Purpose: Railways are anthropogenic habitats shaped by various disturbances and management practices. Consequently, many studies report on significant plant diversity and vegetation heterogeneity in railway environments. We present results of the first systematic study of railway flora in Slovenia, focusing on microecological differentiation of railway zones and the role of railways as corridors for non-native species. Methods: At 92 locations across 15 segments of the Slovenian railway network, we conducted floristic sampling by transect method, studying four distinctive railway zones – Sleeper Zone (SZ), Ballast Shoulder (BS), Ballast Toe (BT) and Intertrack Area (IA) separately. We compared taxonomic and functional diversity, ecological indicator values and vegetation cover among zones using generalised linear mixed models and multivariate analyses. Results: We recorded 312 taxa from 67 families. Zone type significantly influenced species richness, vegetation cover and community composition. The BT supported the highest richness and densest vegetation, while the SZ and IA harboured thermophilous, heliophytic annuals adapted to the most extreme conditions. Hemicryptophytes and competitive species prevailed in outer zones; therophytes and ruderal species dominated inner zones. Ecological indicator values confirmed clear gradients of light, temperature and moisture across zones. Non-native species (13% of flora) were nearly ubiquitous, with invasive aliens present at 99% of sites, underscoring railways as invasion corridors. Conclusions: Our results confirm the considerable diversity of Slovenian railway flora, microecological specificity of railway zones, and the importance of railways in the spread of non-native species – findings, which have previously been overlooked in Slovenia.

Tillage is a major factor influencing soil biological communities, particularly earthworms, which play a key role in soil structure and nutrient cycling. To address soil degradation, less-intensive tillage practices are increasingly being adopted globally and have shown positive effects on earthworm populations when applied consistently over extended periods. However, understanding of the earthworm population dynamics in the period following the implementation of changes in tillage practices remains limited. This three-year field study (2021–2023) investigates earthworm populations during the early transition phase (4–6 years) following the conversion from conventional ploughing to conservation (<8 cm depth, with residue retention) and no-tillage systems in a temperate arable system in central Slovenia. Earthworms were sampled annually in early October from three adjacent fields, each following the same three-year crop rotation (maize—winter cereal + cover crop—soybeans), using a combination of hand-sorting and allyl isothiocyanate (AITC) extraction. Results showed that reduced tillage practices significantly increased both earthworm biomass and abundance compared to conventional ploughing. However, a significant interaction between tillage and year was observed, with a sharp decline in earthworm abundance and mass in 2022, likely driven by a combination of 2022 summer tillage prior to cover crop sowing and extreme drought conditions. Juvenile earthworms were especially affected, with their proportion decreasing from 62% to 34% in ploughed plots and from 63% to 26% in conservation tillage plots. Despite interannual fluctuations, no-till showed the lowest variability in earthworm population. Long-term monitoring is essential to disentangle management and environmental effects and to inform resilient soil management strategies.