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Plant interactions in environments with fluctuating nutrient levels
Gawliková, Karolina ; Weiser, Martin (advisor) ; Hanzelková, Věra (referee)
Plants are affected by heterogeneity of nutrients in their environment but also by the plant competition for nutrients. In this study I review limits of contemporary studies and suggest possible alternatives. Currently, there is no experimental way to separate the effect of neighbour and the effect of fluctuating nutrients. For better understanding of plant interactions in environments with fluctuating nutrient levels, it is crucial to have thorough understanding of the heterogeneity itself, of the reactions of plants on said heterogeneity and also of the plant competition for nutrients. Then it is important to incorporate all this information into planning of the experimental design and simultaneously have them in mind when interpreting the acquired results.
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Phenotypic plasticity and its role in plant invasions
Hlavička, Matěj ; Herben, Tomáš (advisor) ; Skálová, Hana (referee)
Phenotypic plasticity is the ability of given genotype to produce different phenotypes as a response to environmental cues. Its capability of adaptive response draws an attention of invasion biologists. Although many studies have been performed, the true role of plasticity in an invasion process is still unclear. Comparative experiments suffer from several major constraints - insufficiency in revealing adaptive value of plastic response and uncertain linkage between plasticity and trait value. Further experiments could be focused to reaction norms of fitness instead of trait plasticity. Also, the interspecific interaction of plastic responses is definitely an underestimated mechanism and deserves far more attention than it does today. Possible implications of plant phenotypic plasticity in predicting future invasions require further reaserch.
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Influence of understory light on diversity and composition of forest vegetation in the České Středohoří Mts.
Macek, Martin ; Kopecký, Martin (advisor) ; Černý, Tomáš (referee)
Light is essential component of forest ecosystem, as limited light availability in forest-floor restricts herb and tree seedlings growth. Importance of light availability for maintaining plant species diversity and community structure wasn't sufficiently evaluated in the Czech Republic. This study focus on the ecological relevance of light availability on both landscape and local scale. Relationship of light to cover, diversity and species composition was quantified in the thesis. Dominant tree species affected light availability and its spatial variability. Light availability was along the soil reaction and slope most influential factor for large-scale species diversity. Within-site light variability affected plant diversity more than soil reaction variability. Measuring light by means of hemispherical photography seems to be an appropriate for studies like this. Light availability influnence on community compostition is weak in comparison with other environmental gradients.
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Vliv heterogenity prostředí na sukcesní vývoj společenstev malých stojatých vod
DOSTÁLKOVÁ, Eva
Small standing water bodies that support colonization and help the survival of many species are nowadays often under threat. Since relationships between species and environments are often complex and not fully understood in these systems, this literature review has been written and a mesocosm experiment has been carried out in order to identify main mechanisms driving community assembly in habitats differing in complexity. I investigated the influence of artificial vegetation and clay on the community composition over a period of time. I found that a turbid environment (with clay) was not suitable for predators. This corresponds to our finding that in these environments, prey groups should be better developed, although the environment is different for each species.
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Clonal integration of Agrostis stolonifera in heterogeneous soil environment
Duchoslavová, Jana ; Weiser, Martin (advisor) ; Klimešová, Jitka (referee)
Clonal plants may be able to cope with spatial heterogeneity due to the physiological integration of ramets. Previous studies demonstrated that benefits of clonal integration increase with patch contrast between individual ramets. However, the same magnitude of contrast may be perceived differently in rich and poor environments. According to the theoretical work of Caraco and Kelly (1991), I expected these benefits to be the greatest in overall poor conditions and high between-patch contrast. To test this hypothesis, I conducted experiments with pairs of ramets of a stoloniferous grass, Agrostis stolonifera, grown in variously nutrient rich conditions. The experiment with pairs of ramet of similar developmental age showed only very weak effect of integration on growth of ramets, although integration significantly improved survival of ramets and also affected root-shoot ratio of ramets. Nevertheless, there were considerable benefits of integration in the experiment with developmentally older mother ramets and their daughter ramets. Contrary to the predictions, the benefits of integration were bigger in rich conditions and they decreased with increasing between-patch contrast. In addition, effect of integration on root-shoot ratio of ramets was opposite to the expected specialization for acquisition...
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Phenotypic plasticity and its role in plant invasions
Hlavička, Matěj ; Herben, Tomáš (advisor) ; Skálová, Hana (referee)
Phenotypic plasticity is the ability of given genotype to produce different phenotypes as a response to environmental cues. Its capability of adaptive response draws an attention of invasion biologists. Although many studies have been performed, the true role of plasticity in an invasion process is still unclear. Comparative experiments suffer from several major constraints - insufficiency in revealing adaptive value of plastic response and uncertain linkage between plasticity and trait value. Further experiments could be focused to reaction norms of fitness instead of trait plasticity. Also, the interspecific interaction of plastic responses is definitely an underestimated mechanism and deserves far more attention than it does today. Possible implications of plant phenotypic plasticity in predicting future invasions require further reaserch.
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Influence of understory light on diversity and composition of forest vegetation in the České Středohoří Mts.
Macek, Martin ; Kopecký, Martin (advisor) ; Černý, Tomáš (referee)
Light is essential component of forest ecosystem, as limited light availability in forest-floor restricts herb and tree seedlings growth. Importance of light availability for maintaining plant species diversity and community structure wasn't sufficiently evaluated in the Czech Republic. This study focus on the ecological relevance of light availability on both landscape and local scale. Relationship of light to cover, diversity and species composition was quantified in the thesis. Dominant tree species affected light availability and its spatial variability. Light availability was along the soil reaction and slope most influential factor for large-scale species diversity. Within-site light variability affected plant diversity more than soil reaction variability. Measuring light by means of hemispherical photography seems to be an appropriate for studies like this. Light availability influnence on community compostition is weak in comparison with other environmental gradients.
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