Many municipalities in Central Europe deal with the problem of invasive species in their natural ecosystems. Invasive vegetation eradicates native species and causes dense stands that damage the natural environment. This work shows how important it is to have an informative tool for municipalities to be successful in their struggles with invasive species. A Driver – Pressure – State – Impact - Response (DPSIR) framework is a decision - making tool, and this one is particularly applied to the species Fallopia japonica. Fallopia japonica is an extremely invasive and aggressive weed, and it is very often found in riverbank vegetation. This specific framework can be used as a tool for municipal managers to highlight all the problems with Fallopia japonica and define all the responses that should be provided by the municipalities. The work points out the steps that show how important it is to have a strategy or a clear concept of how to begin with such a serious issue as the presence of Fallopia japonica in riverbank vegetation and its eradication. This framework provides simple steps that cannot be excluded when a municipality start actions against Fallopia japonica. All the indicators used in the model are based on the information known about Fallopia japonica that are presented in the literature.

The article aims at assessing the impact of hydraulic characteristics on the habitat quality of mountain and piedmont watercourses. The solution results from the Riverine Habitat Simulation model, where the quality of the aquatic habitat is represented by the weighted usable area (WUA), which is determined using brown trout as the bioindicator. Flow velocity and water depth are basic abiotic characteristics that determine the ratio of suitability of the instream habitat represented by the weighted usable area. The influence of these parameters on the objective evaluation of the habitat quality is the essence of the paper. The measurements were carried out during the summer period at minimum discharges for 17 mountain and piedmont streams in Slovakia. Three methods for assessing the habitat quality were tested, and differences in the results were found to be significant. The evaluation shows the optimum design methods for calculating the weighted usable area.

This study evaluated the relationship between abiotic flow characteristics and habitat quality. Habitat quality was assessed using the Instream Flow Incremental Methodology (IFIM), which uses bioindication. Brown trout was selected as a bioindicator because of its sensitivity to morphological changes and its occurrence in sufficient reference reaches. The correlation between the morphological characteristics of the stream and the area-weighted suitability (AWS), which represents habitat quality, was evaluated. Fifty-nine reference reaches of fifty-two mountain and piedmont streams in Slovakia were analysed. The correlation analysis demonstrated the strongest relationship between the AWS and the stream depth and width. The relationship between the water surface area and the AWS indicated that, for mountain streams, there is a significantly increasing trend of the AWS value with increasing surface area. Considering piedmont streams, the AWS variation with a change in the water-surface area was minimal. These results can form the basis for deriving regression equations to determine habitat quality. Such a procedure can significantly simplify the evaluation of the quality of aquatic habitat, making it much more accessible for design practice.

Globally, invasive species represent a serious threat to biodiversity and to the ecosystem. As an undesirable part of riparian ecosystems, invasive plants form continuous growths on the banks of watercourses. One of the biggest problems at river bank sites is Japanese knotweed, Fallopia japonica (Houtt.) Ronse Decr, which is an extremely invasive and aggressive weed. The topic of the interaction of flow and invasive plant species in shore stands is rich and presents a wide range of possibilities for research. The presented paper brings the results of our studies on the invasions of F. japonica in chosen riparian vegetation sites in Austria and Slovakia from 2011–2020 (36 stands). Our research was aimed at the survey on the changes in the distribution (spread) of F. japonica at the selected river sites; assessment of the impact of the watercourse regime on the spread of F. japonica; monitoring of the population growth dynamics of F. japonica and assessment of possibilities for effective eradication of F. japonica in context of the riparian vegetation management. We used standard techniques of field survey, mapping, flow modeling/simulation, and laboratory experiments. Our research results showed that water streams are not primary invasion starters until there is a flood. As long as flooding does not exceed the critical speed of the water stream, there is no direct damage to the invasive plant. The water body can be a secondary trigger for plant invasion at normal speeds. In addition, F. japonica reproduction ability directly conditions its population dynamic growth. We can report that selective invasion removal adapted to local conditions can be most suitable and beneficial for municipalities.

This case study focuses on climate change adaptation strategy for densely urbanised areas. The phenomenon of heavy urbanization has significantly intensified during the last decades. Building constructions are still expanding, resulting in the decline or even elimination of green spaces. Not only does it cause the eradication of green spaces, but it also prevents unbuilt areas from the further development of green infrastructure. The pressure of developers urges the maximum use of urban areas for financial profit at the expense of greenery, which does not generate such profit. However, the benefits of greenery on human health are more significant, hence it is necessary to educate the public about these positive aspects and create and promote adaptation strategies for climate change. Furthermore, hydrological extremes are increasingly and more regularly repeating during the year, and it is necessary to create a green infrastructure to mitigate the impacts of these extremes. In severely and densely urbanised spaces, such as the historic city centres, there is no longer an option to provide areas for the possible further creation of green spaces. Therefore, in this case study we focused on the possibility of creating green infrastructure using the vertical gardens and bringing all the benefits of green spaces to vertical dimension, which does not require any land space. The example of the Old Town district of Bratislava, Slovakia was used in this case study. This proposal presents a selection of possible spaces for the creation of vertical gardens, which are also designed as an information system for visitors navigating them from major transport hubs to the city centre.