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Endozoochorous seed dispersal by free ranging herbivores
Lepková, Barbora
Endozoochorous dispersal of seeds is a very common phenomenon which may occur anywhere some animals feed on plants bearing mature seeds. Endozoochory has been identified as a potential driver for long-distance migration but there is a strong discrepancy between endozoochory by frugivorous animals and herbivores. Despite the fact that the latter has been observed as early as a century ago, our understanding of the herbivorous endozoochory is still limited, even more so when it comes to the free-ranging wild species of herbivores. Furthermore, the endozoochorous dispersal shows significant differences between study areas and between herbivore species suggesting we need information about the process from various study areas to draw any conclusions. This thesis aimed to: (i) research the species composition found in dung samples of wild boars and deer, (ii) quantify the effect of deer dung deposition on vegetation of dry grasslands, (iii) establish the adaptation of plant species to the passage through digestive tract, and (iv) disentangle the drivers of species composition dispersed in dung. The results of my research indicates: (i) the species composition in dung samples differs up to a point between deer and wild boars: some species are dispersed by both dispersers while other only by one of them....
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Endozoochorous seed dispersal by free ranging herbivores
Lepková, Barbora ; Herben, Tomáš (advisor) ; Eycott, Amy Elizabeth (referee) ; Mudrák, Ondřej (referee)
Endozoochorous dispersal of seeds is a very common phenomenon which may occur anywhere some animals feed on plants bearing mature seeds. Endozoochory has been identified as a potential driver for long-distance migration but there is a strong discrepancy between endozoochory by frugivorous animals and herbivores. Despite the fact that the latter has been observed as early as a century ago, our understanding of the herbivorous endozoochory is still limited, even more so when it comes to the free-ranging wild species of herbivores. Furthermore, the endozoochorous dispersal shows significant differences between study areas and between herbivore species suggesting we need information about the process from various study areas to draw any conclusions. This thesis aimed to: (i) research the species composition found in dung samples of wild boars and deer, (ii) quantify the effect of deer dung deposition on vegetation of dry grasslands, (iii) establish the adaptation of plant species to the passage through digestive tract, and (iv) disentangle the drivers of species composition dispersed in dung. The results of my research indicates: (i) the species composition in dung samples differs up to a point between deer and wild boars: some species are dispersed by both dispersers while other only by one of them....
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Will refaunation by feral horse affect five checkerspot butterfly species (\kur{Melitaea} Fabricius, 1807) coexisting at xeric grasslands of Podyji National Park, Czech Republic?
VODIČKOVÁ, Veronika
This thesis focuses on the population structure of five frittilary butterfly species - Melitaea athalia, M. cinxia, M. didyma, M. britomartis and M. aurelia - co-occurring on two xeric grassland localities of the Podyjí National Park, Czech Republic - Havranické vřesoviště and Mašovická střelnice. Recently, both of these sites are threatened by succession and degradation processes. Due to that, they have been chosen for whole season grazing by a large herbivore (Exmoor pony). This study describes adult demography structure, adult mobility and adult habitat requirements of the five butterflies prior to the grazing management establishment.
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Environmental factors determining the occurrence of dry grassland vegetation in Turnov region
Jagošová, Eliška ; Novák, Jan (advisor) ; Větvičková, Anna (referee)
Species diversity of vegetation is a result of not only present, but also past processes. Additionally vegetation is affected by local factors, as well as regional. Dry grasslands are significant due to their abundance of species. Farming and land-use changes lead to succession changes and subsequently also to changes in species diversity. The gradual degradation of habitats leads to a loss of species diversity, therefore, dry grasslands are becoming one of the most endangered vegetation types of Central Europe. The first part of this thesis focuses on dry grasslands in general. It presents the characteristics of this vegetation type, factors determining its occurrence and spread, historical context, threats, and possibilities of their protection. The second part focuses on evaluating the knowledge about dry grasslands in the region of Turnovská pahorkatina. The occurrence of this vegetation type within the framework of this region is marginal and centred only in specific habitats. This thesis also includes data about the occurrence of dry grasslands in the region of Turnovská pahorkatina and the characteristic of the natural conditions and historical development of these localities. The purpose of this bachelor thesis is to find out which of the factors affect the occurrence of dry grasslands in a...
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Landscape structure, habitat properties, species traits or chance: What determines distribution of grassland plants in abandoned fields?
Knappová, Jana ; Münzbergová, Zuzana (advisor) ; Hájek, Michal (referee) ; De Bello, Francesco (referee)
Semi-natural grasslands are among the most threatened habitats in Europe, endangered mainly by cessation of former management practices and conversion into other types of land use. Extensive research has been carried out in European grasslands in last decades, to explain origins of diversity and to provide guidelines for its conservation. However, the very slow response of perennial plants to landscape changes often impedes to accurately evaluate why species occur just where they occur and not elsewhere. Abandoned fields are perceived as potential habitats for species from declining grasslands. Indeed, many species are able to spontaneously colonise abandoned fields, but many other species are absent from communities that develop there. An important question remains what limits their successful establishment. By answering this question, we can gain also important insights into factors determining species distribution in grasslands because colonization of recently abandoned fields by grassland species is the ongoing process which is not obscured by historical changes in landscape structure. The very basic aim of this thesis was to evaluate the status quo of dry grassland plants in fields abandoned in last two decades. And in the second step, to identify what are the main constrains of successful...
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Dynamics of species of fragmented dry grasslands at the landscape scale
Hemrová, Lucie ; Münzbergová, Zuzana (advisor) ; De Bello, Francesco (referee) ; Zelený, David (referee)
Past extensive changes in land use have resulted in fragmentation of species habitats. Changes in landscape structure have provoked discussion about the prospects of species of fragmented habitats in the future agricultural landscape. Landscape dynamics of plant species is basically a result of extinction and colonization rates. Many studies have confirmed the former expectation that a number of habitats suitable for a plant species in a landscape stay unoccupied. The differences in species distribution and proportion of suitable habitats occupied by a given species are hypothesized to be due to the area and isolation of suitable habitats and colonization and survival ability of a given species. To understand species dynamics in a changing landscape, first we have to reveal the relationships between the distribution of species and their proportion of occupied habitats, habitat age, habitat configuration and species colonization and survival ability. After the complete understanding of the determinants of species dynamics we will be able to predict reliably species prospect in the future. The very basic aim of this thesis was to reveal the determinants of landscape dynamics of dry grassland species in terms of their distribution and frequency in the landscape. The importance of correct identification...
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Dynamics of species of fragmented dry grasslands at the landscape scale
Hemrová, Lucie
Past extensive changes in land use have resulted in fragmentation of species habitats. Changes in landscape structure have provoked discussion about the prospects of species of fragmented habitats in the future agricultural landscape. Landscape dynamics of plant species is basically a result of extinction and colonization rates. Many studies have confirmed the former expectation that a number of habitats suitable for a plant species in a landscape stay unoccupied. The differences in species distribution and proportion of suitable habitats occupied by a given species are hypothesized to be due to the area and isolation of suitable habitats and colonization and survival ability of a given species. To understand species dynamics in a changing landscape, first we have to reveal the relationships between the distribution of species and their proportion of occupied habitats, habitat age, habitat configuration and species colonization and survival ability. After the complete understanding of the determinants of species dynamics we will be able to predict reliably species prospect in the future. The very basic aim of this thesis was to reveal the determinants of landscape dynamics of dry grassland species in terms of their distribution and frequency in the landscape. The importance of correct identification...
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Dynamics of species of fragmented dry grasslands at the landscape scale
Hemrová, Lucie
Past extensive changes in land use have resulted in fragmentation of species habitats. Changes in landscape structure have provoked discussion about the prospects of species of fragmented habitats in the future agricultural landscape. Landscape dynamics of plant species is basically a result of extinction and colonization rates. Many studies have confirmed the former expectation that a number of habitats suitable for a plant species in a landscape stay unoccupied. The differences in species distribution and proportion of suitable habitats occupied by a given species are hypothesized to be due to the area and isolation of suitable habitats and colonization and survival ability of a given species. To understand species dynamics in a changing landscape, first we have to reveal the relationships between the distribution of species and their proportion of occupied habitats, habitat age, habitat configuration and species colonization and survival ability. After the complete understanding of the determinants of species dynamics we will be able to predict reliably species prospect in the future. The very basic aim of this thesis was to reveal the determinants of landscape dynamics of dry grassland species in terms of their distribution and frequency in the landscape. The importance of correct identification...
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Effect of grazing on bryophytes diversity of dry grasslands in the PLA Český kras
TENČÍK, Aleš
Dry grassland are among the most endangered plant communities mainly due to the overgrowth of a number of localities. That is why from the beginning of the 21st century pasture with mixed herds of sheep and goats is restored on the most valuable dry grassland sites in the Bohemian Karst as the way of maintaining these habitats. Concurrently, research sites each 1x1 m in size were set up at four pastured localities, and were paired with control sites equipped with a fence for the research of grazing effect on vegetation. The main aim of this work was to evaluate the effect of grazing on the diversity of bryophytes at the forty pairs of the above-mentioned areas in three types of calcareous dry grasslands. In addition to the inventory of bryophytes, data on the most important abiotic and biotic factors of the environment were recorded on individual sites. The total number of bryophyte species found at the research sites is 46. 37 species were found at the grazing areas and the same number was at the fenced areas. Minimal differences in the number of species of grazed and unspoilt areas were also found in the comparison of individual localities. The grazing effect was shown up more significantly on species richness in the comparison of individual types of communities, especially in broad-leaved dry grassland (T3.4). There was a 40% increase in the number of species on grazing areas. The environmental factors have a positive effect on the species abundance mainly due to the higher slope of the terrain and the correlation with the larger occurrence of the stones, the smaller coverage of the herb layer and the litter. These conditions prevailed in areas with rock outcrop vegetation with Festuca pallens (T3.1), where the largest species richness of bryophytes in area was found. In the obtained data, the influence of grazing on the species composition of bryophytes on grazed and unspoilt areas was also assessed with the statistical methods and the Sörensen test of beta-diversity. The results show that grazing significantly influences the species composition towards open grassland and supports the growth of the bryophytes T3.1 plant community at the expense of the T3.4 plant community
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Dynamics of species of fragmented dry grasslands at the landscape scale
Hemrová, Lucie ; Münzbergová, Zuzana (advisor) ; De Bello, Francesco (referee) ; Zelený, David (referee)
Past extensive changes in land use have resulted in fragmentation of species habitats. Changes in landscape structure have provoked discussion about the prospects of species of fragmented habitats in the future agricultural landscape. Landscape dynamics of plant species is basically a result of extinction and colonization rates. Many studies have confirmed the former expectation that a number of habitats suitable for a plant species in a landscape stay unoccupied. The differences in species distribution and proportion of suitable habitats occupied by a given species are hypothesized to be due to the area and isolation of suitable habitats and colonization and survival ability of a given species. To understand species dynamics in a changing landscape, first we have to reveal the relationships between the distribution of species and their proportion of occupied habitats, habitat age, habitat configuration and species colonization and survival ability. After the complete understanding of the determinants of species dynamics we will be able to predict reliably species prospect in the future. The very basic aim of this thesis was to reveal the determinants of landscape dynamics of dry grassland species in terms of their distribution and frequency in the landscape. The importance of correct identification...
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