Agricultural landscapes provide our society with many benefits. While food production is the primary role of these landscapes, sociocultural and ecological benefits are also provided. However, the full scope of benefits that we obtain from agricultural landscapes are not always taken into account, and with the intensification of agricultural activities, more complex multifunctional landscapes are converted into simpler and less-functional landscapes. I used a heterogeneous agricultural landscape, the Champlain Valley of Vermont, as a case study to examine the interactions between landscape structure and the provision of landscape functions and services. I analyzed sociocultural and production functions indices obtained via standardized landowner surveys, and ecological function indices collected in the field for 51 plots. Plots were clustered into landscape composition categories (forest, mixed and agriculture), and configuration categories (simple and complex). I identified a tradeoff between the production and ecological function in agricultural landscapes. When a rural landscape was managed for intensive agricultural production, ecological benefits decreased. Landscapes with diversified land use/land cover and heterogeneously distributed elements returned the greatest number of benefits. Agricultural areas that comprise between 30 and 45% of the landscape can prevent the loss of ecological benefits while retaining high production. I evaluated the importance of treed habitats in agricultural landscapes in maintaining biodiversity. I related landscape metrics to ecological function indices obtained from fine-grained land use/land cover maps. Metrics obtained from fine-grained maps more accurately predicted the abundance of edge tolerant birds than those obtained from coarse grained maps. I also explored the importance of small treed landscape elements for common breeding birds and evaluated the convenience of monitoring nests comparing temperature loggers to direct observations. More heterogeneous landscapes, rich in small treed elements, supported a greater density of nests. Nests located on small treed elements in agricultural landscapes were as successful as nests located in large landscape elements. These analyses deepen our knowledge about the relationship between landscape structure and function, facilitating the evaluation of the functionality of heterogeneous agricultural landscapes.

Scattered vegetation is an essential part of the landscape in the Czech Republic. It is typical mainly for farm land which has experienced deep changes during the last century, which were probably the deepest changes in the last millennium. The thesis focuses on valuation of the scattered vegetation from the fifties till present. As a reset of collectivism, land consolidation in-to large land units, grassland ploughing and disturbance of scenic elements started. These broke the ecological balance of the landscape. The priority was given to the objective of increasing agricultural production. However, this intense way of farming changed sharply after the year 1989 during the transition to free market economy when the intensity of agricultural production decreased and a lot of less efficient areas were left abandoned. At the same time, modern legislativ protecting important scenic elements and scattered vegetation was adopted. At the beginning of the new century the Czech Republic joined the European Union resulting in changes in the environmental and agricultural policy. My thesis is aiming to analyse all the elements of scattered vegetation on one study area and with the help of this analysis tries to get the response of the scattered vegetation to the factors mentioned above. Specifically, I...

Annotation The thesis deals with an influence of linear landscape elements and landscape heterogeneity on a biodiversity and population dynamics of small terrestrial mammals (STM) in an agricultural landscape of South Bohemia. The theoretical part consists of literally review about landscape, historical analysis of landscape structures development in the area of interest and summarizes existing knowledge about the ecology of present STM species. The aim of the practical part is to compare small mammals' biodiversity in three biotopes using capture-release-recapture method. The thesis follows my bachelor thesis and uses the same methods as in 2013. Data obtained in 2013 and 2015 were evaluated and the results were compared. In both years three three-days long captures were performed, always with 30 traps in 5 meters distance in every biotope. The species, sex, weight, foot length and age of captured animals were determined. In 2013, 60 individuals of three species of small terrestrial mammals were captured (Apodemus sylvaticus, Myodes glareolus and Microtus arvalis). In 2015, 444 individuals of four species were captured (Apodemus sylvaticus, Myodes glareolus, Microtus arvalis and Apodemus flavicollis). The total numbers of STM significantly differ between 2013 and 2015 (Wilcoxon's pair test, Z = 2,66; p = 0,008). The biotopes differ significantly in animal abundance in both 2013 (Chi-Square 114,1; d. f. = 2; p < 0, 0001) and 2015 (Chi-Square 346,96; d. f. = 2; p < 0, 0001). The highest species diversity and abundance were always found in linear landscape element (alley).

Schon seit langer Zeit, besonders intensiv jedoch in den letzten Jahrzehnten werden Ausschnitte der Geosphäre hinsichtlich ihrer geometrischen Eigenschaften verglichen und bewertet. Dafür wurden empirisch viele verschiedene Landschaftsmaße gefunden, die diese geometrischen Eigenschaften auf unterschiedlichste Weise in mehreren Ebenen abbilden. Für die unterste Ebene, d.h. für die direkte Bewertung von individuellen, relativ homogenen Landschaftselementen, wird in dieser Arbeit eine Theorie vorgestellt. Ausgehend von der inhaltlichen Zielstellung der vorliegenden Arbeit wird ein System redundanzfreier Grundmaße theoretisch hergeleitet. Dieses System wird hinsichtlich der mathematischen Eigenschaften untersucht und sowohl mit normierten, abstrakten Objekten als auch anhand von realen Beispieldaten veranschaulicht. Unter Verwendung dieser Grundmaße können dann Landschaftselemente über statistische Verfahren klassifiziert oder komplexere Landschaftsmaße mit gewünschten Eigenschaften je nach praktischer Anforderung konstruiert werden. Die Zusammenhänge von bereits bekannten Landschaftsmaßen und diesen Grundmaßen sowie die Vorgehensweise bei der Ableitung neuer, anwendungsspezifischer, komplexer Landschaftsmaße aus den Grundmaßen werden in dieser Arbeit vorgestellt. / For a long time, but especially during the last decades parts of the geosphere were compared and valued using their geometrical properties. Therefore many different landscape measures were found empirically which map these geometrical qualities into several levels in a variety of ways. In this paper there will be presented a theory which deals with the basic level i.e. with these measures which evaluate individual relative homogeneous landscape elements. Based on the objective of this paper a system of redundance-free basic measures will be deduced theoretically. This system will be studied in regard to its mathematical properties and will be illustrated by using standardized abstract objects and real example data. Landscape elements can be classified using statistical procedures or complex landscape measures with practically requested properties can be constructed by using these basic measures. The relations between well-known landscape measures and these basic measures are shown. The procedure of deduction of new application-specific complex landscape measures from the basic measures are introduced in this paper.

This diploma work deals with the protection of wood growing outside the forests mainly for their landscaping and esthetic functions. It is divided into three basic parts. The first part briefly reports on the history of the protection of trees in the Czechlands. The second part presents current legislation in the Czech Republic. It describes the general protection of trees, modes of tree felling and compensatory planting. The next chapter explains the special protection of trees - protected trees and the reasons for their declaration of protection. A large space is devoted alleys along roads. Next chapter deals with the protection of trees under private law. The last part od diploma work presents the Slovak legislation of this area and its comparison with the Czech. Keywords trees alleys wood growing outside the forest important landscape elements protected trees legal protection of nature in Czech republic