Field and laboratory experiments were conducted to assess the time ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) survive during actual and simulated flood conditions. The effects of three variants of potential flood conditions were tested: (1) beetles trapped on the surface of flood water; (2) beetles trapped in air pockets; (3) submersion of beetles in flood water without access to air. Ground beetles trapped on the surface of water survived more than two weeks (Carabus granulatus – up to 16 days; Oxypselaphus obscurus – up to 22 days). Carabus granulatus in simulated hibernation chambers that had air-pockets also survived for 15 days. The time for which ground beetles submerged without access to air survived differed significantly among species and was affected by season. They survived longest in mid-spring and late-autumn when water temperature is low. In mid-spring, survival times for C. granulatus and Platynus assimilis were 12 days and 9 days, respectively. During late summer and early autumn all species survived for a shorter period of time. In August, at least half of the individuals tested were dead after three days of immersion (water temperature 16–18°C). Removal of both of the elytra of adult of C. granulatus resulted in them surviving immersion for a shorter period, which indicates that air stored in the sub-elytral cavity is used to prolong the period they can survive immersion. The results of these experiments broaden the knowledge of how adult beetles survive seasonal flooding and are able to persist in floodplain habitats., Felix N. Kolesnikov, Arevik N. Karamyan, W. Wyatt Hoback., and Obsahuje seznam literatury
Performance of the invasive horse-chestnut leaf miner, Cameraria ohridella Deschka & Dimic, 1986 (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae), was studied on two host plants: the white-flowering horse-chestnut Aesculus hippocastanum L. and the Ohio buckeye Aesculus glabra Willd. C. ohridella developed successfully on both host plants; however, mine density and survival were much higher on A. hippocastanum than on A. glabra. The pupal mass and potential fecundity were strongly affected by the host plant on which the larvae fed. On A. hippocastanum pupae were significantly heavier and females more fecund than those on A. glabra. Furthermore, on both host plants there was a significant positive correlation between the number of oocytes in ovaries and pupal body mass, and as a consequence, heavier females produced more eggs. Our study demonstrates that the mine density, survival, pupal mass and potential fecundity were significantly lower on A. glabra than on A. hippocastanum. The observed lower performance of C. ohridella on the exotic host plant was assumed to be due to its poor food quality (nutritional and chemical composition)., Urszula Walczak, Edward Baraniak, Piotr Zduniak., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Ascorbate is an important antioxidant involved in both enzymatic and nonenzymatic reactions in plant cells. To reveal the function of ascorbate associated with defense against photo-oxidative damage, responses of the ascorbate-deficient mutant vtc2-1 of Arabidopsis thaliana to high-light stress were investigated. After high-light treatment at 1,600 μmol(photon) m-2 s-1 for 8 h, the vtc2-1 mutant exhibited visible photo-oxidative damage. The total ascorbate content was lower, whereas accumulation of H2O2 was higher in the vtc2-1 mutant than that in the wild type. The chlorophyll (Chl) content and PSII Chl fluorescence parameters, such as maximal quantum yield of PSII photochemistry, yield, and electron transport rate, in vtc2-1 mutant decreased more than that in the wild type, whereas the nonphotochemical quenching coefficient increased more in the wild type than that in vtc2-1 mutant. Therefore, the vtc2-1 mutant was more sensitive to high-light stress than the wild type. Accumulation of reactive oxygen species was mainly responsible for the damage of PSII in the vtc2-1 mutant under high light. The results indicate that ascorbate plays a critical role in maintaining normal photosynthetic function in plants under high-light stress., L.-D. Zeng, M. Li, W. S. Chow, C.-L. Peng., and Obsahuje bibliografické odkazy
In this article, related to a talk given at the International Meeting "Photosynthesis Research for Sustainability-2015", we honor Dr. George C. Papageorgiou, a highly respected scientist and an outstanding teacher and mentor. Praising him for these virtues, indispensable for research sustainability, we also bring to discussion aspects that undermine nowadays both education and research sustainability. We argue that these aspects are principally created by the predominant bureaucratic system, which, by favoring short-term utilitarian orientations and obeying "market laws", jeopardizes university freedom and autonomy, and has turned to "measuring" scientific "production" and establishing accordingly designed funding policies and hiring/firing/promotion criteria, which lead to merit-chasing, grant-hunting, changes in publication practice, and suppression of heterodox ideas. Such system impedes research, creates antagonism, and drives the potentially creative researcher away from originality and discovery, and from the unique satisfaction and benefit that these bring., M. Tsimilli-Michael, P. Haldimann., Název rubriky: Opinion paper, and Obsahuje bibliografii
Zbarvení hraje v životě zvířat zásadní roli a je často pod přísným dohledem přírodního a/nebo pohlavního výběru. Abychom mohli objektivně zhodnotit jeho vliv na životní strategie zvířat, je zaprvé důležité barvu správně měřit a zadruhé nahlížet na ni zrakovým aparátem zainteresovaného pozorovatele. Obě tyto metody popisujeme na příkladu ptáků, konkrétně hodnocení mimeze parazitických vajec., Colouration plays a very important role in the life of animals and its evolution is often under natural and/or sexual selection. For objective assessment of the influence of colouration on animal life strategies the colour should be measured properly and evaluated from the perspective of the studied species. These methods are briefly described based on the example of birds, specifically on the mimicry of parasitic eggs., and Michal Šulc, Marcel Honza.
The Academy of Sciences participated in the Earth Day celebration on April 22, 2010. This activity, which was founded by U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson, inspires awareness and appreciation for the Earth’s natural environment. and Luděk Svoboda.
Príspevok sa zaoberá problematikou svetelného znečistenia (svetelný smog, rušivé svetlo), ktoré sa v súčasnosti stáva už problémom celosvetovým a je jedným z nosných programov IYA. Nevhodným, predovšetkým verejným osvetľovaním, sa v obývaných oblastiach stráca prirodzená tma, ktorá je potrebná pre zachovanie nočných ekosystémov, má dosledky na zdravie, dopravnú nehodovosť, ekonomiku, astronómiu apod. V príspevku sa tiež poukazuje na možnosti zlepšenia súčasného stavu., Pavol Rapavý., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Fosiliferní uloženiny chadronského souvrství z oblasti Badlands v jižní Dakotě obsahují velmi diverzifikované společenství obratlovců. Podstatnou část z nich představují savčí pozůstatky, i když časté jsou i nálezy krokodýlů, želv a ještěrů. Obrovští lichokopytníci brontotéria, náležející mezi nejpůsobivější tvory té doby, tvořili spolu s vyhynulými sudokopytníky oreodonty dominantní komponentu tohoto svrchnoeocenního terestrického ekosystému. Kromě nich zahrnovala chadronská fauna ještě celou řadu dalších skupin licho- a sudokopytníků, například bezrohé nosorožce hyrakodonty a amynodonty, malé tříprsté koně, tapíry, entelodonty, antrakotéria, velbloudy, pekari a leptomerycidy. Početní byli i představitelé dvou řádů masožravých savců, kreodontů a šelem, zastoupení hyenodonty, nimravidy, psovitými a amfikýonidy. Nacházejí se zde i pozůstatky malých savců, především hlodavců, hmyzožravců a vačnatců. Pozoruhodný relikt představují multituberkuláti, jejichž největší rozvoj spadá do období druhohor. Výzkum této lokality tak nabízí jedinečnou příležitost k získání cenných poznatků, týkajících se nejen evoluce jednotlivých čeledí a řádů, ale rovněž i trendů změn životního prostředí v minulosti., The fossiliferous layers called Chadron formation of Badlands area in South Dakota contain a highly diverse assemblage of vertebrates. Numerous species of mammals represent a substantial part of revealed findings. The research of these ancient fossils offers a unique opportunity to obtain valuable information on the evolution of individual orders and families, and also about environmental changes in the past., and Stanislav Knor.