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Plant responses to deer browsing and the consequences for further browsing
Dudlová, Tamara ; Lepková, Barbora (advisor) ; Štenc, Jakub (referee)
(English) The bachelor thesis focuses on the interaction of plants and herbivores, specifically deer. The main question is if (and possibly how) the changes induced in the plants by deer browsing affect the probability of re-browsing. I tried to answer the question by reviewing published literature. Plants respond to browsing by tolerance (compensatory growth) or resistance (production of defensive chemical compounds), depending on the plant's life strategy. Tolerance prevails in adult woody plants and grasses; resistance prevails in young woody plants and forbs. In resistant plants, browsing increases the content of phenolic substances and decreases the cellulose content, while tolerant species react in the opposite way. It is the contents of these substances, which are negatively correlated, that are key to food selection by deer. Large species of deer generally prefer plants with more cellulose, which they are able to digest efficiently. Smaller species prefer plants with lower cellulose content and higher concentration of simple sugars. These more nutritious plants are protected from browsing by phenolic substances, which smaller deer species are able to neutralize more effectively. Only a few studies have addressed the issue of re-browsing of the same plants, and their results are ambiguous....
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Four Essays on Financial Stability
Jakubík, Petr ; Dědek, Oldřich (advisor) ; Mejstřík, Michal (referee) ; Kodera, Jan (referee) ; Peltonen, Tuomas (referee)
Recent episodes of financial instability have motivated researchers as well as policy makers to intensify research on financial stability. This thesis contributes to current research and policy discussion by elaborating and empirically testing methodologies, which can be used to measure financial sector vulnerabilities and identify potential risks for financial stability. It further focuses on the link between real and the financial sector as well as possible implications of household financial distress on the aggregate economy. Together with the proposed framework we provide the survey of the current literature on these topics as well as the empirical results. We argue in favour of stress testing methodologies covering the key risks on banks' balance sheets. These frameworks can also be used for emerging markets where data availability is typically limited. It is shown that due to high volatility of credit growth in emerging economies, the static approach assuming constant balance sheet items is not very appropriate. Furthermore, the feedback effect between the financial sector and the real economy might play an important role under certain assumptions, and therefore it should be taken into account by policy makers. This effect can also emerge in the real sector itself as potential instability can...
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