nigra. In light of the recent molecular data that indicated that the Greek populations (the second group) represent a distinct genetic lineage of P. nigra placed between the populations from the principal area (P. nigra subsp. nigra) and Turkey (P. nigra subsp. pallasiana), one can speculate that there is one more subspecies of P. nigra in this region that corresponds to populations from Greece. Extending our analyses to Asia Minor and Crimea could bring additional results that would be valuable for clarifying the intriguing issue of the diversification of P. nigra in the eastern part of its range. Full article

Pinus mugo plays a significant ecological role in the natural environment at high altitudes in the mountains including the Alps, Pyrenees, Carpathians, and Balkans. In such severe conditions, it is subjected to the harmful effects of various abiotic and biotic factors. In one of the areas of its natural occurrence in Tatra Mts. (southern Poland), for the last few years, a significant intensification of needle disease has been observed. Symptoms similar to those recorded in Tatra Mts. also occur on other Pinus species in Europe and North America, where they are caused by fungi belonging to the genus Elytroderma, Lophodermella, Lophophacidium or Ploioderma (Rhytismataceae). The current paper presents the results of research which was mainly aimed at characterization of disease symptoms observed for the first time in Poland on P. mugo needles, and identification of the main causal agent with use of the morphological and molecular technique. Based on the analyses performed at different times of the year (2015–2020), it was found that dieback symptoms initially appeared only on first-year needles, a few weeks after their development. Symptoms occur on one or both needles in the bundle. The distal parts of the needles died, while the basal parts remained green. In the following year, mainly in June and July, on the previous year’s needles attached to the shoots, mature ascomata can be seen. The fungus Lophodermella sulcigena has been identified as the cause of these symptoms. So far, the related species L. conjuncta has not been found. The morphological features of the pathogen microstructure produced on P. mugo needles are presented. Attention was drawn to certain features that may make its identification difficult, especially in terms of shapes and sizes of ascospores. The phylogenetic position of the identified causal agent in relation to closely related other species was determined. The current results confirmed that L. sulcigena shows great phylogenetic similarity to L. montivaga, which is found in North America. Nine rDNA barcode sequences of L. sulcigena obtained in this work will enrich the NCBI GenBank database. The obtained results, indicating the presence of other fungi in L. sulcigena ascomata, which may limit the spread of its ascospores, were also discussed. Full article

Studying the distribution of morphologically cryptic animal species is always a very difficult task. Because most marsh frog species (the Pelophylax ridibundus complex) are cryptic, we used molecular markers to identify them. Three marsh frog species (P. ridibundus, P. kurtmuelleri and P. cf. bedriagae) inhabit the northern part of Western Palearctic. We created a database of localities and built models of their modern distribution. These models showed that the most suitable habitats are on the north of the Mediterranean region for P. cf. bedriagae, temperate Europe for P. ridibundus, and the Balkan coastal areas for P. kurtmuelleri. The projection of the modern ecological niches under the late-Quaternary climatic conditions showed that the range of P. kurtmuelleri remained largely unchanged during the period, whereas the ranges of P. cf. bedriagae and especially P. ridibundus changed greatly over time. During the Last Glacial Maximum, the presumed range of P. cf. bedriagae covered a relatively large area in the north of the Mediterranean region and the south of European Russia. Glacial refugia of P. ridibundus were apparently located in the northern Balkans, the northern coast of the Black and Azov seas, and possibly in Western Europe. The northward long-distance post-glacial dispersal of P. ridibundus occurred from refugia in the northeastern Balkans and the Black-Azov seas region. Since the Late Pleistocene, suitable habitats for P. cf. bedriagae in southern Russia began to decline, but local habitats for P. ridibundus become more suitable. Therefore, a mosaic of populations consisting of these both species and their hybrids has now been found here. Full article

In this research, all the published names of Jasione (Campanulaceae) in the species, subspecies, and variety ranks for populations from the Balkan and Anatolian peninsulas are reviewed, including names of taxa allied to these groups in surrounding areas. These two areas are among the main centers of diversity of the genus, albeit no recent revisions to address the regional taxonomical complexity of the genus have been published for the Balkans and Anatolia. In this work, the taxonomic status and typification of twenty-six published names are discussed, including the plethora of names within the Jasione heldreichii, J. supina, and J. orbiculata taxonomic complexes. In total, eleven lectotypes and one neotype are designated for names from the aforementioned regions, plus one from southern Italy. This nomenclatural clarification establishes a reference for ongoing and future taxonomic and evolutionary studies of Jasione in the Mediterranean basin. In a genus prone to micro-endemism and cryptospeciation, a number of the historically described forms, despite being disregarded by current taxonomic treatments, may, therefore, deserve further attention. Full article

The Moesian Platform represents a major tectonic unit of the foreland of the Carpathians and Balkans, spanning across the southern part of Romania and the northern part of Bulgaria. Although the Moesian Platform is considered to be a stable tectonic unit, it has played a significant role in the geological history of the region, influencing the development of the surrounding Carpathian and Balkan mountain ranges, making it an area of interest for studying tectonic history, geological structures, and landscape evolution. In the southern part of the Moesian Platform in Romania, delineated to the north and to the east by the steep slopes of the Argeş River valley and to the south by the steep slopes of the Danube River valley, an elevated and W–E promontory-looking geomorphological feature identified by the local inhabitants as “hill” is distinct from the neighbouring flat relief of the Romanian plain. This study is the result of a comprehensive investigation into the geomorphological features and neotectonic structures within this region. An intriguing outcrop displaying a filled fault, cutting and displacing the Quaternary sedimentary formations of the recently named Argeş Promontory, shed light on recent tectonic activities that have influenced the landscape. By integrating field observations, geological, and tectonic data, as well as satellite geodetic data, our results contribute to a better understanding of the study area’s regional geodynamics, emphasizing the significant role of tectonic activity in shaping the present-day landscape. Full article

Crimean–Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is considered to be spreading across the globe, with many countries reporting new human CCHF cases in recent decades including Georgia, Türkiye, Albania, and, most recently, Spain. We update a human CCHF distribution map produced in 2015 to include global disease occurrence records to June 2022, and we include the recent records for Europe. The predicted distributions are based on long-established spatial modelling methods and are extended to include all European countries and the surrounding areas. The map produced shows the environmental suitability for the disease, taking into account the distribution of the most important known and potential tick vectors Hyalomma marginatum and Hyalomma lusitanicum, without which the disease cannot occur. This limits the disease’s predicted distribution to the Iberian Peninsula, the Mediterranean seaboard, along with Türkiye and the Caucasus, with a more patchy suitability predicted for inland Greece, the southern Balkans, and extending north to north-west France and central Europe. These updated CCHF maps can be used to identify the areas with the highest probability of disease and to therefore target areas where mitigation measures should currently be focused. Full article