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Ecological and Evolutionary Processes Driving the Structure of Plant-Pollinator Networks
Hadrava, Jiří ; Klečka, Jan (advisor) ; Gilbert, Francis Sylvest (referee) ; Vujić, Ante (referee)
Associations between flowers and pollinators are responsible for reproduction of majority of plant species as well as food supply for substantial part of animal diversity on the Earth. Until recently, the studies on plant-pollinator relationship were focused predominantly on pollination of particular plant species, with only little or no accent on community perspective. In recent decades, however, pollination ecology shifted its focus rather to community context by introducing so called pollination networks. This approach allows us to view the ubiquity and complexity of the interactions between plants and their pollinators and it opened up many new opportunities to study the pollination from animal perspective or to access spatio-temporal variability in the interactions. However, we still have only limited insight into the processes driving the structure and dynamics of such networks. The assembly of plants, pollinators and their interactions are driven by various ecological as well as evolutionary processes. From the ecological point of view, species co-occurrence in time and space may affect the interactions, or species flexibility for various community contexts providing different food sources may play role. In the evolutionary perspective, species may have various co-adaptations due to their...
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Vliv druhového složení květnatých pásů ve městech na skladbu opylovačů.
FIŠEROVÁ, Alena
This masters thesis studies the influence of species diversity of bloomig flowers in the flower strips on the composition of pollinators community, which is wisiting the flower strips. The flowers are blooming plentiful during the whole season and therefore they are providing resources for the functional groups of pollinators. Therefore these flower strips are helping to increase the biodiversity in cities.
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Possibilities of implementation of the pollination as the pedagogical content of the elementary schools
MAŠKOVÁ, Anna
The diploma thesis focuses on pollinators as a subject of science education and especially the possibility of implementation in teaching at primary school. The research part deals with pollination, the importance of pollinators, anchoring the topic in the Framework Educational Program, and especially the analysis of several textbooks of science for primary schools in terms of the topic of pollinators. To obtain the necessary data in the practical part, didactic tests and an educational project for the pupils of 4th and 6th grade at primary schools were created. Based on the acquired findings, a conclusion was drawn regarding the possible inclusion of the topic in teaching at primary school.
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The role of biotic interactions in plant invasions
Štajerová, Kateřina ; Pyšek, Petr (advisor) ; Prach, Karel (referee) ; Richardson, David M. (referee)
- ABSTRACT - The loss of co-adapted and gain of novel biotic interactions during the invasion process influence the success or failure of introduced plants. Within the present thesis, I studied diverse biotic interactions, specifically the relationships between plants and their herbivores, pollinators, fungi, and resident plant communities, and how biotic interactions can be utilized in planning effective science-based management. With my collaborators, we combined the community and biogeographical approach with the reciprocal transcontinental comparison between Eurasia and North America, based on primary data collected in the field. Of numerous hypotheses for the striking success of invasive plants, the enemy release hypothesis (ERH) is one of the most frequently tested. It asserts that the greater performance of introduced plants in non-native ranges is due to the absence, or decrease, in regulation by natural enemies that are left behind in the native range. Our results, in a broad sense, supported ERH, but we found that the magnitude of herbivore damage is context-dependent, related to the feeding guild and origin of both herbivores and plant species and that the increased plant performance in a new range might also be related to other factors, such as the shift in plant competition. Of animal-plant...
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The efficiency of pollen transfer by selected functional groups of pollinators and the ability of plants to influence it
Freudenfeld, Martin ; Janovský, Zdeněk (advisor) ; Klečka, Jan (referee)
Pollinator functional groups differ in their pollen carryover effectiveness and in the importance for particular species of plants, due to specific functional traits of pollinator functional groups. Plant species differ in their specific functional traits too. I determined pollen loads of pollinators by swabbing their bodies with a jelly to compare pollen carryover effectiveness of pollinator functional groups. This helped me to decide which pollinator functional groups are the most and the least effective in pollen carryover. I considered an influence of the last visited flower to make the comparison of pollen loads more accurate. I also calculated proportions of conspecific and heterospecific pollen grains carried on bodies of pollinators to estimate their carryover effectiveness. Likewise, I compared composition of pollen morphotypes carried on pollinator's bodies to find out differences among pollinator functional groups. My analysis shows that pollen carryover effectiveness of particular pollinator functional groups differ. Apis mellifera and solitary bees have the biggest pollen loads, on the other hand, butterfies and small dipterans have the smallest pollen loads. The last visited flower influences an amount of pollen grains carried on bodies of pollinators. Relative pollen loads of some...
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Geometric morphometrics of shape and symmetry of flower structures - ecological and evolutionary significance
Rubešová, Veronika ; Neustupa, Jiří (advisor) ; Woodard, Kateřina (referee)
I did a research of relevant literature on geometric morphometrics, its usage for a study of floral symmetry, and ecological and evolutionary significance of floral symmetry in general. Description and application of morphometric methods is included in the first part of the thesis. Then, the main types of floral symmetries are described and illustrated. Morphometric studies on several model floral lineages are discussed in subsequent parts of this bachelor thesis. Many of the studies are made on some species of family Brassicaceae. Modern morphometric methods and perspectives of their application in floral research are presented in the last chapter.
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Ecology of flower smuts (Microbotryum) and their hosts from family Caryophyllaceae
Koupilová, Klára ; Koubek, Tomáš (advisor) ; Marková, Jaroslava (referee)
Anther-smut fungus (Microbotryum spp.) infecting plants of the Caryophyllaceae represents one of the most extensively studied plant pathogen systems. Anther-smut is a pollinator-borne disease that turns infected plants completely sterile. The aim of this thesis is to sum up the main findings about ecology and epidemiology of anther-smut disease and it mainly deals with various factors that influence disease spread and occurrence in nature. According to existing research, abiotic factors play minor role compared to biotic factors and interactions. Among the most pronounced, we can find variability in pathogen virulence and host resistance and also vector behaviour. When studying epidemiology of Microbotryum spp., it is necessary to take account of spatial population structure and metapopulation dynamics as well. Comparing life histories of different host species can also bring useful information. Key words: anther-smut, Microbotryum, Caryophyllaceae, pollinators, resistance, epidemiology, metapopulation dynamics.
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Evolutionary significance of visual traits of flowers and their influence on the pollinator constancy
Haveldová, Alice ; Štenc, Jakub (advisor) ; Klečka, Jan (referee)
Flower constancy is a behavior in which the pollinator visits flowers of the same plant species in a sequence more than would correspond to its preference for the given plant. This behavior is advantageous for plants because it can ensure efficient intraspecific pollen transfer which has a positive effect on their biological fitness. More efficient pollen transfer can lead to the selection of (visual and olfactory) flower traits that encourage flower constancy of pollinators. The main visual floral traits that affect constancy include colour, pattern, shape and size. However, these traits are of different importance for pollinators when they are deciding which flower to visit, and therefore their effect on flower constancy varies. The degree of flower constancy also differs between the functional groups of pollinators. Flower constancy is generally low in vertebrates, but insects and especially representatives of the order Hymenoptera are often flower constant.
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The importance of the arrangement of flowers in the inflorescence on the plant reproductive success
Chvojková, Karolína ; Štenc, Jakub (advisor) ; Sklenář, Petr (referee)
Inflorescence and its properties have a fundamental influence on the pollinating behavior of pollinators, which can affect the resulting reproductive success of plants. Clustering of more flowers in the inflorescence is an advantage for plants due to the diversification of pollen sources and greater visual supply, which can attract more pollinators and thus increase the chance of pollen transfer to other individuals and ensure genetic variability of the offspring. The disadvantage of multiple flowers in one inflorescence may be both an increase in energy requirements for the formation and maintenance of multiple flowers and an increased risk of geitonogamy. Plants prevent geitonogamy within the inflorescence by various adaptations. The aim of this work is to evaluate the effect of inflorescence arrangement on successful plant reproduction. When studying the arrangement of flowers in the inflorescence, it is necessary to take into count not only their morphology, i.e. the shape, number, size and arrangement of flowers, but also other functional properties in the form of genitals, sterility and rewards. The resulting effect of flower arrangement on the reproductive success of plants also depends on the vectors that transfer pollen, in this case especially insect pollinators, which are affected by...
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