Urbanized areas are rapidly expanding into a variety of habitats. Urbanization and suburbanization are often associated with changes in biodiversity, which are naturally influenced by biotic ...interactions and abiotic habitat characteristics. The main cause of changes caused by suburbanization is fragmentation. Its impacts vary between animals with different dispersal abilities. We focused on studying the responses of three taxa with different dispersal abilities: birds as a relatively high‐dispersal taxon, medium‐dispersal butterflies, and low‐dispersal land snails. We studied how biotic factors as well as habitat structural and fragmentation characteristics explain the community composition of the three study taxa in urban grasslands in the city of Pardubice (Czech Republic). Birds were the most species‐rich taxon followed by butterflies. Land snails had species‐poor grassland communities. Species composition analysis indicated species overlap among the studied taxa. Bird species composition covaried with butterfly species richness and reciprocally. Both taxa were significantly influenced by the amount of woody vegetation within the grassland. Bird community composition was also influenced by fragmentation characteristics, namely the distance to the nearest built‐up area. Urban growth most likely leads to changes in the characteristics of animal communities associated with former lowland natural grasslands, deteriorating the communities of low‐dispersal land snails while allowing birds that have generally higher dispersal abilities to thrive. Our results show that in assessing the impact of urbanization on biodiversity, attention should also be paid to low‐dispersal animal taxa.
•In European forests, pedunculate oak is native and red oak is nonnative.•The species richness of birds, beetles and soil macrofauna did not differ between red and pedunculate oak.•The species ...compositions of differentially dispersed taxa were not influenced by oak origin.•Patches with moderate red and pedunculate oak compositions had the highest species richness.
The change in tree species composition is an important process influencing forest biodiversity worldwide. Therefore, it is important to reveal its actual impacts on forest biodiversity. We selected three animal groups (birds, beetles and soil macroinvertebrates) with different dispersal abilities to answer the following scientific question: how does the replacement of a native tree species, pedunculate oak (Quercus robur), by the non-native red oak (Q. rubra) affect the species richness and compositions of the analyzed animal groups?
We selected ten lowland woodlands surrounding the city of Pardubice (Czech Republic). In total, forty patches with twenty in mature native oak and twenty in mature non-native oak were studied in the 2017 vegetation season.
We found that the effect of the tree species on the species richness was mainly negative for both oak species. The samples with the highest species richness coincided with stands containing mixed native and non-native oak trees. The species composition results indicated that several species avoided red oak, but highly similar numbers of species indicated the same avoidance of the native oak.
The results of our study revealed that the effect of non-native vegetation was not as profound as expected, compared to the effect of native vegetation. Neither native nor non-native vegetation significantly affected even flightless fauna. Nevertheless, the extensive planting of non-native trees is not advantageous for many known reasons (e.g., invasibility). An important approach when using non-native trees like red oak in forests is to plant these species admixed or interspersed. In these cases, the impacts of non-native species on the biota are not necessarily negative.
Při analýze pohřebiště ze starší doby bronzové ve Vliněvsi (střední Čechy, okr. Mělník) byla zkoumána variabilita typů milodarů v hrobech různého pohlaví a věku. Krom jiného se ukázalo téměř výhradní ...zastoupení tyčinkových náramků v dětských hrobech. Rozborem všech dostupných nálezů tyčinkových náramků v hrobech únětické kultury v Čechách se tato vazba ukázala jako nenáhodná. Autoři diskutují hypotézu o spojení náramků s obdobím nedospělosti a s ním souvisejícími přechodovými rituály, případně ochrannou funkci těchto předmětů.
•Norway spruce is one of the most important target trees in forestry.•We studied bird communities throughout the Czech Republic.•Representation of deciduous trees and longhorns have effect on the ...species richness.•Bird communities exhibited a strong relationship with spruce outside of its native range.•It is important to leave deciduous trees within the stand.
Norway spruce (Picea abies) is one of the most important target trees in forestry. In Central Europe, it is grown primarily in forest plantations. However, the distribution area of this tree species is declining due to climate change and trends toward sustainable forest management. The question how artificial habitats such as plantations influence the native biota is still unclear. We aimed to investigate the influence of spruce plantations on bird communities at the country level. We focused on birds in relation to biotic, stand and land use characteristics. We studied bird communities (including woodpeckers) throughout the Czech Republic. All sites were situated in mature spruce forest plantations. Birds were sampled using the point count method, and nine environmental predictors were considered to potentially affect the bird community. Our results indicate that the representation of deciduous trees (within stands and in the surroundings) and longhorn beetles (as prey) have a predominant effect on the species richness of birds, including woodpeckers. The effects of longhorns and deciduous trees in the stand were positive, while deciduous forests in the surroundings had a negative effect. We also found several species associated with spruce, even in plantation forests. An important finding regarding the future management of spruce stands is that bird communities exhibited a strong relationship with spruce, even outside of its native range. Admixture with deciduous trees was favorable at the stand level, while at the landscape level, there is the need for adequate spruce-dominated forests, and deciduous forests may serve as obstacles. We argue that plantations cannot only be seen as tree farms or green deserts but also be used for biodiversity management. Nevertheless, it is important to leave deciduous trees within the stand until the end of the rotation period, as birds find food and nesting places in these trees.
•All but one individual were breastfed.•All the individuals were weaned before 2.2 years of age.•Post-weaning diet differed between individuals from graves and settlement pits.•Individuals from ...multiple burials shared dietary behaviour.
This paper provides information on the early life experience of people from the Central European Early Bronze Age, reconstructed on the basis of the stable carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) isotopic values from dentine serial sections of individuals from Vliněves (Czech Republic). This site yielded the largest known quantity of human remains from the Únětice culture, coming from both regular graves and settlement features. In this pilot study 27 individuals aged between 7 and 30–40 years were investigated.
The average value of maximal nitrogen isotopic offset within the isotopic profile (Δ15Nmax) was 4.1 ± 1.2 ‰, which is higher than the recommended range for weaning under healthy circumstances. The reported ages at the first decrease in δ15N values, as well as at the final smoothing of the nitrogen isotopic curve, suggest that all individuals were weaned before 2.2 years of age. Most individuals (n = 20) showed positive covariance between δ15N and δ13C values during infancy and early childhood, which is the typical isotopic pattern of breastfeeding. Post-weaning isotopic values were typical for a terrestrial C3 based diet and suggest limited access to animal protein on the part of individuals buried in settlement pits. The mild increase in δ15N values in later childhood suggests that the explanation of the increased Δ15Nmax lies rather in the special character of the early childhood diet than in the common presence of nutritional/physiological stress. The similarities in the isotopic profiles of individuals from multiple burials suggest the shared dietary behaviour of these individuals.
The paper deals with two objects with Eneolithic pottery and the intrusions of eneolithic pottery in objects from different archaeological periods presented on the Obříství site. The traces of human ...activity from Eneolithic are sparse in Mělník region, which is evident from a view of actual research and Eneolithic finds done in this area.
The paper deals with the issue of perception of the youngest children in ancient society in the context of selected written and archaeological sources in the wider territory of ancient Greece and the ...Roman Empire. The nature of historical sources and their fragmentation greatly complicate their interpretation. In this respect, archaeological sources also do not offer a clear answer as they show a high variability in the treatment of the remains of the youngest children. Nevertheless, the paper seeks to oppose the entirely negative perception of children widespread in the scientific literature that discusses mainly the works of philosophers, in which the youngest children are presented as lower beings similar to animals. Manifestations of parental love are documented primarily by private correspondence concerning the death of children, and also recorded on epigraphic monuments, in literary works and mythological stories. From the archaeological perspective, regular graves of the youngest children testify to the existence of care and love of the parents, whose manifestations, however, were subject to social norms.
The final thesis deals with the form and function of an educational game to be used in the 4th and 5th grades of primary school. It will deal with appropriate educational games for these pupils based ...on their emotional, intellectual and social development. Additionally, it will describe the method for how to categorize different kinds of educational games and how to include them in educational process. In the practical component, there is a comparison of opinions about an educational game between newly qualified and experienced teachers. The opinions of pupils and their evaluation of the specific games are also included. It includes a file of educational games as well which is based on a classification from the theoretical part.
This diploma thesis deals with children remains in archeological cultures of the Bronze Age at the area of Czech Republic. 1318 findings have been gathered and put into a database together with all ...available details. Special attention has been set upon multiple child burials, deposition of child remains into settlement pits, presence of charities and individuals with exceptionally rich funerary goods. Individual chapter has been dedicated to phenomena connected with children in the Bronze Age such as burial of unburned bodies in jars, anthropophagy and human sacrifices. The thesis is complemented by comparison with findings of child remains from the Neolithic and the Eneolithic (which the author analysed in her bachelor thesis).
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