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Ecological interactions and niche differentiation of coexisting freshwater amphipods
Bystřický, Pavel Karel ; Petrusek, Adam (advisor) ; Pařil, Petr (referee)
Freshwater amphipods are ecologically important crustacean group. They act mainly as shredders of detritus in fast-running and cold waters, contributing to the nutrient cycles. Ecological interactions within this group are interesting especially in connection with a considerable degree of cryptic diversity, as well as due to contacts of invasive and native species. This thesis deals with so far studied interactions between syntopic species or lineages, especially those that may affect coexistence or competitive exclusion, such as: different levels of selective predation, ecologically significant differences in morphology or behavior, varying degrees of aggressiveness or intraguild predation, and differences in habitat preferences or resource use ability. Due to the large number of newly discovered cryptic lineages, only little effort has been invested to studies of their ecological interactions. For the time being, research has been limited to sexual interactions (potential reproductive interference or hybridization), differences in habitat preferences, or infestation rates by parasites. It is worth mentioning that only a few lineages have been explored in this way, and the lessons learned from these few works cannot yet be generalized. In my work, I focus on cryptic species complexes in which at...
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Invasive Alien Species - An Investigative Survey Aimed at the General Public
Obstová, Barbora ; Berchová, Kateřina (advisor) ; Hana, Hana (referee)
This diploma thesis deals with the issues of biological invasions on the general lay public and examines their level of awareness and knowledge of invasive alien species, in particular, plants and animals. The theoretical part is devoted to the basic characteristics of invasive and non-native organisms, through literature. The practical part investigates in detail specific responses of a sample of respondents defined in terms of two different model areas - the city of Prague and the countryside. The practical part uses the method of a survey questionnaire. The practical part also describes the most important aspects of the survey, primarily the preparation, structure, conduct and analysis of results. Finally the results are compared with results of survey conducted in a different area.
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