Rare and Data-Deficient Weed Flora of East Hungarian Kurgans - A Large-Scale Survey

In increasingly intensified agricultural landscapes, species of natural habitats as well as components of the weed flora showed a constant decline over the past decades. Weed species adapted to extensive arable use or moderate disturbance regimes in grasslands are especially endangered in anthropogenic landscapes. In this study, we aimed to highlight the role of kurgans (ancient burial mounds) covered by fallows, oldfields and ancient grasslands in the conservation of rare weed species. We reported occurrence data for 59 weed species from the Tiszantul (Crisicum) and Nyírség (Nyírségense) floristic areas, East Hungary. We reported species (i) that are particularly rare in the study area (e.g., Filago germanica, Geranium divaricatum, Glaucium corniculatum, Reseda luteola , and Silene conica) , (ii) occur throughout the country, but are rare in certain regions (e.g., Aegilops cylindrica, Ca- lepina irregularis, Crepis pulchra, Medicago monspeliaca, Sherardia arvensis, Trifolium diffusum , and Festuca myuros) , and (iii) that are specific to particular regions (e.g. Roemeria hispida and Spergula pentandra) , and (iv) that are data-deficient in the study area, but are not necessarily rare (e.g. Anthriscus caucalis, Asperugo procumbens, Lappula squarrosa , and Medicago minima) . We also provided data on two rare neophyte weed species ( Helminthotheca echioides and Taeniatherum caput-medusae) . Eighteen of the species included in this paper are on the Hungarian Red List, and two species are protected by law (Centaurea solstitialis and Lathyrus nissolia ). Our results highlight the importance of kurgans in the conservation of rare weed species, as these landscape features can provide refuge for species adapted to moderate levels of disturbances associated with extensive land uses.