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Ecological differences between herbs and woody plants, and evolution of the herbaceous habit
Klimeš, Adam ; Herben, Tomáš (advisor) ; Lens, Frederic (referee) ; Těšitel, Jakub (referee)
Ecological differences between herbs and woody plants, and evolution of the herbaceous habit Adam Klimeš, doctoral thesis Abstract Flowering plants (angiosperms), which make up most present-day vegetation, were originally woody. While flowering plants have repeatedly given rise to herbaceous lineages since their first appearance, we lack a clear explanation for these common evolutionary events. Freezing temperatures and drought periods have been proposed as factors which had caused huge success of the younger growth form but the evidence is very limited and not in favour of these hypotheses. In this thesis, we aimed to build the foundations of research on the evolution of herbs. We outlined new potential drivers of the evolution of herbs, suggested solutions to some methodological challenges and provided evidence about differences between herbs and woody plants relevant to the hypotheses on herb evolution. To this end, we used common garden experiments with young plants of both growth forms and global trait data from public databases which we evaluated using phylogenetic comparative techniques. Annuality of aboveground biomass and fast life-strategy of herbs are characteristics which differentiate them from woody plants and which in some conditions are expected to be behind their success. Apart from the...
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Ethics of biological invasions
Klimeš, Adam ; Komárek, Stanislav (advisor) ; Jirsa, Jakub (referee)
The Ethics of Biological Invasions Etika biologických invazí Řešitel: Adam Klimeš Vedoucí práce: prof. RNDr. Stanislav Komárek, Dr. Abstract There is a considerable attention ascribed to the phenomenon of biological invasions - to the fast spread of nonnative species in certain area. However evaluation of the biological invasions is usually limited to the calculation of damage costs and means spent on the control of nonnative species. The ethical aspect is marginalized this way, although as it conserns living orgamisms, such aspect is inevitably present. Presented study deals with identification, foundation and analysis of all values threatened by biological invasion or by its control. This can be considered as basis for establishment of an ethical approach to evaluation of biological invasions. Indentified values are instrumental value, value of individuals, species, live and esthetic value.
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The role of phenotypic plasticity in parallel altitudinal differentiation in Arabidopsis arenosa
Požárová, Doubravka ; Kolář, Filip (advisor) ; Klimeš, Adam (referee)
Plants adjust to challenging environments by genetically fixed changes and phenotypically plastic response. Alpine environments pose multiple challenges to plant life including cold, high irradiance and short vegetative period. To survive such specific conditions, plants often significantly alter their morphology. In my thesis I studied to which extent specific traits of alpine ecotypes repeatedly appear among independently formed alpine populations and to which extent these changes represent fixed genotypic differentiation vs phenotypic plasticity. To address these questions I performed an experiment in which Arabidopsis arenosa plants from sixteen populations belonging to two ecotypes (alpine and foothill) were grown in conditions resembling alpine vs foothill conditions. Specifically, I modified levels of irradiance and temperature and complemented alpine-like and foothill-like treatment by additional two extreme treatments to reach full-factorial design. I used discriminant and classificatory analysis to examine the overall morphological differentiation characterised by set of twenty measured traits. Then I examined variation in each trait by statistical Bayesian model that I designed for this purpose. I found out that although ecotypes are predominantly differentiated by fixed morphological...
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Ecological differences between herbs and woody plants, and evolution of the herbaceous habit
Klimeš, Adam ; Herben, Tomáš (advisor) ; Lens, Frederic (referee) ; Těšitel, Jakub (referee)
Ecological differences between herbs and woody plants, and evolution of the herbaceous habit Adam Klimeš, doctoral thesis Abstract Flowering plants (angiosperms), which make up most present-day vegetation, were originally woody. While flowering plants have repeatedly given rise to herbaceous lineages since their first appearance, we lack a clear explanation for these common evolutionary events. Freezing temperatures and drought periods have been proposed as factors which had caused huge success of the younger growth form but the evidence is very limited and not in favour of these hypotheses. In this thesis, we aimed to build the foundations of research on the evolution of herbs. We outlined new potential drivers of the evolution of herbs, suggested solutions to some methodological challenges and provided evidence about differences between herbs and woody plants relevant to the hypotheses on herb evolution. To this end, we used common garden experiments with young plants of both growth forms and global trait data from public databases which we evaluated using phylogenetic comparative techniques. Annuality of aboveground biomass and fast life-strategy of herbs are characteristics which differentiate them from woody plants and which in some conditions are expected to be behind their success. Apart from the...
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Community ecology from the perspective of classic and bayesian statistics
Klimeš, Adam ; Keil, Petr (advisor) ; Herben, Tomáš (referee)
Community ecology from the perspective of classic and Bayesian statistics Ekologie společenstev z hlediska klasické a Bayesovské statistiky Řešitel: Adam Klimeš Vedoucí práce: Mgr. Petr Keil, Ph.D. Abstract Quantitative evaluation of evidence through statistics is a central part of present-day science. Bayesian approach represents an emerging but rapidly developing enrichment of statistical analysis. The approach differs in its foundations from the classic methods. These differences, such as the different interpretation of probability, are often seen as obstacles for acceptance of Bayesian approach. In this thesis I outline ways to deal with the assumptions of Bayesian approach, and I address the main objections against it. I present Bayesian approach as a new way to handle data to answer scientific questions. I do this from a standpoint of community ecology: I illustrate the novelty that Bayesian approach brings to data analysis of typical community ecology data, specifically, the analysis of multivariate datasets. I focus on principal component analysis, one of the typical and frequently used analytical techniques. I execute Bayesian analyses that are analogical to the classic principal components analysis, I report the advantages of the Bayesian version, such as the possibility of working with...
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Ethics of biological invasions
Klimeš, Adam ; Komárek, Stanislav (advisor) ; Jirsa, Jakub (referee)
The Ethics of Biological Invasions Etika biologických invazí Řešitel: Adam Klimeš Vedoucí práce: prof. RNDr. Stanislav Komárek, Dr. Abstract There is a considerable attention ascribed to the phenomenon of biological invasions - to the fast spread of nonnative species in certain area. However evaluation of the biological invasions is usually limited to the calculation of damage costs and means spent on the control of nonnative species. The ethical aspect is marginalized this way, although as it conserns living orgamisms, such aspect is inevitably present. Presented study deals with identification, foundation and analysis of all values threatened by biological invasion or by its control. This can be considered as basis for establishment of an ethical approach to evaluation of biological invasions. Indentified values are instrumental value, value of individuals, species, live and esthetic value.
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Ethics of biological invasions
Klimeš, Adam ; Komárek, Stanislav (advisor) ; Jirsa, Jakub (referee)
The Ethics of Biological Invasions Etika biologických invazí Řešitel: Adam Klimeš Vedoucí práce: prof. RNDr. Stanislav Komárek, Dr. Abstract There is a considerable attention ascribed to the phenomenon of biological invasions - to the fast spread of nonnative species in certain area. However evaluation of the biological invasions is usually limited to the calculation of damage costs and means spent on the control of nonnative species. The ethical aspect is marginalized this way, although as it conserns living orgamisms, such aspect is inevitably present. Presented study confront several theories of environmental ethics with examples of practical environmental policies concerning biological invasions and asks, with of these theories may work as substantiation of strategies aplied in practice.
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