|
Species diversity of vascular plants in alpine vegetation of the Western Carpathian mountains on different spatial scales and its connection to soil pH
Anderlová, Nikoleta ; Sklenář, Petr (advisor) ; Macek, Martin (referee)
Alpine regions are hotspots of species diversity and are therefore at focal center of scientific interest. The research aiming to understand the influences and patterns that shape this unique environment, is complicated by mulitple metodological issues stemming from unclear definitions of used terms as well as the existence of various methodological approaches and their constrains/limitations. The breadth of the topic of species diversity, which can be viewed from multitude of perspectives, is also adding to complications. This work summarizes the most important information in available literature and addresses important correlations and trends in environmental variables and species diversity of alpine meadows in the areas of Malá Fatra, Nízke Tatry, Roháče, and Belianske Tatry. At the center of attention is the widely accepted theory of higher species richness in areas with basic, calcareous substrates compared to areas with acidic, silicate substrates in Europe. To confirm this theory at different spatial scales in alpine environment, hierarchical sampling was chosen. A total of 96 samples containing data on the presence/absence of plants and relevant environmental factors, including pH measurements, were obtained. The structure of these data was visualized using ordination techniques such as PCA...
|
|
Population genetics of grey wolf in Western Carpathians
Veselovská, Lenka ; Hulva, Pavel (advisor) ; Suchomel, Josef (referee)
The grey wolf is a top predator that plays a keystone role in maintaining the ecological balance of forested habitats. This master thesis focuses on the population structure and demography of the grey wolves in Slovakia, using data collected over two winter seasons between 2017 and 2019. Special attention is directed to the Western Carpathians. In Slovakia, the range of the wolf may cover up to 60% of the whole area. The population size and structure of grey wolves are influenced by both natural factors, such as mountain ranges isolation and dispersal, and anthropogenic influences, such as population fragmentation caused by linear infrastructure and increased mortality from traffic collisions. Additionally, the annual culling quotas for grey wolves have had an impact on their populations until recently. Mainly a non-invasive genetics approach utilizing selected 10 nuclear microsatellite markers, a marker for sex detection and mitochondrial sequences was used. Firstly, the species determination was verified and data quality filtering was carried out under statistical control. The sex ratio of the examined sample was 1:1,3. Mitochondrial data were assigned to haplotypes to help infer population origin. Bayesian clustering analysis of microsatellite data using the STRUCTURE program was used to...
|
|
Age of metamorphism and geodynamic evolution of Vepor Unit in the Central Western Carpathians
Rajmonová, Eliška ; Jeřábek, Petr (advisor) ; Peřestý, Vít (referee)
Western Carpathians are characteristic for their complicated geological structure and uncertain tectogenesis. To understand the context of geological structure and evolution it is important to date the rock units and compare the results with geochemical analysis. The dating can bring results of the age of rocks or of their specific minerals. And because the minerals do not grow at the same time in the rocks, it is possible to date the exact event, which is connected with the growth of an exact mineral and with that connected structure. With respect to the results of dating and observing it is possible to create a model of geological evolution in the locality and support the idea of an exact geological period. The subject of this research is the Vepor Unit in the Central Western Carpathians. The dated rocks (orthogneiss and quartzite) contain garnets that are a product of metamorphosis and for that reason, the garnets are younger than the protolith. This research aims to find the age of the garnets and the age of the associated metamorphosis using the Lu-Hf method. Based on some older articles the age of metamorphosis is assumed to be on the boundary of the Lower and Upper Cretaceous. The research is also focused on the chemical composition of garnets and the macroscopical structure of the rocks...
|
|
Relationship between recent and Holocene mollusc fauna diversity of the Veľká Fatra Mts.
Kubíková, Kateřina ; Juřičková, Lucie (advisor) ; Horáček, Ivan (referee)
Quaternary molluscs assemblages are one of the most important sources of information used for palaeoecology and biogeography reconstructions, yet little attention has been paid to the informative value of quaternary profiles on a landscape spatial scale. In the area of Velka Fatra Mts., a large number of existing records concerning both recent and quaternary land snails enable us to compare Holocene and recent species diversity to estimate how many profiles are needed to evaluate species richness of such geomorphologically diverse area. In this study, available data are supplemented with samples from additional recent sites and quantitative analysis of material from quaternary profiles Stankovany and Skamenelá skala. In recent sites, 129 species of terrestrial molluscs were recorded (more than 72 % of land snail species occurring in Slovakia). Samples from all seven Holocene profiles yielded 93 species, covering more than 85 % of recent land snails diversity. On the other hand, only about 50 % of recent land snail species were recorded in a single profile, thus highlighting the importance of multiple profiles evaluation in palaeoecological studies.
|
|
Využití mikrosatelitních markerů pro studium populační struktury jelenovitých v západních Karpatech
Gřundělová, Alžběta
The aim of this work was to analyze nuclear microsatellite markers, which were processed by methods of landscape genetics and then compared with mitochondrial sequences (mtDNA) from previous research. Microsatellite analysis was performed using 11 microsatellite sequences with a total of 188 alleles. A total of 94 individuals were analyzed, divided into 3 subpopulations. The average expected heterozygosity of 0.82 and the average observed heterozygosity of the whole population was 0.72. There is a gene flow between the subpopulations. Transport infrastructure affects the flow of genes to a small extent.
|
|
Western Carpathians as diversity hotspot during the Quaternary climatic cycle
Kubíková, Kateřina ; Juřičková, Lucie (advisor) ; Horáček, Ivan (referee)
In the context of the entire Europe, the Western Carpathians is a unique area of priceless biological significance. Topological complexity, together with significant climatic and edaphic variability, is reflected in the high habitat heterogeneity and has enabled the survival of a large number of species in this area during the Quaternary climatic cycle. The Western Carpathians thus represents one of the most important glacial as well as interglacial refugium in Europe. The result of these environmental variables and the unique history of this region is an enormous species diversity, a high degree of endemism and the occurrence of many glacial relics. This bachelor's thesis contains a review of mainly zoological studies dealing with high biodiversity and degree of endemism in the Western Carpathians and its possible causes. The role of the Western Carpathians as an important Pleistocene refugium, its influence on other parts of Europe and the postglacial development of the area are discussed in individual chapters.
|
|
Exhumation of mid-crustal rocks by a brittle-ductile unroofing mechanism, an example from the Veporic crystalline complex in the West Carpathians
Bukovská, Zita ; Jeřábek, Petr (advisor) ; Milovský, Rastislav (referee)
Study of the structural and metamorphic record of the eastern part of contact zone within Vepor and Gemer units in Central West Carpathians has interpreted the burial and exhumation in the evolution of alpine orogeny. The studied area is built by granitoid rocks of Vepor basement and metapelites of cover sequences both Vepor and Gemer units. Three structural fabrics have been identified in the area, which are correlated with so far described deformation stages. Higher metamorphosed rocks with presence of two generation garnets were found out within lower metamorphosed metapelites of cover sequences. From the garnet - biotite thermometry the metamorphic conditions for the rims were established to 550-580řC. Whereas muscovite and in some case chlorite, are the only metamorphic phases in neighbouring cover rocks. Three generations of white micas are documented within structural fabrics. The oldest muscovites, magmatic in origin (Ms1), younger phengites (Phg) present in fabrics S1 and youngest muscovites (Ms2) present in fabric S2. The study of quartz microstructures distinguished aggregates and from aggregates coming band microstructures. These are mostly found in deformed granitoids, sometimes also in cover quartzites and can have sigma-shape geometry. The aggregate microstructure, representing S1...
|
|
Ekologie rysa ostrovida (Lynx lynx) a vlka obecného (Canis lupus) v oblasti Západních Karpat a jejich význam v lesním ekosystému
Kutal, Miroslav
The abundance and population density of the Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) were studied during two winters 2011/2012 and 2012/2013 in the in Beskydy and Kysuce protected landscape areas in the West Carpathians in the Czech-Slovak borderline. A combination of camera trapping, photographic capture-mark-recapture (CMR) and simultaneously conducted snow tracking revealed 11 independent lynx in both seasons in the total area of 1500 km2 and overall population density of 0.7 lynx/100 km2. High population turnover of 54.5% was documented between the two winters, indicating a strong anthropogenic pressure at the edge of the West Carpathian population. The main prey of Eurasian lynx in winter was a roe deer (81%) and red deer (16%). The occurrence of wolves (Canis lupus) was considered to be sporadic and probably limited to only a few individuals. The nearest reproductive packs were documented at a distance of 10--50 km from the Czech border in the Slovak Carpathians.
|