In this diploma thesis, the results of Formica foreli Bondroit, 1918, and other ant species in the area of Štěměchy, interspecies relations study are presented. The ant Formica foreli, belonging to subgenus Coptoformica, is a species occured only at stabil and biologicaly valuable sites. Nowadays it occures only in the six locations on the territory of the Czech Republic. Investigated complex of nests, located in Vysočina region, contains 654 nests and at present it is the largest polycalic complex of the nests of this type in the Czech Republic. Collection by ground traps results, confrontation of two worker ants in an artificial arena experiments and competitive interactions on the bait observation, demonstrated, that there is wide spectrum of other ant species in the area, which indicates of good trophy of the site. Further, the results promoted a hypothesis, that thanks to the polycalic nest character, Formica foreli species ocupies the supreme position in hierarchic organization of the whole area.

This master thesis examined the scent marking behaviour by urine and faeces in four equid species, African wild ass (Equus africanus), Grevy?s zebra (Equus grevyi), Plain zebra (Equus quagga) and Mountain zebra (Equus zebra), in captivity. Data about scent marking were collected during two five-month seasons of behavioural observation of 15 equid herds in 5 Czech Zoos, Zoo Dvůr Králové, Zoo Liberec, Zoo Brno, Zoo Ostrava and Zoo Ústí nad Labem. The study focused mainly on testing several hypotheses explaining scent marking in stallions, mares and foals and also on interspecies differences in this behaviour.

Social observational learning is one of learning abilities expected in domestic horses (Equus caballus) because of their ecological and evolutional history. However, a few studies focused on this type of learning in horses failed to provide clear evidence of observational learning and/or could not distinguished it from other types of learning. We tested interspecific observational learning abilities using the spatial task and a human demonstrator. We hypothesised that 1) horses with possibility of observing a human demonstrator will complete the task in shorter time than control horses without any demonstrator, and 2) horses observing a familiar demonstrator will carry out the task in shorter time than horses with an unfamiliar demonstrator due to established positive human - horse relationship. Twenty - four riding horses of mixed age and breed were randomly allocated to three groups per 8 and started the task either with observing a familiar demonstrator, unfamiliar demonstrator or no demonstrator (control group). Each horse was released individually at the starting point in the experimental paddock and the latency to pass the task was recorded. A horse completed the task once it walked 25 m from the starting point to the squared area (4x4 m) fenced by a tape, went into it through the entrance on the...

Signal crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus) is important invasive species in European freshwaters. Its influence on other freshwater organisms is well known from the literature, as well as direct and indirect impact on fish assemblages. This work was focused on the experimental evaluation of non-indigenous signal crayfish as a predator of salmonids compared to indigenous noble crayfish (Astacus astacus). Moreover, the possible importance of young-of-the-year signal crayfish as a prey for salmonids was assessed. There were carried out experiments using eggs and hatchings of grayling (Thymallus thymallus) as a prey for adult and subadult specimens of both, signal and noble crayfish. Next experiment used young-of-the-year signal crayfish as a prey for young-of-the-year of brown trout (Salmo trutta). Results showed that the danger of signal crayfish for grayling eggs is slightly higher. However, detected differences were surprisingly lower and in the majority of parameters even insignificant. In the case of grayling hatchings, was not detected any significant difference at all. The abilities of both tested species to prey on eggs and hatchings are therefore very similar, comparable. Even so, the effect of signal crayfish can be importantly higher in natural conditions because of its more dense populations, higher growth rate and fast maturation. In accordance to our findings, it is evident that brown trout has no so high effect of crayfish juveniles compared with crayfish effect on salmonids early developmental stages. Crayfish are therefore more likely able to limit salmonids than conversely.

Lucie Čadková: Lingvistické schopnosti nonhumánních živočichů 1 ABSTRACT The 20th century has witnessed significant advance in our knowledge of animal communication. Thanks to modern technology, ethologists have made great strides in decoding natural communication systems of non-human animals, while psychologist's attempts to teach a member of another species analogues of human language have met with first success. The unexpected findings called into question the unique status of human language capacities and gave rise to pressure to redefine human language in order to defend human uniqueness. One of the most influential definitions by which the communication systems of non-human animals are guaranteed a priori exclusion from the notion of language was developed by Charles F. Hockett in the 1950s and 1960s. Since then, his design-feature approach has been used, despite a series of paradigm changes in linguistics and key discoveries in cognitive ethology, in support of the claim that humans are the only living creatures endowed with language. The prevailing uncritical acceptance and usage of his theory in the field of animal communication was the impulse to write this thesis. The dissertation aims to shed light on the historical development of the question of animal linguistic abilities and presents the...

Ligninolytic fungi are well known for their ability to degrade a wide range of xenobiotics contaminating the environment, including synthetic industrial dyes. In this work Pleurotus ostreatus was used for decolorization of a synthetic textile dye Remazol Brilliant Blue R (RBBR). To set up a model fungal "fixed-bed" bioreactor the fungus was immobilized on a polyurethane foam and artificially contaminated with a model bacterium Rhodococcus erythropolis. The development of bacterial contamination can be expected during a real application of fungal bio filters in wastewater treatment. The main aim of the work was to study interspecies interactions in the model bioreactors during the dye decolorization. Ligninolytic enzyme activities were followed in the bioreactor cultures as markers of fungal biodegradation ability. In contrast to the controls, no bacterial growth was observed in the P. ostreatus bioreactor culture liquid. The results showed that fungal laccase, pH of the culture liquid, and glucose consumption by the fungus had no effect on the bacterial growth. However, 4*105 - 1,3*106 CFU/ml of R. erythropolis was detected to be associated with the fungal solid support. The presence of these bacteria had no effect on the decolorization performance of the bioreactors. Dye decolorization efficiency...

The thesis addresses several aspects of ecology of lowland rainforest avifauna in Papua New Guinea. It describes spatial and temporal distributional patterns of abundance and diversity of bird community and different feeding guilds. More specifically, spatial patterns were explored in relation to topography, tree species composition, forest structure including vertical forest strata and inter-specific associations. The thesis also focuses on nest survival in continuous and fragmented forest, particularly in relation to nest predation.