Institute of Ecology and Botany of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences

Basic and applied research in the field of ecology, botany and hydrobiology. Research is carried out in the following topics:

• Organisation and dynamics of biocoenoses;
• Biodiversity patterns at various scales;
• Hydrobiology of running and standing waters and wetlands;
• Ecological effects of climate- and land use changes;
• Conservation biology and restoration ecology;
• Exploring and utilising new plant resources;
• Investigation and analysis of natural vegetation in Hungary;
• As a special task, the maintenance and development of the collections of the Botanical Garden.

Governmental funding ensures the functioning of the Institute and the Botanical Garden, but does not cover the expenses of research itself. It covers the salaries of the permanent researcher staff, and partly the purchase of laboratory devices and the infrastructure of the Institute. It also supports the development of databases of the Botanical Garden.

ILTER

The International Long Term Ecological Research Network (ILTER) consists of research sites and scientists, dedicated to multi- and interdisciplinary long-term and large spatial scale ecological research and monitoring. The development of the Hungarian LTER Network started in 1994 with the initiative and coordination of the IEB. Now it consists of three sites /Sikfőkut, Kiskun and Lake Balaton/ representing the characteristic biomes of the country and meeting the minimum site standards of ILTER. The Institute directly manages the Kiskun LTER site allocated in the Danube-Tisza interfluve region, where the central ecological problem is the impact of global environmental changes on the biocoenoses. The Hungarian LTER Network became partner of the ALTER-Net Network of Excellence (EU Framework Programme 6) with the leadership of the IEB.

META

Mapping the present vegetation of Hungary is a long debt of Hungarian botany. Only the National Research Grant (NKFP) in 2001 made it possible for the IEB to launch this huge task. The mapping project will be accomplished by the end of 2005 with the help of 250 Hungarian botanists who will spend altogether 7000 days in the field. The GIS-based vegetation map is Europe's largest vegetation database. This data source will facilitate the development of Hungarian landscape ecology and predictive modelling, will help nature conservation practices, and enrich the knowledge-base of environmental education.

Hungarian Forest Reserve Program

The Institute is responsible for scientific co-ordination of the Hungarian Forest Reserve Program of the Ministry of Environment and Water. Within the Program, 63 forest reserve sites were legally designated to preserve old-growth and semi-natural forests and also to ensure long-term research of natural forest ecosystems. The strictly protected core area (3600 ha) is left to natural development without silvicultural management; the protected buffer zone (9500 ha) is designated for experimentation. Our most important research partners are University of West Hungary, Eötvös Loránd University, University of Pécs, "Vásárhelyi István" Nature Conservation Group, Directorates of the National Parks, and the Forest Research Institute. These studies play a principal role in understanding natural processes, conserving biological diversity, and developing the methods of sustainable and close-to-nature forest management.

Hydrobiology of running waters

Research is based on the experiences gained during the long-term survey of the previous decades: basic patterns of the river biota; material cycling of the different river sections; impact of environmental factors (natural or human induced hydrological regime) and the structure of the biotic community. A long-term task of the Station is the hydrobiological monitoring of the Szigetköz area. The latest studies of water and sediment chemistry, fito- and zooplankton, macrophytes, macroinvertebrates, fish populations and amphibians are all closely related to the functional aspects of biodiversity, river fragmentation, functioning of the river system and adjacent wetlands.

Hydrobiology of standing waters and wetlands

Most of the research of standing waters and wetlands is carried out at the Fertő-Hanság region. The investigations of the structure and function of communities and on the effects of environmental factors focus on two major habitat types of Lake Fertő: the open water surfaces and the reed belt. The hydrobiological monitoring of small lakes and constructed wetlands in the Hanság area serves mainly the reconstruction goals of nature conservation.

The Hungarian Danube Research Station takes part in the implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive, mainly in the elaboration of methodology for biomonitoring and the problem of reference sites.

The collections of the Botanical Garden Department

The Department maintains the richest living plant collection in Hungary, having more than 12000 taxa ordered to the following collections:

• Systematic collection
• Tropical collection
• Dendrological collection
• Collections of rock garden and bulbiferous plants

Organisation and dynamics of biocoenoses

The studies aim to establish the theoretical background of effective nature conservation. Researches focus on the stability and vulnerability of food chains and the relationship between fine-scale pattern and process of vegetation

Taxonomic studies

Taxonomic and phylogenetic studies by traditional and molecular methods contribute to the assessment of biodiversity. Specialists on lichens and tropical Rubiaceae species carry out these investigations.

Ecological effects of climate- and land use changes

These studies - focusing on the Kiskunság region - are performed mostly in international collaboration. They include subsequent phytosociological surveys, vegetation and biomass mapping, monitoring of invasive species, climate simulation field experiments, which aim at monitoring and explaining the changes in ecosystem structures and functions to support sustainable management and land use.

Conservation biology and restoration ecology

Due to the structural changes of agriculture, large areas are abandoned. Restoration ecology can help the development of seminatural vegetation in these fields. Beyond increasing biodiversity, the developed management practices (mowing and seed sowing) decrease the cover of alien weeds, including ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia), the most important allergenic plant species.

Exploring and utilising new plant resources

Plants, especially members of the Lamiaceae family, contain a lot of compounds that are potential row materials for medicines. Isolation of new compounds and comparison of compound content between cultivated varieties are done at the Department, using the experimental field of the Botanic Garden.

Exploration and analysis of natural vegetation in Hungary

In order to increase the scientific knowledge on the Hungarian vegetation heritage we study the landscape historical changes of the vegetation, and also its recent pattern, dynamics, landscape ecology and regeneration potential.

The most spectacular point of the Danube: the Danube-Bend

Climate change simulation experiment in the Kiskun LTER site, near Kecskemét