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Experimental Electro-Mechanical Musical Drum Instrument
Šípek, Petr ; Schimmel, Jiří (referee) ; Dlouhý, Dan (advisor)
The aim of the bachelor thesis is to design and create an experimental mechanic-electrical drum instrument, namely a hybrid percussion instrument, using various resonant materials and oscillators supplemented by mechanical tuning in the main part of the instrument. Part of the instrument will consist of a series of piezoelectric transducers scanning individual segments of the musical instrument. It will be possible to edit each individual created sound by using effects.
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Flow cytometry in insects biosystematics
Javůrková, Jaroslava ; Šípek, Petr (advisor) ; Sadílek, David (referee)
The size of the genome, or DNA content in cells, is expressed using the so-called C-value, i.e. the weight of DNA in units of pg, or as 2C-values for the DNA content in somatic cells of diploid organisms. A simple method used, among other things, to determine the size of the genome is flow cytometry. This method has traditionally been very popular, especially among botanists, where it is mainly used in taxonomic and population studies or for determining the ploidy of individual lines. Conversely, genome size in animals and insects is relatively little studied. Of the more than a million described insect species, the genome size is known for only hundreds of them. This work provides information on the genome size of eighty-eight species of insects from selected orders of the Polyneoptera group - four species of earwigs (Dermaptera), four species of weavers (Embioptera), fourteen species of mantises (Mantodea), seventeen species of stick insects (Phasmatodea), forty-six species of grasshoppers, locusts, and crickets (Orthoptera), one species of termite (Isoptera, Blattodea) and two species of stoneflies (Plecoptera). The determined absolute genome sizes and variance rates were compared within individual orders, within the Polyneoptera group, and compared with the genome sizes of other insect taxa....
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The impacts of climate change on the European populations of Orthoptera (Insecta: Orthoptera)
Horáčková, Kateřina ; Šípek, Petr (advisor) ; Dvořák, Tomáš (referee)
Climate change has a significant impact on the environment and ecosystems around the world. Insects od the order Orthoptera, which form an important part of biodiversity and participate in a number of ecosystem functions, are no exception. This bachelor's thesis tries to summarize the available information on the effects of climate change on Orthoptera and on their ecological interactions in Europe. In the individual chapters, I analyze the effect of climate change on insects in general and, as well as on my focal group. The results imply that that alpine species will either shift their distribution areas to higher altitudes or shift their northern limit of occurrence. If such species no longer have anywhere to expand, there is a risk of losing their optimal living conditions with all possible consequences. In the Czech Republic, the northward expansion of the distribution ranges (spread) of some of the 96 species living here has been recorded. An example can be the katydid species Ruspolia nitidula, which is newly spreading, for example, in the Odra aluvium. Other species are for example katydids Phaneroptera falcata and Phaneroptera nana whose spread is also attributed to climate change. Key words: Orthoptera, climate change, distribution, Europe, ecology, change in physiology insects
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Compensatory schemes for the support of insect populations in open landscape
Jor, Tomáš ; Šípek, Petr (advisor) ; Kadlec, Tomáš (referee)
Insect biodiversity of hay meadows seemingly decreased during the last fifty years due to the land abandonment and radical intensification of agriculture. In contrast to the traditional mowing regime and techniques, nowadays farmers are able to harvest hay from large areas of grasslands with modern machine mowing in a very short time period. This results in a uniform vegetation structure with low food resources for the vast majority of insect species bound to the hay meadows. In order to contradict these trends the European agro-environmental schemes were established. In the Czech Republic these schemes determine specific time and a homogenous regime of mowing. In this thesis we present the results of the study of the effect of uncut grass strips as a compensation measure to promote biodiversity on commercial hay meadows Pitfall traps, yellow pan traps, window traps and individual transects walks were used for monitoring diversity and biomass of intercepted insects and arachnids on 21 sites located in the Český ráj region. The statistical analyses show a (i) significant positive effect of uncut strips on insect biomass and species richness on the treatment sites (Multidimensional analysis (RDA) showed (iv) a positive significant effect of uncut strips on species composition for all studied insect...
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The impact of uncut strips on the hay meadows to spider communities
Rothová, Helena ; Šípek, Petr (advisor) ; Hula, Vladimír (referee)
Until recently, the importance of grasslands in supporting biodiversity in Central Europe has been overlooked. It is only recently that the view that attention needs to be paid to this topic has become more prevalent. Grassland habitats are the most biodiverse places and many organisms have adapted to their traditional management. The post-war intensification of agriculture, associated with the intensive use of fertilizers, pesticides, large-scale mowing and the general homogenisation of production communities, has had a negative impact on overall biodiversity. The main causes of arthropod mortality include use of chemicals, mechanical destruction, resource and habitat loss. The European Union has therefore introduced a set of so-called agri-environmental-climatic measures (AEKO) to promote biodiversity in agroecosystems. Unfortunately, the partly erroneous and overly technocratic conditions of these measures have often caused them to be ineffective or even counterproductive. There is also a lack of knowledge about the impact of the measures on local communities. At the instigation of the Agency for Nature Conservation of the Czech Republic (AOPK ČR) and the company Envipor s.r.o., we tested the effect of unmown strips on different arthropod groups on 22 production meadows in the vicinity of the...
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The efect of uncut grass strips on the functional diversity of selected meadow insects communities
Kapr, Jan ; Šípek, Petr (advisor) ; Harabiš, Filip (referee)
This thesis compares the species diversity and the functional diversity of three ecologically important insect taxa (Orthoptera, Heteroptera and Hymenoptera:Aculeata) between production meadows, where the uncut grass strips are left and the meadows mown in the conventional way. Leaving the uncut strips of vegetation is an example of the agri-environmental schemes which were introduced to try to mitigate the negative impact of intensive agriculture on the biodiversity of the production grassland. Here I present part of the results of a four-year study focused on the response of insect abundance and diversity to the meadow management. Based on the recorded insect species diversity, the ecological traits of the insect species were analysed. The functional diversity analysis helps to better understand the ecological relationships in production meadow communities and to evaluate the importance of this agri-environmental scheme for various insect taxonomical and functional groups. Key words: uncut grass strips, agro-envi schemes, functional diversity, production meadows, insect decline
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Flow cytometry in insects biosystematics
Javůrková, Jaroslava ; Šípek, Petr (advisor) ; Sadílek, David (referee)
The size of the genome, in other words the content of DNA in the gametic cells of organisms, is expressed using the C-value indicating the number of nuclear base pairs in units of Mpb or the mass of DNA in units of pg. A simple method used, among other things, to determine the size of the genome is flow cytometry, which in recent years has been very popular, especially among botanists. The study of insects is lagging behind in regard to the number of described species of insect numbering more than one million in comparison to the number of species whose genome size is known (only a few hundred of them). This diploma thesis therefore aims to expand the dataset on the size of the genomes of representatives of the Polyneoptera group, to compare the data found within individual orders and to help understand the links of genome size to the evolution and ecology of insects. This work provides genome size information for eighty species of insects of the Polyneoptera group. The results showed the largest insect genome measured so far - the locust Dictyophorus griseus (149.33 pg), whose genome size exceeds the previously published results by several times. Key words: flow cytometry, genome size, c-value, Polyneoptera
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Parental Care in Insects and its Didactic Use in Teaching
Mázdrová, Vendula ; Říhová, Dagmar (advisor) ; Šípek, Petr (referee)
In my bachelor thesis, I focus on parental care in insects, its types and forms. At the same time, I present in more detail a parental care of offspring in individual representatives of insect orders. I also explain the concept of eusocial insect. In this part of my thesis I also focus on the research of literature, which in closer look describes orders of insects and parental care of their offspring. In the second, practical part, I first analyse primary school nature science textbooks to determine the extent to which parental care is taught in primary schools. I further analyse the school curriculum (SCP) and the thematic plan at a particular elementary school in Davle. I also develop didactic tools suitable for teaching - a worksheet and three didactic games that can be used in teaching nature science in the sixth grade at the primary school. Two of the created didactic tools were used in an implemented lesson at the elementary school in Davle. Finally, I write about the course of the lesson, its objectives, and I clearly describe its different parts chronologically. Finally, I summarize the lesson and compare it with similar didactic methods used by other authors in their works. Key words: social insect, offspring, parental care, lesson, game, worksheet
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Reasons for the global decline of insect populations
Váňová, Barbora ; Šípek, Petr (advisor) ; Sedláček, Ondřej (referee)
This thesis deals with the issue of global decline in insect populations. Insects are one of the most numerous and diversified groups of animals in the world. This community plays irreplaceable roles in nature, contributing to the proper functioning of the entire ecosystem. However, fairly compelling evidence has now begun to emerge of long-term insect declines around the world. These declines are caused by many causes and factors that contribute to varying degrees of decline in the abundance and diversity of insect populations, and are often interrelated. The aim of this thesis is therefore to provide an overview of this global problem, and in particular its main causes. The topic has been elaborated through the study of scientific literature and subsequent presentation of the impact of individual factors on specific insect species or groups. It was found that the main reasons for the decline of insect populations are the loss of natural habitats, pollution, the spread of invasive species and pathogens, climate crisis and light pollution. Keywords: insect decline, population, biodiversity, biomass, agriculture, land use, global change
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The phylogeny of the Protaetia Burmeister, 1842 flower beetles in the western palearctic region
Žďárská, Kateřina ; Šípek, Petr (advisor) ; Bezděk, Aleš (referee)
This diploma thesis deals with the phylogeny and phylogeography of flower beetles of the genus Protaetia, especially with the complicated taxonomic complex around the species Protaetia (Potosia) cuprea, P. cuprina and P. caucasica in the western Palearctic region. In light of the results presented by Vondráček et al. (2018), it seems that the classic taxonomic approach, based only on coloration, geographical distribution or poorly analysed morphological characters, is not able to adequately explain the evolution of the taxon, nor correctly identify individual taxa at the species level (i.e. species and subspecies). To understand the evolution of the group and the population structure, it is therefore necessary to use the now standard molecular-phylogenetic approaches as well. Based on analyses of one nuclear (internal transcribed spacer 1) and two mitochondrial genes (cytochrome oxidase I and cytochrome b) from 231 individuals, a phylogenetic hypothesis of the West Palaearctic representatives of the genus Protaetia was compiled. It was found that the currently recognized subgenera of the genus do not correspond to the results of the analyses. The subgenera Eupotosia, Netocia and Potosia proved to be non- monophyletic. Within the species complex of P. cuprea, in addition to the European clade of P....
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