Soil hydraulic properties are very sensitive to land-use in regions susceptible to physical degradation. Intensive agricultural practices often lead to soil compaction and erosion in the investigated area. The main goal of this paper was to evaluate the impact of land-use on the pore size distribution and water retention in loamy soils. The soil water retention curve (SWRC) combined the total porosity and the water retention of the undisturbed sample at 3, 10, 31, 100, 310, and 1000 hPa suctions and the disturbed sample at 1.5 MPa. The triple-exponential model approximated the curve’s course, and its derivative defined the distinct macro-, structural, and textural pore maxima, with characteristic suctions corresponding to SWRC inflection points. The soil organic carbon content had the greatest influence on the content of all three pore classes. The water retention properties followed the hierarchical pore size distribution in the four research plots and decreased in the identical orchard > forest > grassland > arable soil order. These results show that the orchard and forest areas are the most appropriate land uses with respect to porosity and water retention, while the grassland has not fully recovered after its conversion from arable soil and remains relatively poor, and the arable soil properties are the worst.

In Slovakia, traditional orchards, like other European rural landscapes and their agricultural systems, are at long-term risk from changes in land use and management. We focused on this issue in the Nová Baňa dispersed settlement region (central Slovakia), which contains numerous traditional orchards. Management changes over the period 1949–2017 were evaluated on the basis of structured interviews conducted with the owners of 63 traditional orchards. Management measures were evaluated separately for 1949, 1970, 1991, 2000, 2007 and 2017. These data were supplemented by data on land cover over time, with an emphasis on orchards, evaluated for the years 1949, 1976, 1991 and 2017 using historical orthophoto maps. Traditional orchard management included mowing, grazing, plowing, fertilizing, and litter raking. By 2017, the management regime had changed in 92% of orchards. The use of plowing and grazing in orchards decreased, and the use of mulching has increased since 2000. From 1949 to 2017, the number of identifiable management regimes doubled; regimes consisting of a single management measure appeared, while regimes of multiple management measures decreased in frequency. Between 1949 and 2017, there was a total decrease of 38.36% in the area of traditional orchards; 31.62% of orchards remained unchanged. The largest decrease was caused by orchard conversion into grasslands (18.93%), forests (13.81%), shrubs (9.42%) and urbanized areas (8.87%).

Traditional orchards are a valuable feature of the rural landscape and they are specific for regions with scattered settlement such as the Myjava hilly land and White Carpathians. Here, the permanent species-rich grasslands beneath trees were regularly managed in the traditional manner until some were replaced in the 1970’s and 80’s by intensively managed orchards, some of which were abandoned in the early 1990’s. Our 2011–2015 phytosociological research followed the standard Braun-Blanquet approach. We classified 178 phytosociological relevés recorded in orchard meadows (156 relevés), former intensively managed orchards (16 relevés), and two relevés from a semi-intensively grazed orchard. Traditionally managed orchard meadows were classified in the following five units: (i) Pastinaco sativae-Arrhenatheretum elatioris – thermophilous variant, (ii) Pastinaco sativae-Arrhenatheretum elatioris – transitional variant to Alchemillo-Arrhenatheretum elatioris, (iii) Ranunculo bulbosi-Arrhenatheretum elatioris, (iv) Onobrychido viciifoliae-Brometum erecti, and (v) Brachypodio pinnati-Molinietum arundinaceae. Formerly intensively managed large-scale orchards were classified as Pastinaco sativae-Arrhenatheretum elatioris association and the semi-intensively grazed orchard as Lolio perennis-Cynosuretum cristati association. The species composition varies considerably due to tree-shading and different management treatments applied in the orchards, so the relevés of the delimited syntaxonomic units are not typical and have transitional character. Moisture, soil nutrients, and soil reaction were identified as the main environmental gradients influencing species composition. We tested four management treatments in direct gradient analysis and found that abandonment has the strongest effect on species composition. Comparison of grassland vegetation in the studied traditional orchards with that described in Germany reveals differences in species composition. Moreover, species richness of the compared Arrhenatherion elatioris and Bromion erecti alliances in Slovakian orchard meadows was higher than in the German orchards.

City parks serve as valuable refuges for invertebrates in the urban environment, which are constantly exposed to human influence caused by management practices in the parks. Many harvestman species are suitable bioindicators for monitoring ecological change; however, their effective use in environmental assessment necessitates to expand the insufficient knowledge of ecological environmental specificities of their communities. We studied the diversity and dynamics of harvestman (Opiliones) communities in the historical park in Rusovce, situated in the southwestern part of Bratislava (Slovakia). Seven study sites were investigated, representing areas subjected to different management practices. The research was conducted from March 2019 to April 2020, using pitfall traps. We evaluated the impact of microclimatic variables (soil and air temperature), environmental characteristics (plant diversity and cover of vegetation layers, age of forest stands, thickness of the litter layer), and management practices on the structure of harvestman communities. The study revealed the response of specific harvestman species to temperature variations, emphasizing the importance of microclimatic conditions. Environmental variables, such as the richness of plant species in the shrub layer, the cover of the herb and shrub vegetation layers, and the age of the forest stands, were identified as key factors that influence the dispersal of harvestman species. Furthermore, management practices, especially the presence of monoculture tree plantations, significantly affected the species composition of harvestmen. Examining the sensitivity of Opiliones, important bioindicators, to these factors is crucial for implementing effective conservation strategies in urban green spaces and anthropogenically influenced ecosystems.

Important representatives of mucilaginous seeds from different plant species, namely amaranth (Amaranthus hypochondriacus L.), garden cress (Lepidium sativum L.), common flax (Linum usitatissimum L.), psyllium (Plantago ovata Forssk.), and chia (Salvia hispanica L.) were subjected to non-thermal plasma (NTP) generated by diffuse coplanar surface barrier discharge with different exposure times (1, 3, 5, 10, 20, 30 s). Seed water uptake, kinematic viscosity, parameters of seed germination and initial seedling growth were monitored along with chemical and morphological changes on the seed surface. Water absorption increased with increasing plasma exposure time for garden cress, psyllium and chia seeds, but it was greatest for chia seeds. For all seed species, the kinematic viscosity decreased with increasing plasma exposure time. The highest values were found for chia seeds after a treatment for 30 s. Surface analyses did not reveal any chemical and morphological changes of the seed surface. According to a PCA comparison of basic characteristics of germination and initial growth, common flax seeds differ in their reaction to NTP from the other tested plants. On the contrary, chia seeds showed the best water uptake and kinematic viscosity. It was shown that NTP treatment improves the absorption of mucilaginous seeds and does not change the surface and structural properties of the seeds. These mucilaginous seeds can be used as raw seed, whereby NTP accelerates their preparation during soaking.