Effect of clear-cutting on the understory vegetation,soil and diversity of litter beetles in scots pine-dominated forest

Currently, the aim of modern forest management is not only timber production but also the protection of biodiversity. The initial effects of clear-cut logging on forest understory vegetation, soil and the diversity of litter beetles have been studied. We examined unstudied effects of clear-cutting disturbance on understory vascular plant species abundance, forest soils, and understory vegetation nutrients as well as beetle diversity one year after clear-cutting. Substantial changes in the prominence values and above-ground mass of forest-related vascular plant and moss species were detected. Clear-cuttings resulted in fast appearance of new light-loving plant species. The significant decrease in understory plant biomass influenced the reduction of nutrient pools in clear-cut areas after one year. The clear-cut logging negatively influenced the richness of species and the number of individuals of stenobiontic forest-related beetles in the forest litter. However, forest clear-cuttings were beneficial for eurytopic and open land species.     

Antioxidant Properties and Preliminary Evaluation of Phytochemical Composition of Different Anatomical Parts of Amaranth

Antioxidant properties of amaranth extracts isolated sequentially by acetone and methanol/water from defatted plant leaves, flowers, stems and seeds were assessed by ABTS^+?, DPPH^?, ORAC and total phenols content (TPC) assays. In addition, antioxidant properties of solid plant material were evaluated by the direct QUENCHER method using the same assays. Leaves and flowers of amaranth as well as their extracts possessed the highest antioxidant activities. Radical scavenging capacity in ABTS^+? assay for leaves, flowers, stems and seeds evaluated by QUENCHER method were 144.24?±?2.41, 112.33?±?7.45, 19.05?±?1.13 and 21.82?±?1.06 μmol trolox equivalents in 1 g of dry weight, respectively. On-line HPLC-DPPH^? assay was used to determine the activity of separated compounds and it was observed that rutin was the main radical scavenger in amaranth extracts. Preliminary screening of extract composition was performed by UPLC/ESI-QTOF-MS and rutin, nicotiflorin, isoquercitrin, 4-hydroxybenzoic and p-coumaric acids were identified by measuring their accurate mass and retention time.