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Horses and vegetation
Třeštíková, Tereza ; Herben, Tomáš (advisor) ; Mládek, Jan (referee)
Many studies show that large herbivores can have an important impact on the composition of vegetation. With the establishment of a year round, low density grazing regime, plant ecologists and nature managers expect that through selective grazing, herbivores will create a mosaic of different vegetation communities varying in structure and plant species composition. It is believed that such a mosaic in the end will guarantee a high degree of biodiversity. Grazing will, therefore, seem to be a suitable means to maintain grass. Also important is the ability of herbivores affect vegetation through endozoochory. In this thesis I have tried to find out what species of diet horses prefer regarding to plant species and what plant species they can spread through out endozoochory. I have compared this knowledge with the composition of pasture and meadow vegetation at the researched locality in Malenice and Hoslovice. With the purpose of finding out the preferences I established spots where I registered data on vegetation before pasture and the time intervals during the pasture. Afterwards, I researched the amount of sprouts and the composition of seedlings in excrements that I let germinate. I had to create phytocenologic shots from the pastures and meadows to compare the species of composition of grazed and...
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Differentiation in the polyploid complex Libanotis pyrenaica (Apiaceae)
Přívozníková, Hana ; Chrtek, Jindřich (advisor) ; Vít, Petr (referee)
Polyploidization belong to principal evolutionary mechanisms in plants. Although it is rather rare in the family Apiaceae, there are several interesting polyploid complexes here. The present study deals with Libanotis pyrenaica, species three previously reported ploidy levels, namely diploid (2n = 2x = 22), tetraploid (2n = 4 x = 44) and most likely very rare triploid (2n = 3x = 33). The present study aims at geographical pattern of ploidal diversity in central Europe, genetic variation and selected biological features of this species. Flow cytometru, analysis of two chloroplast DNA markers (trnF-trnL and cp018-cp020), morphometrics and in vitro germination experiments were used. The tetraploid cytotype occurs throughout the studied area; in the Czech Republic it was found in the České středohoří Mts., southern Bohemia and Moravia, in Slovakia it especially in the Carpathian mountains in western and central parts of the country and in the Pieniny Mts. in the northeast. Tetraploid cytotype occurs mainly in central-east Europe; in the Czech Republic it is common in the lowlands along the river of Labe and locally in Moravia; in Slovakia it was found along the river of Váh, in the Slovenské rudohorie Mts. and in the Belanské Tatry Mts. A mixed-ploidy population (2x, 4x) was discovered in southern...
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Free-ranging herbivores as a dispersal vector for species in abandoned landscape
Lepková, Barbora ; Vojta, Jaroslav (advisor) ; Karlík, Petr (referee)
Endozoochory is an important part of plant-animal relationship. In model area of the Doupov Mountains large herbivore mammals, such as red deer, sika deer and wild boar, act as effective seed dispersers. Out of 282 dung samples 29 719 seedlings of 91 species emerged. The most common species was Urtica dioica (80 % of all seedlings). The amount of seeds in dung as well as species composition were highly dependent on dispersing animal, both showed strong seasonality and differences between two studied localities. Frequency of species in dung did not correspond to their frequency in vegetation suggesting strong preferences of herbivores as predators. However more research is needed to test this hypothesis. Given very high time demands for samples processing beforehand the emergence experiment, the influence of concentration by washing through on seedling emergence and species composition was tested. According to preliminary results more seedlings and species emerge from concentrated samples. However, concentration has no effect on emergence of U. dioica as the most common species. Concentration of samples by running water is recommended for faster emergence in greenhouse conditions. Preliminary results also suggest that the approximation of number of seedlings/species on weight of dry mass is not...
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Epizoochorous dispersal of vascular plants by large mammals
Mádrová, Terezie ; Lepková, Barbora (advisor) ; Vlasta, Tomáš (referee)
Epizoochorous dispersal is together with endozoochorous dispersal one of the two basic principles of zoochory - the seed dispersion by animals. Epizoochory is defined as the spread of seeds by attachment to the surface of animals, for example in the fur of mammals, feathers of birds, even on the surface of the human clothing if we consider human as dispersal vector. There are plant species, which adapted to the epizoochory during the evolution. We can observe their morphological adaptation such as hooks, various appendages or mucilage. However, the efficiency of these adaptations, also depends on the type of the carrier, which can be either a mammal (for example ungulates or carnivores), bird or a reptile. Epizoochory also has an impact on the biodiversity - it is a mechanism that can spread the seeds across long distances and therefore provide the species variability in the environment. Today it is also an efficient way of dispersion in the fragmented landscape, where the plants are dispersed together with the animals between the fragments of vegetation. Rewilding, which is a method of returning the keystone species into the landscape and therefore restoring the interrupted natural processes, is also related to changes in the landscape. Keywords: epizoochory, seed dispersal, large herbivores,...
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Population biology of rock outcrop plant Aurinia saxatilis ssp saxatilis
Šimáková, Terezie ; Münzbergová, Zuzana (advisor) ; Dostál, Petr (referee)
The rock outcrop plants are neglected group of plants, even though they include endangered or endemic species. Despite this fact, there is only a few of studies focusing at this topic. The aim of this thesis is to focus on this group of plants in terms of its population dynamics. Aurinia saxatilis ssp. saxatilis was chosen as a model species. It is a species of the Czech thermophyticum. Three populations were chosen and studied over three years. The population dynamics was compared between the populations by integral projection modelling (IPM) and matrix population modelling (MPM). The results of these two analytical approaches were compared to one another, too. The population growth rate (λ) predicts that one of the populations is stable, whereas the other two populations are declining. The highest elasticity is mostly for the seeds survival in the seed bank. The population growth rate does not differ distinctly between the two statistical approaches, IPM and MPM. In all cases the IPM λ is lower than the MPM λ. Within the IPM analysis, the influence of the substrate type was also studied. The analyses, however, did not indicate any major differences between the substrates. For maintaining the populations, it is necessary to protect the new seeds and seedling recruitment and to create the new space...
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Differentiation in the polyploid complex Libanotis pyrenaica (Apiaceae)
Přívozníková, Hana ; Chrtek, Jindřich (advisor) ; Vít, Petr (referee)
Polyploidization belong to principal evolutionary mechanisms in plants. Although it is rather rare in the family Apiaceae, there are several interesting polyploid complexes here. The present study deals with Libanotis pyrenaica, species three previously reported ploidy levels, namely diploid (2n = 2x = 22), tetraploid (2n = 4 x = 44) and most likely very rare triploid (2n = 3x = 33). The present study aims at geographical pattern of ploidal diversity in central Europe, genetic variation and selected biological features of this species. Flow cytometru, analysis of two chloroplast DNA markers (trnF-trnL and cp018-cp020), morphometrics and in vitro germination experiments were used. The tetraploid cytotype occurs throughout the studied area; in the Czech Republic it was found in the České středohoří Mts., southern Bohemia and Moravia, in Slovakia it especially in the Carpathian mountains in western and central parts of the country and in the Pieniny Mts. in the northeast. Tetraploid cytotype occurs mainly in central-east Europe; in the Czech Republic it is common in the lowlands along the river of Labe and locally in Moravia; in Slovakia it was found along the river of Váh, in the Slovenské rudohorie Mts. and in the Belanské Tatry Mts. A mixed-ploidy population (2x, 4x) was discovered in southern...
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Germination requirements of rare and common plant species of Giant Mountains
Paulů, Andrea ; Münzbergová, Zuzana (advisor) ; Moravcová, Lenka (referee)
For a long time studies were focused on searching optimal conditions of germination of individual species. During the last few years studies have started to search for a relationship between germination and various species characteristics. Most of them, however, use only one temperature during germination tests. Very few studies use more than one temperature during the germination tests. In the last years studies started also to compare germination between rare and common species, but these studies compare just a few species. There are no studies which would compare germination on broader range of species. Aim of this study was to indentify which factors are determing germination of species and to find relationships between germination and characteristics of rare species (n=62). Another aim was to find out differences in germination of pairs (n=24) of closely related rare and common species. To test the germination I have chosen a methodology with several consecutive temperatures. Throughout the time of testing , the seeds were placed either in light or in dark. The dataset was processed by linear regression. The results show that germination requirements of species are determinet by time of flowering, weight of seeds, dispersal mode, species requirements for soil humidity and nutrients and type of...
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Methods for studying seed dispersal and its importance for colonization of new sites
Vlasta, Tomáš ; Knappová, Jana (advisor) ; Hemrová, Lucie (referee)
Study of seed dispersal is crucial for understanding of several processes in life of plants and landscape. Seed dispesal is very important for persistence of local populations in fragmented landscape, it plays an important role in succession, it helps to protect plant populations againts loss of genetic variability. We usually recognize several types of seed dispersal depending on vector (dispersal by wind, animals and water.) In nature, it is very common that seed can be independently dispersed by several vectors. Therefore, studying of polychory and secondary dispersal is necessery. Methods of studying of seed dispersal are very variable, including seed traps, releasing and following individual seeds, genetics marcers etc. If we study seed dispersal, we should select the most suitable method depending on the aim of the study. We should also take into acount advantages and disadvantages of single method.
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Landscape factors and their influence on succession and distribution of woody species
Jablonská, Viola ; Vojta, Jaroslav (advisor) ; Tesnerová, Cecílie (referee)
The succession of temperate zone vegetation is a multi-layered process of exchange of plant dominants in which trees play a crucial role. To understand the processes that take place in the context of succession at the level of microhabitats, it is necessary to focus on the wider landscape context. This literature review seeks to answer questions of how factors such as the relief, topography, landscape structure and connectivity of habitat isolation, distance from the source or method of seed dispersal affect the occurrence, distribution and succession of species. The environmental aspects of the landscape are also taken into account and the disturbances that are part of the natural dynamics of ecosystems are briefly discussed. A specific factor is the method of using landscape, known under the term land use. Our handling of space, soil and other natural resources in the country leaves an indelible imprint, which is also reflected in changes in the structures of vegetation.
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