One of the best documented effects of climate change on biodiversity are shifts in phenology. However, long-term data quantifying and projecting the expected changes in phenology associated with climate warming are limited to a few well-recorded areas in the world. In the absence of temporal recording, an alternative approach is to determine the phenological response of species along marked gradients in climate or along latitudinal or altitudinal transects (space-for-time substitution). We studied the phenology (timing and duration of the flight period) of butterflies in 2006 along an altitudinal gradient (900-1680 m; estimated temperature lapse rate = -6.6°C/km) in the Serranía de Cuenca (central Spain) at the assemblage and individual species levels. Timing of the flight period was later for assemblages at high than at low altitudes. A similar trend of an increasing delay in the flight period with altitude was recorded for some individual species. However, there were also some exceptions to this pattern regardless of the number of sites and the altitudinal ranges of the species, suggesting possible local adaptation to regional climate. The duration of the flight period was shorter at high altitudes for assemblages, but this trend was not mirrored in the response of individual species. The results partly support substituting space-for-time when assessing the potential effect of climate change on phenophases such as the timing of the flight period, but we recommend extreme caution in extrapolating the results in the absence of information on how the responses of populations differ. and Juan Ignacio De Arce Crespo, David Gutiérrez.
Two fragments of lustre-glaze tableware excavated at the Týn merchant inn in the Staré-Město quarter of Prague, the archaeological deposition context of which may be dated into the turn of the 13th and 14th century, represent products of Andalusi pottery workshops of 12th and early 13th centuries. The route by which this tableware service came to Prague is difficult to trace. It seems most logical to link the introduction of this luxury pottery with the wave of Andalusi products, especially precious textiles, supplying the highest circles of Bohemian society roughly between 1250 and 1320. This commercial operation might have followed up the trade ventures of Andalusi-oriented entrepreneurs furnishing customers of western Europe along the Atlantic coast with luxury items originating in Andalusi production plants. An alternative to this idea is represented by the possibility that the vessels came to Prague in the baggage of some of its Jewish residents. and Dva zlomky přepychové stolní keramiky s lustrovou glazurou, nalezené při výzkumu Týnského dvora v Praze v archeologickém kontextu uloženém nejspíše na přelomu 13. a 14. stol., představují výrobky andaluských dílen almohádského období Iberského poloostrova a byly zhotoveny nejspíše ve 12. či raném 13. století. Rekonstruovat cestu tohoto přepychového stolního servisu z Andalusie do Prahy není jednoduché. Nejlogičtější řešení tu představuje myšlenka transportu v důsledku almohádského obchodu se zeměmi západní Evropy podél jejího atlantického pobřeží až do oblasti Severního a Baltského moře. Druhou a stejně dobře představitelnou alternativu představuje přivezení souboru luxusního stolního zboží některým z židovských obyvatel středověké Prahy.