Glyceria striata (Lam.) Hitchc., a species native to North America, was found as an alien species on several localities in the Hostýnské vrchy Mts (eastern Moravia). It grows there on disturbed sites in artificial, usually spruce and alder woods at an altitude of 340–550 m a.s.l. The way of introduction of G. striata to this area is uncertain. However, it is present as an alien in many European countries. A detailed synonymy and description of species is given. Taxonomy and systematics are shortly discussed and determination key within the Czech species of the genus Glyceria is also given. Notes on the distribution and the history of naturalization of the species in Europe as well as notes on its ecology are included.
The composition of cryptogam (bryophyte and lichen) communities on fallen logs was studied in two old-growth forests in the Czech Republic. Altogether, 85 species (22 liverworts, 44 mosses, and 19 lichens) were recorded. The presence and abundance of the different species on 350 logs was attributed to habitat factors (e.g. humidity, wood decay, wood softness, log diameter, bark cover, thickness of humus layer and tree species) that were recorded separately for each of the logs. The aim was to identify the factors significantly affecting the composition of cryptogam communities. For the different ecological groups of species (epiphytes, epixylic species, and ground flora) forwarded canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) selected thickness of humus layer and tree species as the factors explaining most variability. In addition, the extent of log surface covered by bark, humidity and log decay were selected as significant determinants of cryptogam community composition.
Chromosome numbers for 239 plants from 84 localities in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Germany and Poland are given. Most of the populations were pentaploid (2n = 45), while hexaploid (2n = 54) and tetraploid (2n = 36) populations were rarer. A long marker chromosome was observed in plants from 8 pentaploid populations. Tetraploid plants occurred mainly in Slovakia and Hungary. In the Czech Republic and Germany, most populations were pentaploid. Hexaploid populations (2n = 54) were rare but scattered over the entire study area. The co-occurrence of two different cytotypes was documented at 7 sites. Most tetraploids were fully sexual and only a few tetraploid plants from Poland were apomictic; pentaploid and hexaploid plants were apomictic. Two morphotypes of H. bauhini were distinguished: tetraploid and hexaploid plants from Slovakia and Hungary, and some hexaploid plants from the Czech Republic were assigned to the H. magyaricum group, while tetraploids and hexaploids from the Czech Republic and Poland plus all pentaploids belong to the H. bauhini group.
The distribution of four alien Reynoutria taxa (R. japonica var. japonica, R. japonica var. compacta, R. sachalinensis and R. ×bohemica), native to East Asia, and history of their introduction to and spread in the Czech Republic was studied. The most widely distributed representative of the genus, R. japonica var. japonica, was first recorded in 1883 by A. Weidmann in cultivation in S Bohemia. The first record outside cultivation is from N Bohemia in 1902. Up to 2000, it has been recorded in 1335 localities, most frequently in riparian and human-made habitats. The dwarf variety R. japonica var. compacta is of a limited distribution that depends on rare cultivation and subsequent escape. The first herbarium specimen was collected in 1948 and the first record out of cultivation is from 1995. R. sachalinensis was recorded in 261 localities. It was first collected in 1921 in Central Bohemia. A herbarium specimen of a plant cultivated in the Botanical Garden of the Charles University in Prague, collected in 1950, has been re-determined as R. ×bohemica, the hybrid between R. japonica var. japonica and R. sachalinensis, and represents the earliest record of the hybrid in the Czech Republic. Since then, this taxon was observed in 381 localities. Herbarium records were used to compare the rate of spread among the three common taxa in 1952–1995, i.e. since when the hybrid started to appear in herbaria. R. japonica var. japonica has been spreading significantly faster than R. sachalinensis and the hybrid exhibits twice the rate of invasion of its parents.
This article analyses the ascent of ‘Russian hybrid warfare’ (RHW) as a notion that transformed the understanding of national security in the Czech Republic in the short period of 2014–2016. It argues that the emergence of RHW as a specifically understood prime security threat was the result of contingent and often unruly social interactions across different settings, rather than a linear and centralised response to Russia’s actions. To capture this process, the concept of ‘assemblage’ is introduced and then defined as a temporary constellation of a variety of different actors, both public and private. Building on research interviews and documents produced in the RHW field, the authors then proceed in three steps. First, they chronologically trace the gradual emergence of the Czech RHW assemblage from a variety of different actors—bureaucrats, NGOs, academics, journalists—after Russia’s attack on Ukraine in 2014. Second, they unpack the inner workings of the assemblage by identifying the key actors and asking who did the assembling and how. Third, they look at how different actors were able to reinforce and/or transform their identities by being part of the assemblage, with an emphasis on the effects this had for the distinction between the public and the private.
In late 2005 Czech authorities first began to discover substantial amounts of municipal waste illegally transported from Germany to the Czech Republic. The dumping of more than 30 000 tonnes of German waste in 'black dumps' throughout the Bohemian countryside raised social, economic, and political questions about how to mitigate the negative human health and environmental impacts and prevent dumping in the future. In addition to prompting practical policy questions, the situation challenges sociologists to theorise the causes, effects, and possible responses to the problem. This article draws on the environmental sociological Treadmill of Production (ToP) theory to examine the role of the state in managing the crisis. The author presents the history of the Bohemian illegal waste problem and then describes and analyses relevant waste management policies in the Czech Republic, Germany, and the European Union in the light of the ToP theory, which hypothesises that environmental degradation is caused primarily by institutional political-economic forces, and that the protection of environmental quality can be achieved only through structural reform. The dilemma of illegal waste shipment highlights the difficult role of the government, which must balance its responsibilities to protect environmental quality and human health and promote commerce and economic growth in an international context. Data from interviews and documentary analysis are used to describe the case study and test the ToP theory. The author concludes that while the ToP theory is useful for analysing the illegal waste issue by highlighting the structural character of the problem, some refinement of the theory may be necessary to better understand this case study.
The article addresses the differential recruitment advantages of individual candidates in regional assembly elections. The authors argue that in a multi-level polity different types of incumbency exist that are reflected in the recruitment process, favour officeholders over newcomers, and at the same time differentiate the accessibility of regional offices for officeholders at various system levels. Moreover, it is argued that the effect of multi-level incumbency can be well observed even in proportional electoral systems. Empirically, the impact of incumbency on a candidate’s chances to succeed in the recruitment process and to obtain preferential votes is analysed using regional assembly elections in the Czech Republic as an example. The authors demonstrate that regional incumbents enjoy by a huge margin advantage during the candidate nomination phase and they are the most favoured group at the ballot followed by national-level politicians and big city mayors.
A hybrid between Festuca rubra and Vulpia myuros was found in SW Bohemia, Czech Republic in 1991. It is the first documented occurrence of a hybrid between Festuca and Vulpia in Central Europe. Its characteristic features, evident in the field, are sterility, sheath of upper leaf covering the culm up to panicle, the ratio of the lengths of lower and upper glume between 0.49 and 0.71, and intermediate awns. The occurrence of this hybrid at other localities in Central Europe is still possible in spite of the decrease of number of localities for Vulpia species.
The article presents an analysis of the performance of regional governments - the institutions representing the self-governing regions in the Czech Republic. The authors try to answer the question of whether regional governments function similarly or whether they vary in terms of performance, and if they do vary, how structured and how large are these differences. After a review of the position occupied by the regions in the Czech public administration system, and after assessing the ways in which regional government performance can be understood and measured and the accessibility of necessary data, indicators are proposed and used to create an aggregate index of regional government performance. An analysis based on these indicators shows that there are considerable differences between regional governments in terms of the structure and the level of their performance. Based on the performance index it was possible to distinguish regions with above-average, average, and below-average regional government performance. The territorial distribution of these groups and some other factors confirm the validity of these measurements.
Contemporary theorists of family and kinship emphasize its fluidness. Processes of mating and becoming parents do not have clear rules and people must explicitly define their partner commitments and family arrangements. I explore the ways surnames are employed in the negotiation of kinship and making it obvious. Focusing on women’s perspective, I analyzed data downloaded from internet chats where (mostly female) participants discussed family-related topics. Findings confirm the the negotiated nature of family relationships and illustrate how social norms are being reinterpreted and accomodated to particular situations. As a result of a number of repartnered families, biological kinship loses its importance in defining close kin relationships, and instead their social and emotional basis is emphasized. The norm of nuclear family sharing a surname is challened and alternatives are prefered by some women, despite being restricted by less flexible codified norms.