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The ladybird spider Eresus moravicus is one of our most endangered spiders. It is therefore necessary to know its habitat requirements and have at least basic knowledge of its biology to design an appropriate management to protect sites of its natural occurrence. Phytocenological analysis was made at each site and the outcomes were evaluated based on the Ellenberg´s indicator values. Also slope and exposure, litter layer and the quantity of rubbel were measured on the localities. Individuals were taken from burrows for the measurement of the prosoma length (investigation of the length of the life cycle). Exuviae were collected from the same burrows for measurement of the prosoma length. From these data the number of instars was determined. Prey remains were taken at most of those sites from 5?10 burrows and determined. Offsprings from several maternal burrows were taken, counted and weighted (research of fecundity of females). Weight of offsprings is important also in terms of their dispersion ability. The offsprings ability to balloon was investigated experimentally in laboratory conditions. The ladybird spider Eresus moravicus occurs in warm regions with high intensity of irradiation, mostly on the southern and southwestern slopes. Sites are characterized by poor herbaceous vegetation without trees and shrubs and by a thin layer of humus. Female lives for four years and the male for three years. The number of instars can reach to 13. Beetles (Coleoptera) are the most importent prey, the importent component of food are ants (Formicidae), too. Eresus moravicus has more offsprings than Eresus sandaliatus and Eresus kollari, more eggs in the cocoon than E. kollari and heavier offsprings than E. kollari and E. sandaliatus. In offsprings of E. moravicus and E. kollari pre-ballooning behavior of two types was observed: "tip-toe" behavior and "drop and swing" behavior.

This thesis focuses on the changes of vegetation of the wet meadows in Slavkovský Les during past decade. It uses data on vegetation gained from 100 permanent plots. By the analysis of the species composition and diversity it aims to elucidate the changes of the wet meadows over the last ten years. It aims to define, which are declining and which are becoming more common. Applied management should have a great impact on the observed vegetation changes so its effect is studied in the thesis as well. The knowledge of the suitable management should lead to conservation of the local biodiversity. The abiotic environmental factors are important as well as they can influence the species composition. These factors were studied by the application of Ellenberg indicator values on the species present in the study. These changes were compared in time and in a combination of time with a management type. Thus, we should be able to say how the environment has changed in the past decade and whether the type of management has any effect on the changes. Furthermore, the thesis explores whether changes in species composition over time may be explained by species traits. The results indicate that the species diversity and composition have indeed changed during the past decade. Apparently, the higher amount of...

Disturbance is one of most important selective factor causing removal of plant biomass. Man-made habitats are characterized by strong and unpredictable disturbances, providing bare soil surface colonized by plants with short life cycle. Populations of the short-lived plants are, however, vulnerable to the strong disturbance removing all stem parts with reserve axillary meristems in the case it occurs before plant flowering and fruiting. Nevertheless, 2 % of annual and 14 % of biennial plants are able to overcome meristem limitation by adventititous sprouting from hypocotyle or/and roots. This thesis is composed of four original studies describing the occurrence of adventitious sprouting in natural populations of 22 monocarpic weeds of Central Europe and one species in Indonesia. The studied phenomenon was analyzed in relation to various environmental factors and plant traits in the field and in experimental conditions.

This thesis is focused on succession in old fields in Central Europe. Repeated sampling, analysis of surrounding vegetation and soil measurements were conducted in the Bohemian Karst Landscape protected area. Samples from the Doupovské hory Mountains and the rest of the Czech Republic were added to discover basic principles of old field succession at the larger scale of landscapes.

Though succession is a widely studied process, there are only a few reports dealing with changes in plant functional types in the course of succession. Even fewer studies are dealing with agricultural, wet meadows, which are under continuous impact of mowing. The aim of this work is to fill this gap. The studied area is situated in south part of CHKO Slavkovský Les (region of Karlovy Vary, West Bohemia). In previous works grasslands on arable field after 15, 35 and 55 years after abandoned and continual grasslands in last 100 years were detected from historical agriculture maps. The releves on all types of grassland were made and the species pool was investigated. I this work I investigate the functional types and live-history traits of these species and I also look for Ellenberger values and changes of abiotic environment. The result suggests that the late - successional species are long-lived and have slower live cycle (they mature later). Their seeds are less persistent and have worse dispersal ability. Their seedlings are more viable and the species invest more to aboveground biomass than to underground. Late-successional species also flower earlier and shorter time, what seems to be an adaptation to mowing. I found no relationship between successional age in which the species occur and seed mass,...