The fundamental value of universal nomenclatural systems in biology is that they enable unambiguous scientific communication. However, the stability of these systems is threatened by recent discussions asking for a fairer nomenclature, raising the possibility of bulk revision processes for "inappropriate" names. It is evident that such proposals come from very deep feelings, but we show how they can irreparably damage the foundation of biological communication and, in turn, the sciences that depend on it. There are four essential consequences of objective codes of nomenclature: universality, stability, neutrality, and transculturality. These codes provide fair and impartial guides to the principles governing biological nomenclature and allow unambiguous universal communication in biology. Accordingly, no subjective proposals should be allowed to undermine them.

The first records of Calamagrostis purpurea, an apomictic wetland grass species with a Euro-Siberian, predominantly boreal distribution, are reported for the Carpathians. This significantly expands the species' range in Central Europe eastwards from the known localities in Austria and Czechia. Due to in situ finds and revision of the herbarium vouchers, C. purpurea was discovered in the Western Carpathians in Slovakia (the Nizke Tatry Mts) as well as in the Eastern Carpathians in Ukraine (the Chornohora Mts) and Romania (Dorna Depression, the Harghita, Bodoc Mts, Intorsura Buzaului Depression) at 6 sites in total. All these newly found localities are situated within 870-1570 m a.s.l. The locality in the Nizke Tatry Mts is at the highest elevation, while those in the Romanian Carpathians are the southeasternmost in Central Europe. In the Carpathians, C. purpurea is confined to undisturbed wetland habitats, which implies its relict origin in the region. A distribution map, habitat characteristics, morphological description, and images of the plants from the Carpatians are provided. Carpathian populations tested with flow cytometry are DNA-octoploid (the predominant ploidy level of the species in Europe). Because of the species' rarity and vulnerability, it is suggested to include C. purpurea in the next editions of the Red Data Books and/or Red Lists of the corresponding countries.

The timely and geographical resolutions, as well as the quantity and taxon concepts of records on the occurrence of plants near national borders is often ambiguous. This is due to the regional focus and different approaches of the contributing national and regional databases and networks of the neighbouring countries. Careful data transformation between national data providers is essential for understanding distribution patterns and its dynamics for organisms in areas along the national borders. Sharing occurrence data through the international data aggregator Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) is also complicated and has to consider that the underlying taxonomic concept and geographic information system of each single GBIF dataset might be different. In addition, some regional data providers have a restrictive (non-cc) licensing policy which does not allow data publication via the GBIF network. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate new ways to make data fit for use for a better and comprehensive understanding of the Flora of the Bohemian Forest. In this paper, we present a bilateral technical interoperability solution for vascular plant occurrence data for the area between the Czech Republic and Bavaria. We describe the initial state of data providers in both countries and the factual and technical challenges in finding a sustainable concept to establish mutual data sharing. The resulting solution for a functional infrastructure and an agreed data pipeline is described in a step-by-step approach. The new distributed infrastructure allows botanists and other stakeholders from both countries to work within the cross-border context of historical and current plants' distribution.

Digitising and aggregating local floristic data is a critical step in the study of biodiversity. The integrative web-based platform Pladias, designed to cover a wide range of data on vascular plants, was recently developed in the Czech Republic. The combination of occurrence data with species characteristics opens many opportunities for data analysis and synthesis.This article describes the relational structure of the Pladias database service (PladiasDB) and the context of the platform architecture. The structure is relatively complex, as our goal was to cover: (i) species occurrence records, including their management, validation and export of revised species distribution maps, (ii) data on species characteristics with quality control tools using defined data types and (iii) separate user interfaces (UI) for professionals and the general public. We discuss the approaches chosen to model individual elements in PladiasDB and summarise the experience gained during the first five years of operation of the Pladias platform.

Milan Chytrý, Jiří Danihelka, Zdeněk Kaplan, Jan Wild, Dana Holubová, Petr Novotný, Marcela Řezníčková, Martin Rohn, Pavel Dřevojan, Vít Grulich, Jitka Klimešová, Jan Lepš, Zdeňka Lososová, Jan Pergl, Jiří Sádlo, Petr Šmarda, Petra Štěpánková, Lubomír Tichý, Irena Axmanová, Alena Bartušková, Petr Blažek, Jindřich Chrtek Jr., Felícia M. Fischer, Wen-Yong Guo, Tomáš Herben, Zdeněk Janovský, Marie Konečná, Ingolf Kühn, Lenka Moravcová, Petr Petřík, Simon Pierce, Karel Prach, Helena Prokešová, Milan Štech, Jakub Těšitel, Tamara Těšitelová, Martin Večeřa, David Zelený & Petr Pyšek

Research on the Czech flora has a long tradition and yielded a large number of records on the occurrence of plants. Several independent electronic databases were established during the last three decades in order to collect and manage these records. However, this fragmentation and the different characteristics of each database strongly limit the utilization and analyses of plant distribution data. Solving these problems was one of the aims of the Centre of Excellence PLADIAS (Plant Diversity Analysis and Synthesis. 2014-2018). which is also the source of the name of the central database of the project: Pladias - Database of the Czech Flora and Vegetation (www.pladias.cz). We developed an occurrence module as a part of the Pladias database in order to integrate species occurrence data on vascular plants in the Czech Republic for use in pure and applied research. In this paper, we present a description of the structure of this database, data handling and validation, creation of distribution maps based on critically evaluated records as well as descriptions of the original databases and explorative analyses of spatiotemporal and taxonomic coverage of the integrated occurrence data. So far we have integrated more than 13 million records of almost 5 thousand taxa (species, subspecies, varieties and hybrids). which came from five large national databases. seven regional projects and records collected within the PLADIAS project. The Pladias database is now the largest set of data on vascular plant occurrence in the Czech Republic, which is subject to continuous quality control. Analyses of this database pointed to differences in spatial and taxonomic coverage of the source datasets. However, it also showed that the targeted effort of experts focused on validating existing records, as well as the collection of new data is still necessary in order to obtain reliable distribution data for individual species.

The patterns of morphological variation and distribution of the rare Central European endemic Spergularia echinosperma were investigated. Morphometric analyses revealed the existence of two distinct morphotypes differing each other mainly in seed color, which is either brown or black. Other differences are in density of the seed surface papillae, height and shape of the papillae, seed width, pedicel/capsule and internode/leaf ratios, and leaf length. A geographic separation of the morphotypes also exists. The black-seeded morphotype occurred nearly exclusively in drained fishponds in the south-western part of the Czech Republic, the brown-seeded morphotype was found in drained fishponds in the eastern part of the Czech Republic and in alluvial pools and river deposits of the Elbe River (Germany). We hypothesize that the black-seeded morphotype may have been indigenous in former natural lakes which were widespread in the SW-Czech Republic and they were frequently transformed into fishponds. The brown-seeded morphotype may have its origin in river alluvia of the Elbe (Germany) and possibly also of other rivers in the Czech Republic. Since the two morphotypes are morphologically and geographically well separated, we propose to describe the brown-seeded morphotype as a new subspecies for science, S. echinosperma subsp. albensis subsp. nov.

Material přinasi informace o výskytu 879 taxonů cevnatých rostlin na 481 lokalitach v okoli Prachatic. Celkem je to 9975 udajů.

The Symphytum tuberosum complex is a highly polyploid and taxonomically intriguing group. At least eight ploidy levels were recorded previously within this complex. Based on flow cytometric screening of 271 central-European populations, two dominant ploidy levels were revealed: tetraploid (2n = 4x = 32) and widespread dodecaploid (2n = 12x = 96). The tetraploid cytotype is mainly distributed along the southern and south-western margins of the West Carpathians where they abut the Pannonian basin, and found only in Slovakia, the Czech Republic (south-eastern Moravia) and Hungary; our findings represent the first records of this ploidy level for the latter two countries. In contrast, the dodecaploid cytotype occurs throughout the whole area studied. In addition to their geographic distributions, differences between the cytotypes in morphology and habitat requirements were detected using a multivariate morphometric analysis and analysis of a phytosociological database, respectively. Based on this information and taking certain overlaps in morphological traits and habitat requirements into account, we propose treating the dominant cytotypes as subspecies: S. tuberosum subsp. tuberosum (dodecaploids) and S. tuberosum subsp. angustifolium (tetraploids). In some populations, aneuploids and several minority ploidy levels were also detected, including DNA-hexaploids (only within populations of tetraploids), DNA-decaploids and DNA-tetradecaploids (both only within populations of dodecaploids).

The origin of Spergularia ×kurkae, a presumed tetraploid hybrid between diploid central-European endemic S. echinosperma and its widespread tetraploid congener S. rubra, was investigated using molecular tools. Sequencing of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) confirmed the hybrid origin of S. ×kurkae and the parentage. As incomplete concerted evolution of the ITS region was observed in nearly all individuals of S. ×kurkae, it is probable that S. ×kurkae is a young taxon. We speculate that it might have evolved as a result of human-mediated introduction of S. rubra into fishponds.

Background and aims-The genus Euphrasia comprises a taxonomically intricate group. In Central Europe, E. nemorosa and E. stricta are widely accepted species. However, the occurrence of putative intermediate morphotypes considered to be the result of regular hybridization makes identification of populations often difficult. Besides these mostly late-flowering species, two mostly early-flowering species, E. coerulea and E. slovaca, are distinguished in the Sudeten and in the Carpathians, respectively. Because of the doubtful nature of intermediate forms and difficult distinction of early-flowering morphotypes, the aims of this study were to find genetically supported groups and test morphological differences among them.Methods and key results - We conducted a survey of the genetical and morphological diversity in 42 populations, which were assigned to four species based on morphology. Using microsatellite analysis, we discovered three genetic groups within our data set. Whereas E. stricta and E. nemorosa comprised separate clusters, most of the early-flowering populations identified as E. coerulea and E. slovaca formed one common cluster. Traditional characters such as corolla length, branching and the presence of a long awn on the bracts were identified in multivariate analyses as the most reliable morphological differences between genetically defined E. stricta and E. nemorosa. Early-flowering populations differed generally by their low number of nodes. In spite of their genetic similarity, they differed morphologically between the two geographical areas. In spite of the assumption of different selling rates correlated with corolla size, differences in genetic diversity among populations with different corolla sizes were not found.Conclusions - There are three well supported groups in the studied dataset of Euphrasia species. Delimitation of E. stricta and E. nemorosa is in concert with traditional views, but delimitation of the third group changes the traditional distinction of two mostly early-flowering species in the study area.

The Melampyrum subalpinum group consists of morphologically diverse populations traditionally treated as closely related taxa with patchy distribution limited to Central Europe. The centre of the morphological variability and geographical distribution of the group lies on the north-eastern edge of the Alps in the Vienna Forest, while marginal, morphologically uniform populations occur in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Genetic variation and population structure within the distribution range of the group remains unknown; we hypothesise that the marginal population are genetically depauperate. Allozymes were used to assess the genetic structure of 27 populations present throughout the distribution area; four Melampyrum nemorosum populations from the Vienna Forest were also analysed because of the presumed hybridization. An artificial pollination experiment was carried out to examine the possibility of autogamy. Four enzyme systems were clearly resolved and scored for one polymorphic locus each with a total of 20 alleles.Seven out of 49 flowers with preserved stamens developed seeds after self-pollination. Genetic variation was generally congruent with the known pattern of the morphological variation of the group. The allelic richness was higher in the Austrian populations than in marginal Czech and Slovak populations. Some wide-leaved populations from the Vienna Forest had a rather high.number of alleles which may be caused by allelic enrichment due to former hybridization with M. nemorosum. Czech and Slovak populations are genetically derived from Austrian populations. The high differentiation among populations suggests that the current gene flow between populations is limited. The high inbreeding coefficient in some populations indicates that there is a certain level of selfing within the populations. The pollination experiment does not contradict the possibility of autogamy. In general, our data are congruent with the central-marginal model with more variable Austrian populations and less variable isolated and probably partly inbreeding Czech and Slovak populations. (C) 2016 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.