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Intraspecific variability in seeds nutrient stoichiometry
Kesl, Tomáš ; Mašková, Tereza (advisor) ; Konečná, Marie (referee)
Immediately after germination, the plants depend on the nutrients stored in the seed from which they germinated, until the nutrient intake is completely replaced by the mature leaves and roots. Nutrients in seeds are important for early development of vegetative organs. Their content and concentration in seeds can be influenced by various factors such as nutrient availability in soil, latitude, temperature, photoperiod, granivory and competition. This bachelor's thesis summarizes current knowledge about intraspecific and interspecific variability of seed nutrient stoichiometry, specifically nitrogen, phosphorus and carbon, as they most often limit plant growth. For all three elements, common and different trends can be observed, both at the intra-species and inter-species level. The only trend comparable between the intra-species and inter-species level is correlation of carbon seed concentration and latitude, while at the inter-species level there is also the opposite trend of negative correlation of latitude and carbon concentration in seeds. Other observed trends are not comparable between the intra-species and inter-species level. It is not possible to compare these trends, as there is lack of studies on the variability of seed nutrient stoichiometry. Therefore it is necessary to focus on seed...
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Molecular taxonomy of sand flies (Diptera: Psychodidae) in Europe
Grešová, Markéta ; Dvořák, Vít (advisor) ; Brzoňová, Jana (referee)
Phlebotomine sand flies (Diptera, Psychodidae) are small blood sucking insects which are only proven vectors of neglected tropical disease called leishmaniasis. Sand flies of the genus Phlebotomus act as vectors in the Old World and those of genus Lutzomyia are vectors in the New World. However, not all of them are capable of transmitting the disease. It is therefore crutial to conclusively determinate the species and have up-to-date knowledge of their natural occurence. Routine identification based on morphological characters is challenging due to intraspecific variability of these or their possible damage during the capture and preparation. In adition, correct assessment of distinctive cahracters, especially for females, is difficult and requires certain expertise. Thus, approaches of molecular taxonomy have been recently increasingly used for sand flies species determination. This thesis presents usage of DNA sequencing and MALDI-TOF protein profiling for routine determination of sand flies caught in southeastern Europe and adjacent regions, where we have lack of information of present sand flies species. Another part of this thesis focus on closer examination of relations between selected closely related species within species complexes. Key words: Phlebotomus, molacular identification, DNA...
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Morphological variation of Cameroonian sunbirds
Bovšková, Denisa ; Hořák, David (advisor) ; Chmelová, Eliška (referee)
5 Abstract Morphological traits give information about the adaptations of the studied species, the resources, which it uses, and they can generally tell us about the use of ecological space. Intraspecific morphological variability reflects various adaptations of local populations thus variability reflect different way of life. The subject of this thesis is an ecologically interesting group of specialized tropical songbirds - Sunbirds (Nectarinidae). The taxon exhibits number of adaptations to specific food collecting a combination of nectarivory and insect hunting. I focused here on the intraspecific variability of three species (Cyanomitra oritis, Cinnyris reichenowi and C. bouwieri) living in different habitats in Cameroon. The aim of this work was to find out in what morphological characters are this species sexually dimorphic. Furthermore, if their populations living in remote locations differ? Finally, if all studied species show similar trend of intraspecific variability of the traits, which could have common ecological causes. The following traits were measured: wing and tail feather length, beak dimensions, total body weight and other characters. The analysis is based on field data collected between 2003 and 2015 and museum collections. Overall, we collect information about ca. 1200 individuals for...
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The importance of enviromental conditions on plant-invertebrate herbivore interactions
Kuglerová, Marcela ; Münzbergová, Zuzana (advisor) ; Skuhrovec, Jiří (referee)
Plants and herbivores influence each other for more than million years. Most studies are focused on interspecific variability in herbivory intensity, but little i known about intraspecific variability and what controls it. Environmental conditions can determine intraspecific variation. Goal of this thesis is to examine importance of environmental conditions and interspecific variation for invertebrate herbivory preferences. Plant material that was used in experiments comes from several species from subfamily Carduoideae. Preferences of invertebrate herbivores are tested in food-choice experiments. Plastic arenas are made for these experiments, in which leaves are put in small tubes that are placed along the periphery. After herbivores are placed in to arena, arena is covered by net to ensure that herbivores can't escape. Plant material for experiments was grown in experimental garden and was also brought from field. Plants from garden differ in productivity of soil and water regime. In experiments with field material, plant leaves were collected from eight localities, four fields and four grasslands. Leaves were scanted before and after each experiment. Scans were processed and the amount of consumed leaf tissue was determined. For plant characteristics I measured plant functional traits, specific...
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Geographical variation of localisation in vertebrates
Cinerová, Michaela ; Petrusková, Tereza (advisor) ; Turčoková, Lucia (referee)
Sound expressing is common for a big amount of animal species, mostly when communicating with individuals of their own or other species. Acoustic communication can be used especially in situations or in the environment where an individual does not see a signal receiver well (confusing environment, at night or long distance). It's well-known that the individual species have their own characteristic acoustic expressions. However, these can differ also within the species itself, either in time or in space. This study is concerned just with variability of inter-species vocal communication of all vertebrates in space. Its purpose is to map at which animal species vocalization vary in space. Furthermore, it deals with searching for causes of origin of this variability, such as genetic differences among particular groups of populations, environmental and learning effects etc. within various animal species. In the last part, it tries to answer the question whether the spatial variability of acoustic signals could influence separation of new species and thus have evolutionary consequences.
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Craniometric study of Central European populations of the white-toothed shrews Crocidura suaveolens and C. leucodon (Mammalia: Soricomorpha)
Milerová, Petra ; Vohralík, Vladimír (advisor) ; Anděra, Miloš (referee)
Interspecific and intraspecific size variability of the skull, mandibles and teeth of the lesser white- toothed shrew Crocidura suaveolens and the bicolored white-toothed shrew C. leucodon was studied on material of 350 skulls and 465 mandibles of white-toothed shrews obtained by analysis of the barn owl pellets originating from four regions in the Czech Republic and one region in the southern Slovakia. C. suaveolens was present in all regions under study, while sympatric C. leucodon occurred in three regions only. In total, 21cranial and dental measurements and 4 mandibular measurements were investigated. It was found that the most reliable measurement enabling discrimination between skulls of both species in the whole studied material is the lenght of the lower dental row. If skulls of both species were evaluated separately for each area of their sympatry it was possible to use also the distance between second molars M2 and the width of premolar P4 . Skulls of these two species can also be distinguished by bivariate graphs using the length and width of premolar P4 and the palatal length. We studied relationships between cranial measurements of both species and geoclimatic factors such as longitude, latitude, mean annual temperature and mean annual percipitation. It was found that variability of...
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Different response of maize inbred and hybrid genotypes to drought: analysis of leaf proteome and photosynthetic processes
Benešová, Monika
Drought is one of the most important stress factors affecting plants. Increasing drought resistance via plant breeding is currently the main approach for improvement of plant productivity and reduction of water usage. Plant breeders and scientists search for reliable and easy methods of the determination of drought sensitivity in different genotypes. A precise knowledge about processes underlying plant stress response and defence against limited water availability is necessary for this. The aim of this study was a detailed analysis of photosynthetic processes and changes in leaf proteome (again aimed especially at proteins involved in photosynthesis) during drought stress. This analysis was a part of a complex project focused on the possible causes of genetic variability and drought resistance in agronomically important crops. Another goal was to analyse whether the measurement of selected photosynthetic parameters can be used for the determination of drought sensitivity per se and/or for the prediction of the response of hybrids based on known behaviour of their parents. Young plants of maize inbred lines and their hybrids were used as a model for this analysis, which was made under conditions of moderate and more severe drought. Two inbred lines which were (together with their F1 hybrids) used...
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Different response of maize inbred and hybrid genotypes to drought: analysis of leaf proteome and photosynthetic processes
Benešová, Monika ; Holá, Dana (advisor) ; Prášil, Ilja (referee) ; Pospíšilová, Jana (referee)
Drought is one of the most important stress factors affecting plants. Increasing drought resistance via plant breeding is currently the main approach for improvement of plant productivity and reduction of water usage. Plant breeders and scientists search for reliable and easy methods of the determination of drought sensitivity in different genotypes. A precise knowledge about processes underlying plant stress response and defence against limited water availability is necessary for this. The aim of this study was a detailed analysis of photosynthetic processes and changes in leaf proteome (again aimed especially at proteins involved in photosynthesis) during drought stress. This analysis was a part of a complex project focused on the possible causes of genetic variability and drought resistance in agronomically important crops. Another goal was to analyse whether the measurement of selected photosynthetic parameters can be used for the determination of drought sensitivity per se and/or for the prediction of the response of hybrids based on known behaviour of their parents. Young plants of maize inbred lines and their hybrids were used as a model for this analysis, which was made under conditions of moderate and more severe drought. Two inbred lines which were (together with their F1 hybrids) used...
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Inter-population variability of the bird song
Bílková, Jana ; Petrusková, Tereza (advisor) ; Musilová, Zuzana (referee)
Inter-population variability of the song is widespread phenomenon among birds. Populations of same species from different geographical areas might differ in vocalization. In case of dialects there are even no transitions between particular song forms, but clearly demarcated boundaries. Although the majority of studied cases concerns songbirds, it is possible to find examples in other orders as well. Studies showed that individuals inhabiting forests sing shorter and simpler songs with a lower frequency than their relatives from open landscapes. Changes in temporal and frequency characteristics can also be found in populations living in noisy cities. Different songs, however, are also produced by individuals from populations whose habitats do not show any significant differences. If these groups also differ genetically, then the different variants of song could be caused by heredity, especially in species with innate song. However, this variability may be the consequence instead of the cause of assortative mating, which might be the result of interpopulation variability in some cases. In species where the song is at least partially learned it is more likely that social interactions will play the key role - particularly if females prefer males singing local dialect or if sharing the song with neighbors...
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Exploration, neophobia and dietary conservatism in tits (Paridae)
Beranová, Eliška ; Exnerová, Alice (advisor) ; Fučíková, Eva (referee)
Neophobia and exploratory behaviour are two processes applied in great measure in birds' reactions towards novel stimuli. The specific demonstration of these two processes may differ between different species of birds as well as within them. We compared neophobia and exploratory behaviour in two species of tits (Paridae). Adult Great tits (Parus major) and Blue tits (Cyanistes caeruleus) did not differ neither in exploring novel environment and novel object nor in neophobia towards novel object near food. We have found great differences between juveniles of these two species. Juvenile Blue tits were more neophobic towards both novel objects. Age, sex and personality affected some differences within tested species. We tested whether there exist any differences in reactions towards novel food between and within species. We used red painted mealworm (larvae of Tenebrio molitor), house cricket (Acheta domestica) and aposematic bug (Pyrrhocoris apterus) as novel food. Adult wild-caught tits with plentiful experience with various feeds did not differ in reaction towards these types of novel food. In contrast hand-reared juvenile tits differed quite a lot. Juvenile Blue tits were more neophobic than juvenile Great tits towards all three types of novel food. We found dieraty conservatism, phenomenon...
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