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Exploring beliefs about climate change and attitudes towards adaptation among Czech citizens
Lorencová, Eliška ; Vačkář, David
Climate change currently represents one of the major global environmental problems. In order to respond to these changes, adaptation actions at all levels, from national to local, need to be undertaken (European Commission 2013). Moreover, perceptions of climate change are an important element affecting actual attitudes towards adaptation actions and influencing policy and communication regarding climate change (Lorenzoni et al. 2005). This paper presents the results of a survey on perceptions of climate change, including beliefs about climate change and attitudes towards adaptation, conducted among 1,024 Czech citizens in October 2014. Survey results show that the majority of respondents (78%) agreed with the statement that global climate change is happening. Positive responses about perceptions of climate change were found especially among younger people (18 to 34 years of age). In terms of adaptation measures, 51% of respondents had adopted a variety of individual actions (ranging from water savings to property insurance), discussed in the paper in further detail. Older people (≥ 45 years of age) with higher education preferred rather technical adaptation measures (e.g. flood protection for property, installation of rainwater reservoirs, etc.). The survey represents unique insights into attitudes towards climate change within the Czech Republic which had not previously been investigated to this extent. The results provided can support decision-making regarding adaptation policy, individual adaptation actions, and communication of climate change issues towards general public. Introduction
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Testing a statistical forecasting model of electric energy consumption for two regions in the Czech Republic
Rajdl, Kamil ; Farda, Aleš ; Štěpánek, Petr ; Zahradníček, Pavel
Precise forecasting of electric energy consumption is of great importance for the electric power industry. It helps system operators optimally schedule and control power systems, and even slight improvements in prediction accuracy might yield large savings or profits. For these reasons, many forecasting models based on various principles have been developed and studied. Because of energy consumption’s strong dependence on weather conditions, such models often utilize outputs from numerical weather prediction models. In this study, we present and analyse a statistical model for forecasting hourly electrical energy consumption by customers of E.ON Energie, a.s. in two regions of the Czech Republic. The aim of this model is to create hourly predictions up to several days in advance. The model uses hourly data of consumed energy from 2011–2014 and corresponding predictions of temperature and cloudiness provided by the ALADIN/ CZ model. The statistical model is based on a regression analysis applied to appropriate data samples and supplemented by several optional post-processing methods. Specifically, we use a robust linear regression algorithm to identify energy consumption’s dependence on temperature, the meteorological variable with the largest influence on consumption. Our post-processing methods focused on removing prediction bias resulting from economic situations (represented by the goss domestic product, GDP) and sudden temperature changes. We analysed the presented model from the point of view of the hourly predictions’ accuracy for 2013 and 2014. Accuracy was primarily measured by mean absolute error. It was evaluated for individual months, and the effects of individual parts of the model on accuracy value are shown. Introduction
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Estimating values of urban ecosystem services in Kladno
Frélichová, Jana ; Pártl, Adam ; Harmáčková, Veronika Zuzana ; Vačkář, David
The benefits provided by urban nature have a substantial capacity to enhance human well-being. We quantify these benefits in the city of Kladno through the concept of ecosystem services by combining a value transfer method with surveys on citizen satisfaction and ecosystem services recognition. The results provide biophysical values of carbon sequestration and run-off and reveal stronger perception of benefits and higher preferences among citizens of Kladno for recreational services. Therefore, recreation is more suitable as a flagship service to encourage public participation than are such expert indicators as tonnes of carbon sequestered and increased run-off.
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The influence of land cover changes and landscape fragmentation on provision of the carbon sequestration ecosystem service
Pechanec, V. ; Purkyt, Jan ; Cudlín, Pavel
The aim of our contribution is to analyse the influence of land cover changes and landscape fragmentation in two small catchments (Všeminka, Fryštácký potok) within the forest–agricultural landscape of eastern Moravia (Czech Republic) on the carbon sequestration ecosystem service. Fragmentation was analysed using landscapeecological indices within ArcGIS 10.x software using the Patch Analyst extension. Data about the carbon sequestration ecosystem service were processed in the InVEST model. In the Všeminka catchment, carbon sequestration increased over the entire period of observation of 1953–2012. In the Fryštácký potok catchment, carbon sequestration decreased from 1950 to 2005, but increased from 2005 to 2012. The changes in fragmentation were not significant between 1953 and 2012, and so changes in carbon sequestration were caused mostly by land cover changes. The relationships among land cover change, fragmentation, and carbon sequestration from 1953 to 2012 are discussed.
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Forestry operations focusing on different types of felling related to carbon and economic efficiencies
Plch, Radek ; Pecháček, O. ; Vala, V. ; Pokorný, Radek ; Cudlín, Pavel
Assessments of carbon and economic efficiencies, completed by an environmental load computation using the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method, could be a useful tool for assessing sustainable forest management (e.g. Berg & Lindholm 2005, Michelsen et al. 2008). The purpose of this study was to compare forestry operations focused on manually operated (chainsaw) and fully mechanized (harvester) felling in Norway spruce monocultures and mixed forests within the Novohradské Mts. (Czech Republic) using the methods of carbon efficiency (including LCA) and economic efficiency. In general terms, these methods consist of comparing quantified human inputs (e.g. fossil fuels, electricity, used machinery, and fertilizers, converted into emission units of carbon in t C in CO2 equivalent or EUR) with quantified ecosystem outputs (biomass production in t C or EUR). Forest operations were modelled for one rotation period. The results showed the main differences in carbon emissions and carbon efficiency related to forest operations with different types of felling. In contrast, the economic efficiency results did not differ much with different types of felling. Differences between Norway spruce monocultures and mixed forests using the same type of felling were relatively small for carbon efficiency but large for economic efficiency (Norway spruce monocultures recorded higher economic efficiency).
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Comparison of forestry reclamation and spontaneous succession from plant diversity, production, and economic perspectives
Cudlín, Ondřej ; Faigl, T. ; Plch, Radek ; Cudlín, Pavel
The aim of our study was to determine whether the values of plant community diversity, the volume of wood, and the partial economic efficiency of plots left to spontaneous succession have yet reached similar values as those recorded on forestry reclaimed plots. Six forestry reclaimed plots and six plots with spontaneous succession were established at the Great Podkrušnohorská spoil heap and selected tree biometric characteristics were measured. Plots’ economic efficiency was calculated as the difference between the costs to level the spoil heap as well as establish and manage the forest reclamation and the theoretical profit from wood. The numbers of tree species, numbers of individuals, wood volume, and Simpson diversity index values did not differ significantly between plots with spontaneous succession and reclaimed plots. The economic efficiencies of both types of plots were too burdened with high initial investments for levelling, which can theoretically be returned within 300 years for reclamation plots and 180 years for succession plots. According to our results and those of some other authors, values for diversity and wood production are similar or higher on plots resulting from spontaneous succession in comparison to values on reclaimed plots. For this reason, both types of management should be used to establish a new suitable mosaic of ecosystems in the post-mining landscape.
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The importance of hydromorphological analysis in evaluating floodplain disturbances – an upper Stropnice River case study
Jakubínský, Jiří ; Pelíšek, I. ; Cudlín, Pavel
This contribution deals with a comparative analysis of the hydromorphological state of a river network and the ecological status of a neighbouring floodplain area. The issue has gained great importance especially in addressing the causes and effects of flood events, which are an increasingly frequent manifestation of global environmental change at the local level. The area of interest was the upper part of the Stropnice River basin in Southern Bohemia with an area of about 100 km2. The basin is characterized by wide variability of natural conditions and human activities. The main objective was to analyse how the river’s morphological status affects habitat type naturalness. We endeavoured to determine the extent to which hydromorphological modifications contributed to transforming riparian natural habitats into more human-influenced habitats. Based on the results, we can conclude that within the area of interest the direct link between rivers and their close surroundings was only minimal. A significant role in shaping this relationship was played by a large anthropogenic modification of the entire floodplain area as well as the actual riverbed, which often causes completely different results. In areas where the floodplain ecosystem displayed relatively favourable environmental values, the relevant channel reach was degraded significantly, and vice versa. These facts point to longterm effects from anthropogenic pressure, which are manifested in the mutually and not well coordinated management of the river network and land-use system within the watershed.
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Comparative growth characterization of frequently used substrains of the model cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 under varying culture conditions
Zavřel, Tomáš ; Očenášová, Petra ; Sinětova, M. A. ; Červený, Jan
Cyanobacteria have gained increased attention as ideal candidates for biotechnological applications due to their capacity to produce valuable molecules ranging from therapeutic proteins to biofuels. Their natural phenotypic plasticity in highly dynamic environments enables easy deployment of new biotechnologies as well as opening possibilities for genetic engineering. This contribution presents a new approach to fast and reliable characterization of cyanobacteria growth in a flat panel photobioreactor that enables examination of changing light, temperature, and nutrient availability. The utilization of semi-continuous automatic cultivation with real-time culture growth monitoring provides a strong experimental basis for both characterization and optimization of cyanobacteria cultures in photobioreactors. We first characterized the autotrophic growth of the substrain of Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 denoted as GT-L. This strain is capable of efficient growth under a wide range of environmental conditions with doubling time as fast as 5 h under favorable conditions. However, differences among Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 substrains have been identified on both the genotype and phenotype levels. We therefore aimed to utilize the experimental platform to characterize multiple commonly used Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 substrains. This method will enable us to identify substrains capable of robust growth and high production yields as reliable biotechnological candidates.
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Development of methods for breeding high-lipidcontent algal strain Chlamydomonas reinhardtii using fluorescence-activated cell sorting
Fedorko, Jan ; Búzová, Diana ; Červený, Jan
Green microalgae are among the most widely distributed microorganisms in the biosphere. They are significant contributors to global photosynthetic productivity and are interesting for biotechnology due to their large variety of high-value compound accumulation and range of applications. To achieve profitable microalgae cultures for biotechnology, one wants to combine antagonistic properties: rapid growth and high accumulation of specific compounds. Here, we focus on development of advanced cultivation strategies and breeding methods applied to the model algae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii for optimized production of lipids. For identification, isolation, and subsequent selection of an optimal subpopulation with high lipid content, we used high-throughput fluorescenceactivated cell sorting in combination with imaging flow cytometry on cells stained with lipid-specific fluorescent dye. We observed that post-sort cell viability was not negatively influenced by external parameters used during the sorting procedure (pressure, light quality and quantity, influence of the sorting electromagnetic field, toxic effects of both fluorescent marker and microfluidic system medium composition).
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CN-PAGE as a tool for separating pigment–protein complexes and studying their thermal stability in spruce and barley thylakoid membranes
Kurasová, Irena ; Svrčinová, K. ; Karlický, Václav ; Špunda, Vladimír
The central aim of our study was to develop a method for solubilization and native electrophoretic (colourless native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis; CN-PAGE) separation of pigment–protein complexes (PPCs) embedded in thylakoid membranes (tBMs) isolated from spruce. Subsequently, we focused on studying the effect of temperature on the composition and PPC stability of two different species: barley and spruce. We found that the mild detergent n-dodecyl β-D-maltoside (β-DM) is suitable for PPC solubilization of spruce tBMs, but longer solubilization and a higher ratio of detergent to total chlorophyll are needed for spruce than are needed for barley. We also unified CN-PAGE protocols to optimize the separation of spruce and barley PPCs that resulted in the separation of photosystem I (PSI) and photosystem II (PSII) supercomplexes (SCs), PSI and PSII core dimers, PSII core monomers, trimeric and monomeric light-harvesting complexes of PSII, and bands with free pigments. Studying the effect of elevated temperature on PPCs using CN-PAGE revealed different thermal stability of PPCs in spruce and barley tBMs. Pronounced PPCs changes were observed at temperatures at or above 40°C. We observed partial disappearance of PSII SCs bands at 44°C in barley and at 52°C in spruce. In addition, spruce PSI SCs exhibited slightly higher thermal stability than did barley PSI SCs. The increased thermal stability of spruce tBMS in comparison to that of barley tBM was also confirmed by the circular dichroism spectra of isolated tBMs at different temperatures (Karlický et al. 2015).
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