The geometrid genus Cleorodes is shown to belong in the tribe Gnophini (sensu lato) and not in Boarmiini as previously assumed. The conclusion is based on an analysis of morphological characters of a number of genera in these tribes. Moreover, the result is unambiguously supported by a phylogenetic analysis of DNA sequence variation in three nuclear gene regions (segments D1 and D2 of 28S rRNA, and elongation factor 1α) and a mitochondrial gene, cytochrome oxidase-1. The phylogenetic hypothesis is based on a combined sequence data set, which was analysed using direct optimisation.
Palacký University is a partner of 7th Framework program entitled "Closed Loop Control of the Laser Welding Process through the Measurement of Plasma (no. 222279)" - CLET. Researchers and small/middle enterprises cooperate here on sensor development to control laser weld quality using spectroscopy methods. It makes possible an on-line optimization of process parameters avoiding formation of material defects. and Hana Chmelíčková, Hana Lapšanská.
In this paper we consider operators acting on a subspace $\mathcal M$ of the space $L_2(\mathbb{R}^m;\mathbb{C}_m)$ of square integrable functions and, in particular, Clifford differential operators with polynomial coefficients. The subspace ${\mathcal M}$ is defined as the orthogonal sum of spaces ${\mathcal M}_{s,k}$ of specific Clifford basis functions of $L_2(\mathbb{R}^m;\mathbb{C}_m)$. Every Clifford endomorphism of ${\mathcal M}$ can be decomposed into the so-called Clifford-Hermite-monogenic operators. These Clifford-Hermite-monogenic operators are characterized in terms of commutation relations and they transform a space ${\mathcal M}_{s,k}$ into a similar space ${\mathcal M}_{s^{\prime }\!,k^{\prime }}$. Hence, once the Clifford-Hermite-monogenic decomposition of an operator is obtained, its action on the space ${\mathcal M}$ is known. Furthermore, the monogenic decomposition of some important Clifford differential operators with polynomial coefficients is studied in detail.
Data on pupation and emergence dates for the nymphalid Purple Emperor butterfly Apatura iris have been collected at Basel, Switzerland, between 1982 and 2002. The butterfly has been shown to emerge on average 9 (males) to 12 (females) days earlier per decade, 19 and 24 days earlier respectively over the study period. Emergence dates relate strongly to spring temperatures, particularly with daily maximum temperatures for the months March to May. Temperatures for these months have increased significantly during this period (0.7°C to 1.8°C per decade). Three factors suggest that the strongest influence of the rise in spring temperatures has been on late larval instar growth and development: (i) May temperatures dominate emergence date models and larvae are feeding faster and for longer periods during this month, (ii) Salix caprea flowering date, a surrogate for bud burst, is excluded in stepwise regression models with temperatures and years suggesting that tree phenology may be less important than temperature effects on later development, and (iii) convergence of female and male emergence dates over time points to limits on earlier feeding in protandrous males. A negative consequence observed with earlier emergence dates is lethal extra broods.
This chapter is aimed at describing the relationship between individual rights and climate change agenda in the Czech Republic. Firstly, the authors provide a brief description of the Czech framework policy for climate change adaptation and specific acts dealing with the climate change. After that, the means of judicial protection in climate change disputes are analysed, with a particular emphasis on the role of administraitve courts. For better understanding, the authors present the most significant decisions of the Czech courts. They conclude that the courts may provide relatively effective protection against both public and private actors. however, climate change is still a new topic with which the applicants have not yet learned to work. In some cases, which are primarily concerned with other issues such as air pollution, climate change serves more as a supporting than a stand-alone argument. This is not likely to change any time soon, because the country is not affected by climate change to the degree it would be forced to act and immediate action would be deemed necessary. Moreover, the judicial review of the state policies is not allowed, even though at the governmental level, short-term economic goals are clearly preferred to the environmental agenda., Vojtěch Vomáčka, Ilona Jančářová., and Obsahuje bibliografické odkazy
Historical data sources on abundance of organisms are valuable for determining responses of those organisms to climate change and coincidence of changes amongst different organisms. We investigate data on the general abundance of Lepidoptera over an 89 year period 1864-1952. We related abundance to monthly mean temperature and precipitation and the winter North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index, and to numbers of migrants from an independent source. Abundances of Lepidoptera were significantly positively correlated with current year temperatures for May to September and November and significantly negatively correlated with temperatures in January. Numbers were also negatively correlated with rainfall for April and May and annual total of the current year and with August in the previous year. Abundance of Lepidoptera decreased significantly with an increasing winter NAO index. Increased overall abundance in Lepidoptera coincided significantly with increased numbers of migrants. The climate associations were very similar to those previously reported for butterfly data collected by the British Butterfly Monitoring Scheme; although warm and drier summers were generally beneficial to Lepidoptera populations, wet summers and winters and mild winters were not. We discuss the implications for Lepidoptera biology and populations in regions of Britain in the face of projected climate changes.
Recently a large number of studies have reported an increase in the variability in the climate, which affects behavioural and physiological adaptations in a broad range of organisms. Specifically, insects may be especially sensitive to climatic fluctuations, as their physiology and life history traits, like those of other ectotherms, are predominantly affected by environmental factors. Here we aimed to investigate climate-induced changes in several morphometric measures of the Heath Fritillary in North-Eastern Hungary, which is a highly diverse transitional area. During this study we tested the following hypotheses: (i) climate affects genitalia and body size to various degrees (ii) increasing variability in climate induces higher levels of fluctuating asymmetry and variance in all morphological characters. To our knowledge, this study is the first to analyse simultaneously wing size and structure of genitalia of a butterfly in response to variability in climate. Our findings suggest that wing and genital traits may exhibit similar degrees of stability in response to a more variable climate, although the response in terms of forewing size differs from that of other body measurements and the structure of the genitalia. These findings suggest that global climate change may affect lepidopteran body metrics over longer periods of time. Our findings parallel the results of investigations showing that insect morphology might be modified by environmental changes, which is especially the case for those body parts that are phenotypically very variable. However, we found no evidence that increasing variability in climate would induce higher levels of fluctuating asymmetry and greater variability in morphological characters., Edit Juhász, Zsolt Végvári, János P. Tóth, Katalin Pecsenye, Zoltán Varga., and Obsahuje bibliografii
We measured faecal cortisol metabolites of a free-ranging riparian population of red deer to investigate potential effects of season, ambient temperature, precipitations and water level on the annual secretion pattern. Individuals may cope with environmental challenges through the secretion of stress hormones (glucocorticoids) which allows the integration of environmental change and life history traits by means of an adaptive feedback mechanism. Adaptations regard cyclic day-to-day activities, short-term environmental stressors or long-term ecological pressures. We detected a clear seasonal pattern of glucocorticoid metabolites secretion, with higher levels in winter and lower levels in summer. The model relating glucocorticoids secretion to minimum ambient temperature was the best fit to our dataset, although the observed pattern might as well be due to declining nutritional intake and reduction of metabolic rate in the cold season. We observed an improvement of the fit when stochastic events (flash flood) were included in the model, and discussed their role as potential contingent environmental stressors.