Rubus silvae-bohemicae is described as a new regional apomictic species belonging to the subgen. Rubus sect. Rubus ser. Micantes Sudre. It is a nemophilous bramble occurring in south-western and southern Bohemia (Czech Republic) and adjacent parts of Bavaria (Germany). It differs from the somewhat similar species, R. indusiatus Focke, by having no stellate hairs on the undersides of the leaves and a lower number of shorter stalked glands and lower number of prickles on first-year stems. An illustration of the new species (including a photograph of the type specimen), a list of localities and a distribution map are presented.
A new bramble species, Rubus silvae-norticae, section Rubus, subsection Hiemales E. H. L. Krause in Prahl, series Micantes Sudre, which occurs in S Bohemia, Upper Austria and Lower Bavaria, is described. It is recorded at 130 localities. The distance between the most remote localities is ca 100 km. The species grows most frequently in forest habitats (as a distinctly nemophilous ecoelement) such as ditches and edges of forest roads, plantations, forest margins and clearings. It mainly grows in mesic, acid and mineral-poor soils. Like, for example, R. clusii or R. ser. Glandulosi and unlike other relatively thermophilous Rubus species, it is able to grow and propagate itself at rather high altitudes, up to the mountain vegetation belt. The diagnostic characters that separate R. silvae-norticae from its most similar and sympatrically occurring species, R. clusii and R. muhelicus, are provided. In Austria R. silvae-norticae and some other brambles were mistakenly considered as R. helveticus, a bramble (probably a single biotype) described from Switzerland in 1870. The lectotype of Rubus helveticus is designated here and a photograph of the specimen presented. Also included is a distribution map of R. silvae-norticae, a list of revised herbarium specimens, a photograph of the type specimen and a pen drawing of the species. The significance of regional brambles for plant migrations and phytogeography is shown, based on the distribution of selected regional Rubus species occurring in the Czech and Austrian border area, which is a known mountain barrier to migration. The distribution patterns of the brambles support a theory about the routes of plant migration and the florogenetic connection between Austria and the Czech Republic. Rubus silvae-norticae, R. muhelicus and R. vestitus f. albiflorus are regarded as Danubian migrants (distributed from Upper Austria to S Bohemia), whereas R. gothicus s. l. (“south Moravian type”) and R. austromoravicus are considered to be Dyje-Kamp migrants (distributed from Moravia and Lower Austria to S Bohemia) within the Bohemian flora. Rubus kletensis is supposed to be a Vltava migrant within the Austrian flora (distributed from S Bohemia to Upper Austria).
The proteocephalid tapeworm Proteocephalus torulosus (Batsch, 1786) exhibited a marked seasonality in its occurrence and maturation in barbel (Barbus harhus L.) from the Jihlava River, South Moravia, Czech Republic. Recruitment took place in winter and early spring, growth and maturation in spring and gravid worms left the fish hosts in May; during summer and autumn, the parasite was almost absent from the fish population. Parasite burden was related to fish size, with larger barbel being more heavily infected than smaller ones.
We investigated the effects of different temperature regimes and dry storage on germination of H. mantegazzianum (Apiaceae, native to Caucasus) seeds in the laboratory and linked the results with studies of seasonal seed bank depletion in a common garden experiment and under field conditions. Seeds were collected at seven sites in the Slavkovský les region, Czech Republic, cold-stratified for 2 months and germinated at seven temperature regimes. Under all temperature regimes, fresh seeds germinated to significantly higher percentages than older (1, 2, 3 years) seeds. For all storage lengths, seeds germinated best at alternating day/night temperatures of 20/5 °C. The length of the germination period had a significant effect only at low constant temperatures of 2 and 6 °C, where germination percentage increased between 2 and 6 months. Seasonal germination exhibited a distinct pattern, with rapid depletion of seed bank by the first spring after seed burial. Non-dormant seeds were present in the soil early in spring and late in autumn. The higher summer temperatures prevented dormancy breaking and another cold period of at least two months below 10 °C was needed to bring non-germinated seeds out of dormancy. The results suggest that (1) seed dormancy of H. mantegazzianum was not completely broken until the first spring, but that some seeds re-enter or retain dormancy during high summer temperatures and that (2) the threshold needed for breaking the dormancy was achieved gradually during the cold autumn and winter months. However, in a small fraction of seeds the dormancy breaking process took several years. Of seeds buried in 10 different regions of the Czech Republic, on average 8.8% survived 1 year, 2.7% 2 years and 1.2% remained viable and dormant after 3 years of burial. The ability of even small fraction of H. mantegazzianum seeds to survive for at least 3 years can result in re-invasion of this species into controlled sites.
A phytosociological synthesis of the segetal vegetation in the Czech Republic was performed using methods of the Zürich-Montpellier school. In total, 712 relevés made by the author in this country in 1955–2000 were classified, and 22 associations and one unranked community were distinguished. Each syntaxon is characterized by diagnostic species, documented by a synoptic table, and the syntaxonomy, structure, species composition, ecology, dynamics, distribution and variability of each syntaxon are commented on. Names are revised according to the rules of the International Code of Phytosociological Nomenclature. All syntaxa belong to the class Stellarietea mediae and associations are assigned to the orders Centaureetalia cyani (alliances Caucalidion lappulae, Fumario-Euphorbion, and Sherardion), Atriplici-Chenopodietalia (alliances Scleranthion annui, Polygono-Chenopodion polyspermi, Arnoseridion minimae, and Panico-Setarion), and Eragrostietalia (alliance Eragrostion).
The article focuses on the development of the labour market in the Czech Republic from the perspective of employment and unemployment between 1998 and 2004. Using data from the Czech Statistical Office, and within a reference framework of EU countries, the authors discuss and analyse the factors that determine unemployment and employment in Czech society. The authors use latent logistic regression to verify the assumption that the odds of unemployment are not evenly distributed across the entire Czech population and to identify three segments of the labour market in the Czech Republic. In each of these three segments the employment and unemployment odds differ, and the factors that determine these odds function differently in each segment.
Party mandate theory claims that parties form government coalitions so that they can fulfil their election promises. This article looks at the party mandate model as applied to the arena of post-communist Europe and at the obstacles that can prevent a party from fulfilling its mandate (the presence of a new type of party, hyperaccountability, short-lived governments). The article describes the findings from a study examining the degree to which socio-economic legislative promises were fulfilled by the second government of Mirek Topolánek, the first government of Petr Nečas, and the (recent) government of Bohuslav Sobotka after a year and a half for all governments, and in the end of the term for Topolánek’s and Nečas’ governments. Coalition parties were found to have fulfilled 19–40% of their election promises after a year and a half in office, and this percentage had only increased slightly by the time the two governments that were studied for the full duration of their time in office had reached the end of their term. Binary logistic regression models revealed that the odds of election promises being fulfilled are greater if a promise is formulated as a commitment to maintain the status quo and if a promise is consensual and included in a coalition agreement. By contrast, there was no effect observed to result from party control of government ministries or from the advantage of being the prime ministerial party.
The goal of this paper is (1) to describe the history and the most recent development of social housing system in the Czech Republic and (2) critically assess earlier and recent attempts to solve missing social housing strategy in this country. In general, the paper intends to contribute to literature on housing policy formulation in countries in transition from planning to market economy and thus provide insight into main factors that may explain unsustainability and weakness of housing strategies in post-socialist environment. Lack of competence, constrained discussion during programme/strategy preparation and the dominance of ideology over rational argument are found to be critical factors for the past and possibly future social housing policy failures in the Czech Republic.
The article deals with the topic of migration from cities to villages in the Czech Republic and Austria and the opportunities for the social integration of newcomers. It relates partly to the problems of suburbanisation but is not limited to just migration to suburban villages. The analysis is based on a qualitative study conducted in 2003-2004 using grounded theory, and it examines the subjective viewpoints of the incomers and their assessments of their situation. The author reveals two different patterns of motivation for migration, presents a typology of relationships between the incomers and the village community, and distinguishes three basic 'orientations' among the incomers: a village orientation, a city orientation, and an orientation towards self-sufficiency. These specific orientations emerge in the process of mutual interaction between the preferences of the incomers and the integration opportunities offered by particular villages; they are not exclusive and can change over time. The author closes with a summary of the differences between the situation in the Czech Republic and Austria, which may be a result of different structural conditions and different historical backgrounds.
A new apomictic triploid (2n = 3x = 51) species belonging to the Sorbus latifolia group, S. milensis M. Lepší, K. Boublík, P. Lepší et P. Vít, putatively of hybridogenous origin between sexual Sorbus aria s.l. and S. torminalis, is described from the České středohoří Mts (northwestern Bohemia, Czech Republic). Several biosystematic techniques, including molecular (nuclear microsatellite markers), karyological (chromosome counts, genome size) and multivariate morphometrics were used to assess the variation in this species and justify its independent taxonomic status. The only known population of S. milensis consists of 38 adult and 19 juvenile individuals, is phenotypically homogenous and distinct from other Bohemian hybridogenous Sorbus species. All sampled individuals were karyologically uniform and showed little genetic variation. Sorbus milensis is a stenoendemic occurring on Milá hill (situated ca 9.5 km NNW of the town of Louny) where it grows on basaltic rocks, in ravines and on screes. The majority of the individuals grow in scree forests of the Tilio-Acerion alliance; other vegetation types include xeric scrub of the Prunion spinosae alliance and xerothermophilous grassland communities of the Festucion valesiacae alliance. A detailed distribution map for this species is provided as well as photographs of the type specimen.