Edited By: L Penev, J Niemela, DJ Kotze and N Chipev
456 pages, Tabs, figs, b/w photos
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About this book
It is expected that in 2005 about half of the human population will be urban dwellers, and the proportion is increasing. Thus, urban areas - including green areas - are becoming increasingly important for humankind. In order to manage urban areas for the benefit of people and biodiversity more information is needed about ecological patterns and processes in cities. This book is the result of many years of investigations of the environment and biota of the city of Sofia. It is intended to fulfill an obvious gap in the knowledge of the biota of Sofia. In spite of the various research projects carried out during the last decades, there is no volume published so far aiming to summarize the accumulated data until now.
The book consists of three parts - Environment, Plants and Animals. The papers in the first part aim to describe the environment of Sofia - climate, water and air - in order to provide a basis for present-day and future research on the biota and to outline some recommendations for improving the human comfort in the city. The botanical part consists of nine papers, ranging from inventories (bryophytes, vascular plants) to studies on the soil moisture regime and lead transformation in city parks. In the third part, eleven papers summarize data on several animal groups - nematodes, myriapods, terrestrial gastropods, opilionids, spiders, carabid beetles, ants, aphids, scuttle-flies and birds.
Contents
The Sofia (Bulgaria) GLOBENET Sites: Description and Spatial Variation of the Landscape Mosaic; Climate and Human Comfort of Sofia; Urban Climate and Air Quality ? a Review; Air Quality of Sofia City ? Meteorological Aspects; Water Quality of the Sofia Region; Urban Planning and Ecological Problems of the Green Systems of Large Cities in Bulgaria: Sofia as a Case Study; Bryophytes in the city of Sofia; Mapping Air Quality Using a Lichen Diversity Index in Northeastern Sofia; The Vascular Flora of the City of Sofia; Soil Moisture Regime in Forest Plantations in the Borisova Gradina Park and in the North Park in Sofia; Dendrological Structure of the Green Areas in Sofia; Environmental Problems for Trees in the Green System of Sofia; Medicinal Plant Species and Edible Macromycetes in the City of Sofia ? Dangerous for Man?; Pathological and Entomological Problems of Trees in the Sofia City Green System; Lead in the Atmosphere-soil-plant System in the Forest Park of Boris? Garden ? Sofia; Distribution Patterns of Nematode Communities in an Urban Forest in Sofia, Bulgaria; Myriapoda (Chilopoda, Diplopoda) in Urban Environments in the City of Sofia; Spatial Variation in Terrestrial Gastropod Communities (Gastropoda, Pulmonata) along Urban-Rural Gradients in Sofia City, Bulgaria; The Harvestmen Fauna (Opiliones, Arachnida) of the City of Sofia (Bulgaria) and its Adjacent Regions; Spiders from the Sofia Region. A Faunistic and Zoogeographical Analysis; A Checklist of the Aphids (Homoptera, Aphidodea) from the City of Sofia; Spatial Structure of Carabid Beetle Assemblages along an Urban-Rural Gradient; The Ground-Beetle (Coleoptera: Carabidae) Fauna of Sofia, Bulgaria: a Checklist; A Faunistic Investigation of the Ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) in the City of Sofia; Compound Nests and Mixed Colonies of Ant Species (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) in Sofia, Bulgaria; Scuttle Flies (Diptera: Phoridae) from Urban and Suburban Areas in the Sofia Plain; The Diurnal and Nocturnal Birds of Prey (Falconiformes and Strigiformes) Nesting in the Territory of Sofia; Magpie (Pica pica) Population Density and Habitat Distribution in the City of Sofia
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Edited By: L Penev, J Niemela, DJ Kotze and N Chipev
456 pages, Tabs, figs, b/w photos