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Change trajectories of wetlands in the landscape of lowlands and uplands in the Czech Republic
Richter, Pavel ; Skaloš, Jan (advisor) ; Dagmar, Dagmar (referee)
Wetland habitats are of great multifunctional importance in landscape. In particular, they have the capacity to retain water during its surplus and then in the dry season to release the water. In this work the dynamics of change in wetlands coverage was analyzed, including the representation structure of different categories of wetlands over the past 180 years in the landscape of lowlands and uplands in the Czech Republic. The historical maps of Stable Cadastre, current orthophoto and current GIS layers of localization and classification of different types of land use/cover and landscape types were used as data sources. The area of wetlands has dramatically decreased from 5 762 hectares in the period 1825-1843 (more than 9.5 % of the area) to 54 hectares in 2014 (0.9 %). Based on the study of available documents three types of wetland habitats were classified: wet meadows, wet meadows with trees and swamps . Although, the most of the historic wetlands were constituted of wet meadows (89 %) these days the swamps (48 %) form the largest part of the wetlands. Half of the historic wetlands were transformed to arable land because of increasing production of agriculture. According to the evaluation of monitored changes by predictors it was found that more pressure on the degradation of wetlands was in the areas with more suitable climatic conditions for agriculture (e.g. The Danube basin, Moravia, soil types in the lowlands, Corn agricultural production area etc.). In these areas the swamps were formed as new wetlands in places of historical watercourses localization more significantly than elsewhere in monitored area. The aim of this work was also to describe the main driving forces and pressures that have influenced the changes in wetlands. The outcome of the paper can be used in landscape planning with regard to the protection and management of wetlands.
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Towards a better understanding of ungulate diets: a methodological approach
Holá, Michaela ; Červený, Jaroslav (advisor) ; Stádník, Luděk (referee)
Populations of European ungulates have grown substantially over recent decades, resulting in considerable environmental and socio-economic impacts. Availability and quality of natural and supplemental food sources are among the main factors driving their population dynamics. Detailed knowledge of feeding strategies of management-targeted species is therefore of primary importance for their successful management. Over time, methods to study the feeding strategies of animals have also evolved considerably but each has its advantages as well as limitations. This doctoral thesis uses a combination of traditional methods (i.e. stomach content analysis) and novel methods (i.e. stable isotope analysis, near infrared reflectance spectroscopy) to achieve a better understanding of feeding strategies of two important ungulate species (i.e. wild boar and red deer) in the Czech Republic, where their populations are on the rise and supplementary feeding is rampant. Next, this dissertation aims to introduce and to establish a basis for these novel methodological approaches for the study of free-ranging individuals. In this respect, it also addresses methodological issues related to their application in this field.
The diet composition of wild boar was investigated by examining stomach contents in order to identify their dependence on food resources of human origin (i.e. agricultural crops and supplemental foods). Foods of human origin were the dominant diet type and constituted the bulk of the diet of wild boar throughout the year. A necessary prerequisite for application of stable isotope analysis is the trophic discrimination factor (i.e. systematic difference between the isotopic composition of the consumer tissues and that of the diet), which was experimentally determined for stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes, the two most commonly used in ecology, in hair tissue of wild boar and red deer. Furthermore, possible sources of variation (such as sex, age, body weight, and lactation) on isotopic discrimination were investigated. The results of the experiments provide a starting point for the successful use of stable isotope analysis in field studies on wild boar and red deer. Finally, application of near infrared reflectance spectroscopy was proven to be useful in measuring faecal indices of food quality for red deer. The results of this thesis will contribute towards efficient management of wild boar and red deer in the Czech Republic.
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Effect of climatic and environmental variables on changes in numbers and migratory behaviour of wintering and migrating waterbirds.
Adam, Matyáš ; Musil, Petr (advisor) ; Bejček, Vladimír (referee)
Waterbirds with their specific habitat and food requirements varying during their annual cycle (Riffell et al. 2003; Taft and Haig 2006) are able to indicate the wetland diversity and quality due to their rapid responses on changes in environment (Delany 1999; Fernández et al. 2005; Amat and Green 2010). Remarkable land cover changes and climate warming led to significant shifts in distribution and abundance of many waterbird species across Europe in recent decades (Delany et al. 2006; Fox et al. 2010; Lehikoinen et al. 2013; Pavón-Jordán et al. 2015). To understand the dynamic of migratory birds in space and time and to assess effects of global conditions as well as local conditions of individual sites during their annual cycle there is need of international monitoring and research. Since the start of International Waterbird Census in 1967 both increasing and decreasing trends have been recorded in nearly fifty percent of waterbird species in Western Palearctic (Delany et al. 2006, Wetlands International 2016) and they consequently have affected trends in particular countries, including the Czech Republic. Wetland sites in the Czech Republic are generally situated on the edge of wintering range of most waterbird species (Gilissen et al. 2002), however the prevailing increase in abundance of waterbird species has been recorded here in recent decades (Musil et al. 2011). Though, the considerable growth of winter temperatures has not been noticed in the Czech Republic (Klein Tank et al. 2002; Musilová et al. 2009; Dušek et al. 2013), and the accessibility of the wetland sites, due to their freezing, varies year to year. Hence, we can assume that waterbirds have likely began using the alternative habitats with available food resources, i.e. cold-weather refuges, probably regardless of their conservation status (Musilová et al. 2015). Special protection areas were implemented to Czech legislation in 2004 to protect migratory birds (Birds Directive 2009/147/EC). So far there has not been tested the effectivity and impact of legislative protection on wintering waterbird species. Moreover, some previous studies indicated that SPA network do not match the species distribution pattern (López-López et al. 2007; Briggs et al. 2012; Albuquerque et al. 2013), so this issue urgently calls for scientific research.
The second part of the thesis focused on Greylag Geese, whose abundance has rapidly grown across the Europe in recent decades (Madsen et al. 1999; Fox et al. 2010), and that have become ideal model species to observe their responses to habitats and climate changes as well as their reactions to human disturbance (Fox and Madsen 1997; Ramo et al. 2015). This requires appropriate knowledge of geese distribution, abundance and their behaviour. Since 1930s, when the geese started to be ringed in the Czech Republic, the ringing intensity have markedly varied and have been reflected in numbers of recoveries. In last ten years the intensity have increased (Podhrazský 2010). However, complex of the historical data until 2002 (Cepák et al. 2008) and recent data have not been analysed so far. In the light of recent shifts in wintering ranges and migration phenology of many goose populations these analyses require increased attention. Furthermore, the satellite monitoring of geese is coming to detect more detailed information about behaviour of individuals.
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Plasmodiophora brassicae on winter rape
Řičařová, Veronika ; Ryšánek, Pavel (advisor) ; Jaroslav, Jaroslav (referee)
Winter oilseed rape (Brassica napus) is an important crop in the Czech Republic. Clubroot disease caused by the pathogen Plasmodiophora brassicae Wor. is a serious and still-growing problem for oilseed rape growers. Research on P. brassicae in the Czech Republic is therefore important for the development of effective strategies to manage clubroot under Czech environmental conditions.
One of the aims of this study was monitoring of this pathogen. The disease was previously widespread in commercial vegetable production and in hobby gardens. Since 2010, oilseed rape clubroot started to spread across the whole country, whereas it had previously only been observed in the northeast. Clubroot occurrence was monitored for five years by the Union of Oilseed Growers and Processors on the basis of disease symptoms present on oilseed rape fields. The presence of P. brassicae and clubroot symptoms were reported in all regions of the Czech Republic, except the Ústecký Region, and in 31 out of 76 districts. At present, at least 130 fields are known to be infested by the pathogen, but this number is very likely underestimated. Some soil samples were also tested by conventional PCR (polymerase chain reaction) to evaluate the possibility of their usage. All 14 suspected samples tested positive by PCR.
The next aim was to evaluate the pathotype composition of P. brassicae populations from the Czech Republic, according to the three evaluation systems, and to determine soil inoculum loads for representative fields via traditional end-point PCR as well as quantitative PCR analysis. There were considerable differences between the populations of P. brassicae, and the number of pathotypes varied depending on the evaluation system and the threshold used to distinguish susceptible vs. resistant plant reactions. This is the first study comparing the effect of different thresholds. Using an index of disease (ID) of 25 % to distinguish susceptible vs. resistants reactions, there was a total of five pathotypes identified based on the differentials of Williams, five with the system of Somé et al., and 10 with the European Clubroot Differential (ECD) set. However, based on a threshold of 50%, there were five pathotypes according to the evaluation system by Williams, four based on the differentials of Somé et al. and 8 with the ECD set. Changing of the thresholds led to the reclassification of some pathotypes. Pathotypes 7 by Williams was the most frequent in both thresholds. High amounts of pathogen DNA were found in many of the field soils analysed by quantitative PCR.
Experiments with P. brassicae-resistant cultivars of winter oilseed rape were conducted in an infested field and greenhouse. In the greenhouse, six resistant cultivars were grown in infested soil collected from various fields in the Czech Republic and assessed for index of disease (ID %). The best results bring cultivar Mentor (2+- 0.7 %) closely followed by cultivar SY Alister (5+-1.1 %), the highest ID had cultivar CHW 241 (30+-3.8%). In the field experiment, seven resistant cultivars were grown, and disease development was monitored monthly. The lowest index of disease brought cultivar Andromeda (3+- 0.8 %) and PT 235 (4+-1.5 %), the highest ID has cultivar CWH 241(46 +- 6.5 %) in the first season and in the second season any cultivar achieved 25 % ID. Yields were measured at the end of the cropping season. The highest yield was achieved by cultivar SY Alister (6.1 t/ha) in the first season and cultivar PT 242 (5.03 t/ha) in the second season. The inoculum level was measured across the field by (qPCR), and a map of the infestation was created. The highest spore concentration was found on the field entrance. Collectively, the information obtained on the effectiveness of host resistance and pathogenic diversity of P. brassicae populations from the Czech Republic may help to more effectively manage clubroot in this country.
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Environmental risk assessment of ornamental aquaculture
Patoka, Jiří ; Kalous, Lukáš (advisor) ; Antonín, Antonín (referee)
The ornamental aquaculture comprises both outdoor and indoor keeping of aquatic animals and plants for ornamental purpose which is a very popular hobby with many followers worldwide. It is also commercially profitable for specialized producers and vendors. Associated environmental risks include particularly introduction of non-native species, biological invasions and intensive field capture of exploited and marketed species. Since subsequent regulation, mitigation and eradication of naturalised alien species is very difficult and ineffective in many cases, the most important above all is to prevent new introductions. This trend is accented with a short delay in European legislature. The European Union (EU) currently initiates formation of list of the most invasive alien species. Although invasive potential of certain ornamental species such as red-eared slider (Trachemys scripta elegans) is well known, the vast majority of traded species has never been tested and analysed from this point of view. Publications attached to this thesis are focused on monitoring and survey of market with ornamental animals, such as fishes and crayfishes, with special emphasis on list of advertised species, size classes, prices, origin and availability on market. With use of predictive models the probability of naturalisation and potential invasiveness of mentioned ornamental species were estimated. These information are supported by analysis of hobbyist behaviour. Results in present thesis highlight known environmental risks associated with ornamental aquaculture and also show detailed information about overlooked risks from the Czech Republic's as well as from EU perspective. Therefore this thesis should to help formation of aforementioned list of the undesirable species.
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ICT support for regional development
Očenášek, Vladimír ; Havlíček, Zdeněk (advisor) ; Vostrovský, Václav (referee)
There are many of different rankings in the world, which relate to information and communications technology. For example, United Nations e-Government survey evaluates expansion of e-government administration in 193 countries in the world every two years and publishes worldwide ranking of EGDI (e-government development index). Since 2003 web portals of the capitals of the largest countries in the world are evaluated evaluated by - Digital Governance in Municipalities Worldwide (Holzer et al., 2014) every two years. This rating is organized by the "The E-Governance Institute" which is part of Rutgers University Newark. Prague (15 in) was included for the first time in 2007. Prague was ranked in excellent 2nd place in 2009, in the period 2011 - 2012 was in 4th place and in the period 2013 - 2014, Prague ranked 10th. Our methods of evaluation are based on methods of Digital Governance in Municipalities Worldwide, which is focused on regional web portals. We evaluated 6 regional web portals using 40 parameters in the area privacy, usability, content, services, citizen and social engagement. For instance, we evaluated if web portal provides: online publications, multilingual access, GIS, calendar of events, searchable database of articles, accommodation reservation etc. For evaluation of regional web portals, we chose two regional touristic headquarters (Centrála cestovního ruchu -- Jižní Morava (www.ccrjm.cz), Jihočeská centrála cestovního ruchu www.jccr.cz)), one regional touristic web (Posázaví - vítejte v turistickém regionu kolem řeky Sázavy (www.posazavi.com)), two Austrian web portals, which represents cross-border cooperation between Austria and Czech republic (Urlaub am Bauerhof -- dovolená na selském statku (www.agroturistika-v-rakousku.cz), Rakousko -- přijeďte a ožijete (www.austria.info/cz)) and official touristic web portal of Switzerland (Officielle Website von Schweiz Tourismus (www.mojesvycarsko.com)). As it turned out during our model usage, which took into account five important areas, level of regional web portals significantly differ. Some criteria are fulfilled across the all sites, but some of them are partly or completely missing. Individual solutions therefore often prefer different criteria, thus providing different perspectives on the region and its issues. If all criteria were met, the informational content and thus even usefulness of the individual portals would rise. Theoretically, this would lead to a "content compatibility" of individual solutions, which would ultimately bring profit to users and consequently the visitors of their respective regions.
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Imputation of missing genetic markers SNP
Kranjčevičová, Anita ; Přibyl, Josef (advisor) ; Jindřich, Jindřich (referee)
Working with genomic information in cattle breeding has become a standard procedure. This study is focused on completion of missing genetic markers - SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms) - on genetic chips. More specifically completion of missing values in datasets which contain pieces of information about SNP occurence in cattle genome. These polymorfisms are used for evaluation of genomic relationship, prediction of genomic breeding values and for the valuation of tested animals. The most common chips used for genotyping are Illumina and Affymetrix. Each company develops its own techniques of genotype obtaining. Affymetrix has unified coding type of SNPs among chips of different generations and thus even older data can be used. Illumina uses many coding types between different generations of chips. Thus, direct comparison of SNPs is not possible. Illumina has chips of different density and financial costingness. Illumina chips have become a standard all over the world and it is used by all breeding companies. The most used software programs for imputations are Beagle, AlphaImpute, Impute 2, FindHap, DAGPHASE, FImputePedImpute and MaCH. Each software requires a relationship between genotyped individuals. In common breeding business the genotyping is not in train of generations. That is why our own methodological process was used. The aim of this study is to map the current research about the completion of missing genetic markers on genetic chips and to verify the calculation process. In total, it was created 8 models with different amount of tested SNPs. From 10 to 100 neighbouring loci was tested. The testing was processed at chosen loci in two datasets. Dataset A contained 260 bull genotypes of different breeds from the Czech Republic. Dataset B contained 3982 genotypes of pure Holstein bulls from nine countries. In the first case a very good results were obtained. The prediction of missing values was almost accurate with model reliability 100%. The only exception was for almost entirely homozygous loci where the reliability reached only 55%. When the second dataset was tested, the most extensive model reached the reliability of 80 90% even in case of homozygous loci. The prediction error value was higher than in the first case. It was proven that missing values prediction is possible to calculate using the neighbouring SNPs. The outputs of this study are to be the base for further study of genomic data.
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Political Aspects of Local Government - Vote Municipality Choice
Hrabovský, Ondřej ; Kopřiva, Radek (advisor) ; Kobzev Kotásková, Sylvie (referee)
The thesis deals with municipal elections. Its theoretical part comprises the definition of aspects of local government and the sum of influences impacting the voting behaviour of voters. Most attention is paid to the so-called preferential votin and its influence on the final character of results in municipal elections. The practical part compares, according to the Jakub Šeda´s methodology, the results of two consecutive electoral periods in fifteen randomly selected villages of the district Pilsen north, Czech Republic. The methodology follows the former councilors defending their mandate of embassy chair and their potential reelection. There were also observed the cases of voter´s choices affecting the order of elected candidates throughout the candidate list.
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Management of the implementation of European projects in ČSSZ
Thýnová, Tereza ; Kříž, Josef (advisor) ; Miloslav, Miloslav (referee)
The aim of this thesis is to reduce the number of negative audit findings, by improving the quality of project management Czech Social Security Administration (hereinafter the "CSSA") in the form of draft amendments to the project management methodology and system changes within the organization. The proposals will be based on the evaluation of existing project management methodology applied in the implementation of projects financed from EU Structural Funds in the programming period 2007 - 2013 with an emphasis on the possibilities of the proposed changes in the period 2014-2020.
The theoretical part defines basic terms as Czech Social Security Administration, project management methodology PRINCE2, European structural and investment funds, programming period 2014-2020 and operational programs of the Czech Republic.
The practical part begins with a brief introduction of project management directive Czech Social Security Administration no. 16/2013 and projects implemented by this organization in the programming period 2007-2013.
Following analysis of the applicable project management methodology and the CSSA
internal processes along with project documentation and structured interviews with
selected respondents from the environment of the CSSA.
The conclusion is based on analyzes of identified shortcomings analyzed environment and also proposes measures for their elimination.
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Selected factors affecting the performance of racehorses
Jirásková, Petra ; Vostrý, Luboš (advisor) ; Karel, Karel (referee)
The aim of this thesis is the selection of most significant factors influencing the performance of racehorses and a subsequent analysis of selected factors in terms of influence on the performance of racehorses in the Czech Republic. Furthermore, the scientific hypothesis was that the obtained databases would allow for an exact analysis of the influence concerning selected factors (gender, age, season of birth and others) on the performance of racehorses in the Czech Republic
The horses´ performance depends on a larger number of factors, which can be divided into two groups. The first group is the internal factors (genetic preconditions, build, constitution, temperament and character) and the second group is external factors, i.e. factors influenced by the environment and independent of a horse. The conditions of the environment along with the horses´genotype influence horses´performace the most.
There is a wide range of external factors, e.g. season in which the horse was born, weight at birth, rearing of a foal, preventative health care, nutrition, moving regime, training, conditions of a particular race, the impact of age and gender.
The aim of this thesis was to evaluate the influence of selected factors on the performance. The general handicap has been used as the basic indicator of performance in individual horses, which is the performance evaluation of a horse in races in a particular year. The final database has been created in Excel, in which some calculations and graphs have been carried out as well. The very statistical processing has been done in the R program.
The influence of the birth season, gender and age on the horses´ performance has been gradually evaluated. It has been found that in two-year horses the birth period significantly influences the age when starting races for the first time (i.e. the later the horses were born, the earlier they were able to start racing). Moreover, a connection between the amount of prize money and the gender in two-year horses has been found, with mares reaching higher prize money. A lower number of days from the birth to the first start in a race has been found in mares. An interesting connection has been found between the age of the first start and the general handicap rate (participating in the first race at the age of two had a positive influence on the handicap rate at the age of three.)
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