Laboratory of Temperate Biodiversity
Mission
Staff
Head
Researchers
Research assistants
Technicians
Students (PhD.)
- David Novotný
- Radka Jungová
- Anežka Pavlíková
- Irena Slámová
- Jana Šlancarová
- Robert Tropek
- Anna Vlašánková
- Michal Zapletal
Students
Former PhD. Students
- Martin Konvicka (2002)
- Zdenek Fric (2006)
- Pavel Pech (2009)
- Pavel Foltan (2010)
Current research projects
Mapping of Butterflies of the Czech Republic
Butterfly fauna of the Czech Republic consists of 161 species. As many as 18 have already
been lost, and about half is endangered. See http://www.lepidoptera.cz for National recording
scheme, coordinated by our member Jiri Benes.
Phylogeny of butterflies as a tool for understanding of evolution of Ecological phenomena
Butterflies rank among best known groups of insects. Life history, habitat requirements,
seasonal occurrence and other details are known for most of European species, but many
phenomena are tractable only with understanding the evolutionary history of entire
monophyletic groups, typically genera. Our phylogeny analyses contributed to elucidating the
evolution of seasonal polyphenism of European map butterfly (Fric et al. 2004, J. Evol. Biol.),
the evolution of parasitic myrmecophily in Large blues (Pech et al. 2004, Cladistics; Fric et
al. 2007, Syst. Entomol.). Ongoing research targets the complex radiation patterns in Erebia
satyrines, dwellers of northern and mountain areas of Northern hemisphere.
Ecology and conservation of butterflies in traditional managed landscape
The EU-protected Marsh fritillary still persists in strong populations in westernmost areas of the Czech Republic. Following its populations from 2002 onwards resulted into detailed understanding of its habitat requirements (Konvicka et al. 2003, EJE) and management needs (Hula et al. 2004, Entomol. Fenica). Our active involvement in the species conservation included designing NATURA 2000 sites, drafting a species action plan, and advisory participation in habitat management. Several publications used this endangered species as a model for studies of dispersal (Fric & Konvicka 2007, Basic and Applied Ecology) and metapopulation structure (Fric et al. 2010, Ecol. Res.) of butterflies inhabiting seminatural grasslands.
Ecophysiological limits of high mountain relics
Although there is general agreement that rare species of cold environments may be most severely impaired by ongoing climate change, the knowledge of precise mechanisms impairing such species is almost nonexistent. Until recently, most of research on insect thermal physiology focused on low-temperature limits of warm-adapted species, whereas cold-adapted species were neglected, partly due to difficulties with rearing such species in laboratory. We successfully developed methods of mass rearing of several high mountain butterflies (genera Colias, Erebia), and PhD student Pavel Vrba is recently experimenting
with thermal limits of overwintering larvae, putatively the most sensitive stage.
Biodiversity in military training areas
Europe is scattered with hundreds of military areas, from huge training ranges to small
garrison fields. Despite general view of such areas as deteriorated lands, they often host
invaluable biological riches, not found in common farmland or woodland landscapes.
Much of the standing biodiversity depends on small-scale disturbance succession dynamics
typical for past military use. With changing military doctrine, these areas are progressively
abandoned, and the fine-grained mosaics of various habitats are increasingly threatened either
by succession, or by building development. In a cooperative project with several NGO, we
carried out multi taxa comparison of 48 middle-sized abandoned military training areas, and
our (not yet published) results advocate for a conservation use of these valuable sites.
Restoration ecology: Postindustrial sites as habitat surrogates
Abandoned quarries, sand pits, mining spoil heaps or bronwfields are increasingly recognised as valuable surrogates for such increasingly lost landscape structures as rocky pastures, disturbed river banks, grassland, or xeric scrub. Consequently, restoration via spontaneous succession is increasingly promoted instead of costly and biologically insensitive technical reclamation. The conservation potential of such localities is particularly important in heavily altered landscape such as Central Europe, where highly heterogeneous habitats with natural successional dynamics practically do not exist. Our contributions into this important topic cover locations such as coal mining dumps, power plants ash deposits, and limestone quarries, all providing surrogate habitats for declining insect fauna (main publications: Beneš et al. 2003 Conserv. Biol.; Tropek et al. 2010 J. Appl. Ecol.).
Diversity of Afromontane landscapes
We cooperates with Institute of Botany ASCR and University of South Bohemia in the surveys of afromontane diversity of Cameroonian highlands. The main scopes are in biology of pollination. We focus on the relationship between morphological traits of pollinators and morpho-physiological traits of flowers, we relate these characteristics with the degree of speciasitation of both pollinators and plants (main result: Janeček et al. 2011, Oikos). We are also studying the afromontane butterflies: their phylogeography, population genetics and ecology (Tropek & Konvička 2010, Afr. J. Ecol.).
Ekology of woodland butterflies
