Promouvoir le service de contrôle biologique des bio-agresseurs des cultures nécessite de comprendre le fonctionnement des populations d’ennemis naturels dans des mosaïques agricoles qui sont hétérogènes et dynamiques. Cette thèse porte sur l’étude des déterminants de l’abondance des carabes impliqués dans la régulation des adventices via la consommation de leurs graines. L’analyse des variations d’abondance des espèces à une échelle nationale nous a permis d’évaluer le rôle relatif des facteurs locaux et paysagers et de mettre en évidence le rôle important de la proportion de colza et de prairie dans le paysage sur l’abondance de carabes consommateurs de graines dans les parcelles cultivées. Le suivi expérimental de la composition des communautés de carabes ainsi que du statut nutritionnel et des mouvements de plusieurs espèces dans des dispositifs colza/blé et colza/bordure pérenne sur l’ensemble de la période d’activité des carabes nous a permis de mettre en évidence que (i) les carabes répondent l’hétérogénéité de cette mosaïque agricole (type de culture, qualité de l’habitat au sein d’un même type de culture), avec des réponses souvent spécifiques (ii) que le colza d’hiver joue un rôle important dans le fonctionnement des populations de carabes consommateurs de graines du fait de sa haute qualité d’habitat pour ces espèces, (iii) que la variation de la qualité d’habitat peut jouer sur le mouvement des carabes vers l’habitat adjacent et (iv) que la présence d’une bordure pérenne au voisinage d’une culture favorise le maintien et le fonctionnement de plusieurs espèces consommatrices de graines d’adventices dans la mosaïque agricole. / Promoting biological pest control in crops requires to understand the functioning of natural enemies in heterogeneous and dynamic agricultural mosaics. This thesis focuses on the study of the determinants that influence the abundance of ground beetles involved in the regulation of weeds via the consumption of their seeds. In an analysis of the variations of species abundance at a national scale we identified the respective role of local and landscape factors and showed that oilseed rape and grassland proportions in the landscape were key determinants of the abundance of carabid species in cultivated fields. We then studied carabid communities through combined measured of their abundance, nutritional status and between-habitat movements, during an entire cropping season, in pairs of habitats consisting in winter oilseed rape fields with either a crop (winter cereal fields) or a semi-natural habitat (grassy field margins) as adjacent habitat. We demonstrated that (i) ground beetles respond to the heterogeneity of arable mosaic (crop type, habitat quality within the same crop type), often with specific responses, (ii) winter oilseed rape plays an important role in the functioning of weed seed-eating carabid species due to its high habitat quality, (iii) variations in habitat quality can influence the movement of beetles to the adjacent habitat and (iv) the presence of a grassy field margin in the vicinity of a crop promotes the maintenance and functioning of several species in arable mosaics.

L’agroécologie offre de nouvelles perspectives à l’agriculture et ainsi une voie vers une gestion alternative des adventices à travers différents mécanismes écosystémiques de régulation. La prédation des graines est l’un d’entre eux et son étude fait depuis peu l’objet de recherches visant à approfondir les connaissances relatives à ce processus. Ce travail de thèse cherche (i) à caractériser la prédation des graines d’adventices, les principaux prédateurs Carabidæ et la ressource en graines disponible à l’échelle locale dans une culture courante (blé d’hiver); (ii) à étudier précisément les profils de prédation des principaux prédateurs et les interactions entre les composantes biologiques impliquées; (iii) à introduire des éléments de réponse relatifs au potentiel de régulation des communautés d’adventices via la prédation des graines par les Carabidæ. Des approches complémentaires ont été utilisées afin de répondre à ces problématiques : un suivi à long terme de terrain, des tests de préférences en laboratoire, une simulation des taux de prédation à long terme à partir des données ponctuelles ainsi qu’une étude à grande échelle des prédateurs et du stock de graines.L’étude des variations spatio-temporelles de la prédation via un dispositif de terrain durant la période d’activité des prédateurs a mis en évidence trois pics de prédation dont un seul correspond au pic de prédateurs (avant la moisson). La ressource en graines disponible au sol est quant à elle présente majoritairement lors du premier et du dernier pic de prédation, et aucune augmentation de ressource n’a été observée après moisson. Ces dynamiques semblent stables, restant valables indépendamment de l’échelle spatiale (intra ou interchamp) et des espèces carabiques et adventices étudiées.Toutes les espèces adventices ne font pas l’objet de la même intensité de prédation, et de manière générale, les graines de petites tailles ont été préférentiellement prédatées, au champ comme en test de cafétéria au laboratoire. Cependant, les espèces carabiques semblent avoir des profils de prédation différents entre guildes trophiques, ainsi qu’au sein d’une même guilde. De ce fait, la prise en compte des préférences de consommation dans l’étude des relations prédation-prédateurs tout comme la combinaison des données prédateurs et graines disponibles permet parfois d’améliorer les corrélations, notamment pour les espèces les plus prédatées.Une simulation de la prédation annuelle suggère des pertes en graines dues à la prédation non négligeables, pouvant atteindre pour l’espèce la plus prédatée, ici Viola arvensis, jusqu’à près de 80% des graines disponibles. En parallèle, une étude à grande échelle de l’évolution du stock de graines montre une corrélation négative entre prédateurs et évolution de la banque de graines, suggérant une régulation de la banque de graines via les prédateurs carabiques.L’ensemble de ces résultats suggère que prendre en compte la diversité fonctionnelle des communautés de prédateurs et d’adventices est un point important dans la compréhension de la prédation compte tenu des préférences de consommation des prédateurs et des dynamiques temporelles des différents acteurs. / Agroecology gives evidence of new perspectives in agriculture, and open doors for alternative weed management approaches through different regulation mechanisms. Seed predation is one of them, and the interest is growing to deepen knowledge, relative to this process. This Phd work aims (i) to describe weed seed predation, the dominant carabid predators and the available resource at a local scale in a common crop (winter wheat); (ii) to study predation profiles of main predators, and the pair-wise correlations between the biological components of the system; (iii) to bring new insights regarding potential regulation of weed communities, through seed predation by carabid beetles. Complementary approaches have been used to tackle these aspects: a long-term field study, some cafeteria tests, a simulation of annual predation rates from point-to-point estimates, as well as a large-scale field study of predators and seed resource. Study of spatio-temporal variations of predation, via field experiment during the main activity period of carabids, has shown a three-peak pattern, one of them corresponding to predators’ peak, just before harvest. Weed resource available on soil surface is high in the first and last peaks of predation, and no increase of resource has been observed after harvest. These dynamics are independent of the spatial scale (intra or inter-field) and carabid species. The different weed species do not show the same levels of predation, and, as a whole, small-seeded species are more eaten, in both lab and field conditions. However, carabids have different preferences among trophic guilds, but also within a same guild. Therefore, in order to study predation, it is essential to combine predators and seed data, as well as considering preferences of predators. A simulation of annual seed predation shows important rates of seed loss, reaching up to 80% for the most predated species, V.arvensis. A large scale study of seed bank shows a negative correlation between predators’ activity density and seed bank change, assuming that there is a seed bank regulation by carabid predators. All together, these results show that functional diversity of predators’ and weeds’ communities is a key factor in understanding predation.

This thesis investigates a range of genealogical approaches to making quantitative inferences about the spatial and demographic history of populations with application to two insect systems: A local radiation of high alpine ground beetles (Carabidae) in the genus Trechus and major refugial populations of the oak gall parasitoid Cecidostiba fungosa (Pteromalidae). i) Summary statistics, which make explicit use of genealogical information are developed. Using simulations their power to detect a history of population growth is shown to be higher than that of standard measures such as Tajima’s D for single and multilocus data. The improvement arises from the fact that in contrast to pairwise measures, the new statistics are minimally confounded with the topology. ii) A Bayesian method to reconstructing character states is used to infer the Pleistocene history of populations of high alpine Trechus sampled along a singlemountain range frommitochondrial and nuclear data. Despite evidence for some incomplete lineage sorting, a simple model of a series of extreme founder events out of two refugia during or before the last glacial maximum provides a good fit to the data. iii) A large set of exon-primed, intron-spanning (EPIC) loci is developed for Hymenoptera from EST and genomic data. Amplification success is screened on a range of Hymenopteran species associated with two insect-plant interactions: Oak galls and figs. iv) Borrowing model-based approaches developed to quantify species divergence, the new EPIC loci are used to investigate the relationships between three major European refugia in the oak gall parasitoid C. fungosa. These analyses reveal strong support for an eastern origin, effective ancestral population sizes comparable to insect model species and evidence for recent population divergence during the last interglacial. The results also suggest that there is significant information in minimal samples provided a large number of loci are available. v) Results for the probability of gene tree topologies are derived for a model of divergence with gene flow between three populations. I outline how the asymmetries in the frequency of gene tree topologies may be used to distinguish incomplete lineage sorting from migration and discuss the results in the context of next generation sequence data from D. melanogaster and humans and Neanderthals.

Current forest management in boreal northeastern Ontario results in young, even-aged forests; however, fire history research has found old stands with multiple cohorts of trees are common, supporting the value of Multi-cohort Management. I investigated relationships between insect communities and stand live-tree diameter distribution, cohort class and structure. Results showed that variation in abundances of Carabidae, Diapriidae, Diptera and Hymenoptera were not strongly predicted by cohort class. The concept showed greater strength when parameters of live-tree diameter distributions were used. Forest structure, not age, was important for all communities, including heterogeneity of understory and/or overstory vegetation. Trap height was a strong predictor of aerial insect community structure, with insect abundance higher in the understory than in the canopy. In summary, a more diversified classification approach which includes important habitat features in addition to simple characterization of diameter distributions should be considered to better assess forest structural variation and management.

Current forest management in boreal northeastern Ontario results in young, even-aged forests; however, fire history research has found old stands with multiple cohorts of trees are common, supporting the value of Multi-cohort Management. I investigated relationships between insect communities and stand live-tree diameter distribution, cohort class and structure. Results showed that variation in abundances of Carabidae, Diapriidae, Diptera and Hymenoptera were not strongly predicted by cohort class. The concept showed greater strength when parameters of live-tree diameter distributions were used. Forest structure, not age, was important for all communities, including heterogeneity of understory and/or overstory vegetation. Trap height was a strong predictor of aerial insect community structure, with insect abundance higher in the understory than in the canopy. In summary, a more diversified classification approach which includes important habitat features in addition to simple characterization of diameter distributions should be considered to better assess forest structural variation and management.

The aim of this thesis is to evaluate two localities with different intensity of agricultural use in terms of ecosystem services provided by nature habitats. In connection with the evaluation of the sites is in the works documented incidence size seminatural habitats, natural calculated value of the studied area using Biotope Vaulation Method (Seják et al., 2003) Application MapoMat developed by the Agency for Nature Conservation and Landscape. The value of ecosystem services is determined through expert analysis by replacement cost. There were differences in the value of ecosystem services important habitats between conventional and organic farming at localities 1 and 4. Natural habitat value conventionally used the site has a 2.53 milKč compared to the organic farming locality where the value was estimated at 194.6 milKč, In this context that the value of ecosystem services locations 1 shows a value of 4438.96 milesCZKyear-1 compared to location 4, calling shows a value of 7905.01 milesCZKyear-1. On this basis, were statistically significant differences in both localities in terms of the frequency of diversity factors examined specimens of ground beetles are examined diversity index P <0001.

The ecological value and the value of ecosystem services of the former military area in Čtyři Dvory in České Budějovice was evaluated in this thesis. The expert method of BVM (?Biotope Valuation Method?) and the Replacement Cost method (cost of technological alternative to ecosystem function) according to Seják et al. (2003, 2010) were applied. Four ecosystem services were evaluated: climatic service (evapotranspiration), little water cycle, oxygen production, and the support of biodiversity. For comparison, the sale price of the area and the ?recreation? value calculated by the contingent valuation (CV) method were also evaluated. The estimated sale price was 837 million CZK, which was by twelve-times higher than the ecological value estimated by the BVM method. Most of the area (57 %) was formed by the biotop XK4 ? pioneer shrub vegetation of atropogenic noncultivated areas with 13 points per m2. The most valuable biotop was V2.2 ? periodic waters with 44 points per m2, which formed 1.5 % of the examined area. The estimated value of ecosystem services was 1 372 millions CZK per year. The realization of all the planned construction projects on the examined area would lead to the depression of the ecological value according to the BVM method by 19.5 millions CZK and the depression of the value of the formerly mentioned four ecosystem services by 459 millions CZK.

Orientador: Francisco Jorge Cividanes / Banca: Sinval Silveira Neto / Banca: Sergio Ide / Banca: José Carlos Barbosa / Banca: Antonio Carlos Busoli / Resumo: Este trabalho teve como objetivo principal avaliar o controle biológico conservativo através da criação de área de refúgio em um agroecossistema. A área de estudo foi estabelecida em um hectare com a área de refúgio apresentando 80 m de comprimento e constituída por quatro canteiros de 20 m, cada um deles contendo uma das seguintes espécies de planta herbácea perene: Panicum maximum cv. Massai e Cynodon spp. cv. Tifton 85 (gramíneas) e Stylosanthes spp. cv. BRS Campo Grande e Calopogonium mucunoides cv. Comum (leguminosas). Os artrópodes foram amostrados por meio de armadilhas de solo tipo alçapão. Todas as análises foram realizadas com as espécies consideradas predominantes classificadas de acordo com a abundância, freqüência, constância e dominância. Utilizou-se análise de regressão múltipla com seleção de variáveis "stepwise" para verificar a influência dos fatores meteorológicos na variação populacional. As fases fenológicas da soja e milho foram determinadas e relacionadas com a flutuação populacional. Para determinar a distribuição espacial os dados foram analisados através dos índices de dispersão e modelos probabilísticos. A visualização da distribuição e influência da área de refúgio foi verificada por mapa de interpolação linear. Um total de 79.633 espécimes e 514 espécies de artrópodes foram coletados. Os himenópteros e os coleópteros foram os grupos mais diversificados e abundantes, com destaque para os formicídeos e carabídeos. Os refúgios com as plantas Stylosanthes spp. e Panicum maximum apresentaram maior diversidade e abundância de artrópodes. A maioria dos artrópodes associados ao solo considerados predominantes apresentou distribuição agregada. Muitos destes, principalmente artrópodes predadores, se agruparam próximo ou na área de refúgio / Abstract: The objective of this study was to evaluate the conservation biological control through the creation of beetle bank in an agroecosystem. The study was conducted in one hectare with a 80 m long refuge area, with four blocks of 20 m., in each block one species of perennial herbaceous plant was planted: Panicum maximum cv. Masai and Cynodon spp. cv. Tifton 85 (grasses) and Stylosanthes spp. cv. BRS Campo Grande and Calopogonium mucunoides cv. Common (legumes). The Arthropods were sampled by pitfall traps. All analyses were performed with the predominant species considered classified according to the abundance, frequency, constancy, and dominance. We used multiple regression analysis with variable selection stepwise to assess the influence of meteorological factors in population. The soybean and corn phenological stages were determined and related to population fluctuation. To determine the spatial distribution, data were analyzed using dispersion indices and probabilistic models based on the frequency distribution of the arthropods. The illustration of the distribution and influence of the beetle bank was verified by linear interpolation map. A total of 79,633 specimens and 514 species of arthropods were collected. The Hymenoptera and Coleoptera were more diverse and abundant, specially ants and ground beetles. The refuges with plants Stylosanthes spp. and Panicum maximum showed greater diversity and abundance of arthropods. Aggregated distribution was showed for most predominant arthropods associated with soil. Many of these, mainly predatory arthropods, clustered near or in the beetle bank / Doutor

In 2012 it was observed foraging ecology of the three males of greater mouse-eared bat (Myotis myotis), inhabiting individual roosts in the interior of road bridge near Bernartice, and the nearest nursery colony of the same species in the village Senožaty (district Pelhřimov). In the period April to September in Senožaty were made 14 collections at intervals of approximately 14 days and in the bridge near Bernartice at similar intervals were made 8 collections from each male in the period from May to September. From each collection were subsequently been analyzed 20 samples (pellets) by the traditional method of preparation of faeces. Overall it was from all the bats analyzed 760 samples, of which 280 from the nursery colony and 480 from males. Based on the analysis was found diet composition of individual bats and of the colony, where the overall character of the trophic niche of the greater mouse-eared bat, seasonal dynamics in it's diet composition, sex differences and individual differences between males were observed. From a point of view of it's hunting strategy the greater mouse-eared bat showed itself as a ground gleaner, in whose diet were dominated larger Coleoptera, of which the predominant component were large, flightless, mostly forest Carabidae, adding medium and smaller species of...

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