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Changes in the Distribution of European Mistletoe (Viscum album) in Hungary During the Last Hundred Years

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Abstract

The hemiparasitic European mistletoe (Viscum album) from the family Viscaceae (Santalaceae s.l.) is able to infest more than 380 woody taxa in Europe. At the beginning of the 20th century, less than 10 % of Hungary was infested. The distribution area was centralized in the Transdanubian Mountains, and no mass occurrence was noticed elsewhere. Since then, the infested area has almost tripled, and heavily infested forests can be observed in numerous parts of Hungary, especially in the northeast area of the Hungarian Great Plain. However, the central region of the Hungarian Great Plain is still uninfested. In the North Hungarian Mountains, where the presence of potential hosts is very frequent, mistletoe is still quite rare. The most infested macroregion of Hungary is Western Transdanubia, the only region where all three different subspecies can be found. No significant changes have been observed in the proportions of the most common hosts in the last 90 years, with poplars (Populus spp.) and black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) still being the most frequently infested species. Silver maple (Acer saccharinum) is now a heavily infested host in city parks, while the abundance of infested apple (Malus spp.) and pear (Pyrus spp.) trees has decreased with the transformation of cultivation techniques. In infested areas, nine to twelve of the most common 18 host species can be found, while only five to eight species can be observed in uninfested areas. The increased mistletoe occurrence can be attributed to several factors, including human impact, larger forest area and a growing number of breeding pairs of the mistle thrush (Turdus viscivorus).

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by a Campus Hungary Scholarship and a Hungarian Eötvös Research Grant (MÖB/101‒1/2013) provided to Ildikó Varga. Péter Poczai gratefully acknowledges support from a Marie Curie Fellowship Grant (PIEF‒GA‒2011‒300186) under the seventh framework programme of the European Union. The contribution of Viktor Tiborcz and Dénes Bartha was supported by the TÁMOP‒4.2.2.A‒11/1/KONV‒2012‒0013 project. This research was supported by the European Union and the State of Hungary, co-financed by the European Social Fund in the framework of TÁMOP 4.2.4. A/2‒11‒1‒2012‒0001 ‘National Excellence Programme’ provided to Nikolett Réka Aranyi. The authors would like to thank Anikó Hirka and the Hungarian Forest Research Institute, László Jandrasits, Géza Fischl, and Dávid Schmidt.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biosciences, University of Helsinki, PO Box 65, FIN‒00014, Helsinki, Finland

    Ildikó Varga, Péter Poczai & Jaakko Hyvönen

  2. Botanical Museum, University of Helsinki, PO Box 7, Helsinki, FIN 00014, Finland

    Péter Poczai

  3. Department of Botany and Nature Conservation, Faculty of Forestry, University of West Hungary, H‒9400, Sopron, Bajcsy-Zsilinszky 4, Hungary

    Viktor Tiborcz & Dénes Bartha

  4. Department of Plant Sciences and Biotechnology, Georgikon Faculty, University of Pannonia, Festetics 7, Keszthely, 8360, Hungary

    Nikolett Réka Aranyi

  5. Department of Planting Design and Maintenance, Faculty of Horticulture in Lednice, Mendel University in Brno, Valtická 337, 691 44, Lednice, Czech Republic

    Tivadar Baltazár & Miloš Pejchal

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  1. Ildikó Varga
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Correspondence to Ildikó Varga.

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Ildikó Varga and Péter Poczai are authors with equal contribution

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Varga, I., Poczai, P., Tiborcz, V. et al. Changes in the Distribution of European Mistletoe (Viscum album) in Hungary During the Last Hundred Years. Folia Geobot 49, 559–577 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12224-014-9193-5

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