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Book prices in 16th and 17th centuries based on an analysis of the book catalogue written by Jakub K. Praetorius
Fajkusová, Lucie ; Marek, Jindřich (advisor) ; Šípek, Richard (referee)
This master thesis is focused on the book price in 16th and 17th century Bohemia, a subject which has been mostly neglected so far. It tries to find a connection between previous research from abroad and the specific situation of early-modern Bohemia. It focuses on Jakub Konrád Praetorius of Perlenberg, whose private book collection has become a part of the Swedish war booty and thus only a small part of the collection has survived until today. However, a handwritten catalogue of Praetorius's collection was found and digitised in the National Library of Stockholm. This catalogue contains not only the year of printing, author's name and book format but most importantly the price, though not in all cases. This work analyses this unique catalogue formally and contentually with the book price as the main interest, especially while trying to find a connection between the price and the attributes such as year of printing, place of origin, book format and the binding.
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Round goby (Neogobius melanostomus) in the diet of great cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo): the role of the season and temperature
Starý, Vojtěch ; Čech, Martin (advisor) ; Adámek, Zdeněk (referee)
Round goby (Neogobius melanostomus) is invasive species, present in the Elbe river since 2015. This study The purpose of this study was to find out how piscivorous predators have adapted to its presence, using the example of the great cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo). The research was carried out on the basis of the analysis of cormorant's pellets, collected at a locality near Velké Březno (50ř40ʹ34.2ʹʹ N, 14ř07ʹ28.5ʹʹ E) under roosting trees in the period from 1 October 2020 to 15 April 2021, during a total of 7 visits. A total of 1,775 pieces of fish, 15 species belonging to 5 families, were determined from the diagnostic bones. Of this number, 1,115 were round gobies, i.e. a total of 62.8 % of the cormorant's food consisted of these fish. However, the weight share of the total reconstructed weight of all fish caught (113.6 kg) was only very small - 6.6 %. The mean daily food intake (DFI ± S.D.) of cormorants was determined to be 423.7 ± 113.6 g. It was found that cormorants hunting only round gobies overwhelmingly do not consume the necessary prey weight to cover their energy expenditure. Furthermore, the dependence of the size of the hunted prey on the average daily temperature was tested. Linear regression did not show any significant dependence in this case. The hypothesis that at lower...
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Crypsis at dragonflies
Záhorová, Kristýna ; Černý, Martin (advisor) ; Hadrava, Jiří (referee)
Crypsis is one of the defens mechanisms used by animals to hide from predators. It is a form of coloring that allows prey to blend in with their surroundings or makes difficult for predators to see them due to disruptive coloration. Dragonflies utilize crypsis across different families and sometimes even within individual species in various types of environments, ranging from savannas to tropical rainforests. Crypsis also serves as a defense mechanism not only against predators, but also against members of their own species, where females avoid sexual harassment from males and young males avoid fighting with adult males. This is related to changes in coloration during ontogenetic development, as well as the sometimes pronounced sexual dimorphism that is relatively common in dragonflies. Additionally, larvae of dragonflies are often cryptically colored. This study focuses on cryptically colored dragonflies from around the world and in various types of environments. Rather unexpectedly there are not many studies focing on this phenomena at otherwise throroughly studied group of insects. Key words: dragonflies, crypsis, cryptic coloration, sexual dimorphism, dragonflies larvae
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Domestic cats (\kur{Felis catus}) as a phenomenon in the conservation biology - their impacts on biodiversity
NOVOTNÁ, Nikola
Lately, a negative impact of ferocious domestic cats on environmental diversity has been ascertained. Using questionnaires, long term observations of cat prey (prey they brought home) and using database data (NDOP, rescue stations and ringing stations) we were finding out about the composition of cat prey throughout the year in the Czech Republic. Based on the questionnaire results, cats bring home 5x more mammals than birds. Out of the results of a long-term cat prey observation it turns out that cat prey consisted of, out of 93% mammals, 6% birds and out of 1% reptiles and insects. In the first observed season (winter), an average of 1 cat brought a 0.02 prey per day, in the second season (summer) 0.21 prey per day, and in the third season (autumn) 0.38 prey per day. Out of the obtained information it turns out that the cat´s impact on environmental diversity is greatest during the third observed season, and is the lowest during the first observed season. The mammal hunted for most frequently was a vole, while the bird hunted for most frequently was a sparrow. Based on our results, birds were carried home most frequently during the summer season, while mammals were carried home most frequently during both the summer and autumn seasons, which was caused by the fact that mostly all kinds of animals were mating during this time. For cats, it is then relatively easy to catch inexperienced young individuals. Out of all the hunted prey, 2.6% consisted of animals being officially protected in the Czech Republic. Thus, the cat´s impact on protected animals in the Czech Republic was proven.
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Is the growth of brown frog's tadpoles influenced in different stages of its development by the presence of red-eared slide?
VODRÁŽKOVÁ, Magda
In the last few decades, the frequency and importance of invasive species has been increasing mainly due to the disproportionate growth of world trade in animals and plants. Predator-prey interactions drive the evolution of many behavioral and morphological traits in aquatic animals. In aquatic environments, chemical cues reliably enable prey to assess and avoid predation risk. The presence of a predator affects prey populations either by direct predation by reducing its abundance and changing its behavior, or by modifying various parts of its life history. The effect induced by the risk of predation can have a stronger impact on populations than the direct effect of mortality. Non-native red-eared sliders (Trachemys scripta elegans) have the potential to disrupt aquatic ecosystems in Central Europe because of their superior competitive abilities and omnivorous diets. I investigated whether continuous predator-borne cues are tied to changes in the hatching time, developmental stage, and body size at hatching of common frog tadpoles (Rana temporaria). Whether the developmental rates, growth rates and sizes at metamorphosis would alter in the presence of a predator and examined the dynamics of the ontogeny of tadpoles under different time patterns of an alien predator presence. The presence of a predator affected all factors examined. I found that in the absence of the slider, the embryos hatched in 12 days, while hatching was accelerated by two days in slider treatment. At the same time, the embryos hatched smaller and at a lower stage of development with the slider than without it. The presence of turtles shortened the time at metamorphosis of tadpoles from 110?11.7 days to 93?13.0 days (mean ? S.D.). The froglets were significantly smaller (12.8?0.99mm) in the presence of the predator than in the control treatment (15.2?1.27mm). The growth rate trajectories were similar between the predator treatment and the control. Thus, predator-induced tadpole defences were evident in higher developmental rates and smaller sizes at metamorphosis without significant changes in growth. I also found out that the tadpoles had a longer larval period and were smaller in size at metamorphosis and lower in body mass when the predator was present in early development than when the tadpoles developed without a predator. The early presence of a predator conspicuously reduced the growth increments of the tadpoles at early development. After the removal of the predator, growth accelerated above the level measured under the conditions of both the late predator and no predator. However, these growth rates did not exceed the growth rates of equally sized tadpoles in the other treatments and therefore were not sufficient to compensate for the growth slowdown in the first part of development. The presence of a predator in late tadpole development influenced neither the time to metamorphosis nor size/body mass at metamorphosis. Results show rather rarely documented types of amphibian prey responses to caged predators. This study extends the range of predators studied, including the effect on different phases of development of potential amphibian prey.
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Teplotní preference vodních studenokrevných živočichů a jejich vliv na mezidruhové interakce
LOVČÍ, Zuzana
Temperature alters species interaction strengths, which can lead to cascading effects at population and community levels. This thesis reviews current knowledge on predator-prey interactions along vertical thermal gradients in freshwaters and experimentally tests temperature and microhabitat preferences of larvae of two interacting dragonfly species, Aeshna cyanea (predators) and Sympetrum sanguineum (prey). The experiment confirmed prior expectations from thermal game theory for the predator but also showed that microhabitat choice may override thermal preferences in the prey. These findings could help increase the realism of current predictions of the consequences of climate change on freshwater ecosystems.
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Typical Features of Stephen King's Horror Literature
MAJEROVÁ, Aneta
The diploma theses will focus on horror genre both in general from the point of view of its determination and from the point of view of its basic development. It will clarify the division of horror genre in popular literature, where we will see fundamental attributes of sci-fi and fantasy. The division of genre into real and unreal will enable to outline typical horror components, in which it analyses repeated archetypes of characters both in films and book edition, and it will explain the attributes of a hunter and a prey, and conception of fear with mystery. The attributes of these components will be applied in the closing part on particular selected novels. The essential components for the whole diploma thesis will be the composition of a horror work according to Noëll Carroll, who describes exact form of a horror work in his study. The differentiation of subgenres will be focused on the basis of the types of Paul Guran, who clarifies allocating of works based on the horror components and their combination with another literary genre. The diploma thesis will briefly go through main former distributors of a horror film, it will be based on history of this genre in literary works and cinematography. On the background outlined like this, it will do the analysis of the characteristic attributes of horror works of Stephen King. The main point of the analysis will be the triplet of novels Carrie (1974), The Shining (1977) and It (1986), in which we can see the attributes of the first early authorship of the author. The diploma thesis will deal with comparison of original novelistic versions with following film adaptations. The analysis will be naratologically oriented, thus it will focus on processes and means the horror tone is created, and particular specifications of this genre are fulfilled with.
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The occurrence and the function of eyespots in the vertebrate colouration
Helebrant, Václav ; Fuchs, Roman (advisor) ; Pipek, Pavel (referee)
Eyespots are a striking feature in the colouration of many animals. These are spots of a circular shape, which in their external appearance subjectively resemble the eyes of vertebrates. In invertebrates, they are found in insects, crustaceans and molluscs, while they are most widespread in butterflies. Within vertebrates, eyespots are most common in fish. Among amphibians, they are found in frogs, but their occurrence has not yet been mapped in detail. Eyespots occur rather rarely in reptiles and birds, and only remotely similar patterns can be found in mammals. Current research on the function of eyespots more or less reliably demonstrates that they play an important role in defense against predators or in communication within intraspecific interactions. The eyespots can fulfill the anti-predation function in two ways. According to the intimidation hypothesis, eyespots serve to prevent a predator from attacking. However, it is not yet entirely clear whether the spots frighten predators because of their similarity to the eyes of dangerous animals, or whether predators avoid the spots because of their conspicuousness and contrast with the surroundings. According to the deflection hypothesis, eyespots attract predators, but they direct the attack away from vital parts of the prey's body. In...
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Predators and antipredator defence of Auchenorrhyncha (Hemiptera)
Zeman, Šimon ; Raška, Jan (advisor) ; Michalko, Radek (referee)
Auchenorrhyncha are one of the species-richest groups of hemimetabolous insects. They feed mostly on plant sap and play an important role in food webs of various ecosystems; for humans, they are important mainly as pests of several crops. Because of their occurrence in many habitats, they are often preyed upon by number of predators, including both vertebrates and invertebrates. However, Auchenorrhyncha implement various anti-predator defences to avoid it. This thesis summarizes available information about predation of Auchenorrhyncha and shortly deals with hunting behaviour of selected predators. In the second part, anti-predatory strategies and their occurrence in different Auchenorrhyncha groups are summarized. Furthermore, potential predators affected by those defences are discussed.
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