Detailed Description of the Research Plan

The Department of Botany is a traditional department of the Faculty of Science of Masaryk University. Historically, its focus has been on phytogeography, taxonomy of vascular plants, bryophytes, lichens, phytocoenology, and plant ecology. The Department’s current focus is the systematics of vascular plants - particularly of Central European flora (currently work on the compendium The Flora of the Czech Republic is the main task), phytogeography - particularly the study of geographic distribution of plants in the Czech Republic and Central Europe, in the last time especially studies on landscape level, grid mapping, vegetation studies - mainly the synthesis of phytocoenological data from the Czech Republic and Central Europe, the creation and utilisation of phytocoenological databases, studies on regional level, vegetation mapping. The most important representatives of the Department since its foundation were: Prof. Josef Podpěra - a bryologist of international importance, phytogeographer, geobotanist, vascular plant taxonomist, founder of the department, chancellor (rector) of the MU; Prof. Jindřich Suza - lichenologist, phytogeographer; Doc. Jan Šmarda - phytogeographer, geobotanist; Doc. Vladimír Řehořek - taxonomy, phytocoenology, horticulture botany. The Department is instrumental in co-ordinating the database of vegetation data of the Czech Republic, which is part of an international database network of the project European Vegetation Survey.

Department of Zoology and Ecology: The study of invertebrates and particularly entomology has been continuously developed at the department since its foundation. This has always happened in close relation to hydrobiology (Zavřel, Hrabě, Knoz, Losos, Zelinka, Obr, Rozkošný). The Department is currently an important co-ordination centre of Czech as well as international dipterology. This applies to the organisation of research as well as to its presentation and scientific meetings of supranational character. Looking at species number and practical importance, Diptera are one of the most important animal taxa. Taking the Czech Republic and Slovakia together, more than 7500 species have been reported and a realistic estimate of the true species number exceeds 9600 species. At the Department, dipterological research focuses on biosystematics, ecology, and biomonitoring. Recent studies concerned the fauna of dry grasslands (”steppes”), agrocoenoses with attendant vegetation, the fauna of floodplain forests including the impact of the drying out of this ecosystem on the arthropod community subsequent to water management measures implemented, the fauna of a spruce monoculture, haematophagous parasites, insect parasitoids, synanthropic fauna, etc. Besides the study areas within former Czechoslovakia mentioned above, also the dipteran fauna of Scandinavia, and the fauna of Southeast Asian bamboo stands were studied (among others). The results of this long-term research are already represented by hundreds of published works. This includes the ”Overview of Dipterological Literature” (Rozkošný, Vaňhara) regularly elaborated for the Czech and Slovak Republics that presently covers publications since 1758. For the area of the Pálava Biosphere Reserve of the UNESCO, the Department has been working since 1994 on a commented overview of terrestrial and aquatic invertebrates, including insects, that already includes over 10 000 species (Rozkošný, Vaňhara, Opravilová).

The field of hydrobiology has also been developed from the early beginnings of teaching zoology at the Faculty. The founder of the Institute of Zoology Prof. Zavřel was an internationally respected specialist for the family Chironomidae; the larvae and pupae of which present an important component of aquatic invertebrate communities. After the war the head of the Institute was Prof. Hrabě, a specialist in aquatic Oligochaeta. Both these important representatives of Czech zoology built the foundations of research in ecology. Another specialist was Prof. Obr (Trichoptera). He was in charge of ”Project 210” mapping aquatic invertebrates in the Czech Republic, particularly in the catchments of the Morava, Odra (Oder) and Danube. In 1966 the ”Laboratory of Running Waters” was established within the Department, consisting of Prof. Kubíček, Prof. Hrabě, Dr. Losos (Chironomidae), Dr. Marvan (Algae), later also Dr. Helan (Algae and water chemistry) and Dr. Zelinka (Ephemeroptera). Their scientific work and co-operation with further specialists resulted in a unique (in Europe so far not overridden) identification key edited by Prof. Rozkošný and published in 1970 (Key to Aquatic Insect Larvae), and in the proposal of a internationally accepted method of water quality analysis (saprobity index). Today, two principal directions of research are being followed. One is the study of the influence of the environment on biota of running waters (e.g. studies on the impact of water reservoirs, on the impact of minimum discharge, environmental assessments of hydro-engineering works and the re-naturalisation of watercourses). The other is research with the objective to make our knowledge of aquatic fauna more complete in terms of taxonomy, biology and ecology.

The study of fish parasites was taken up at the Department of Zoology and Ecology in the 1950s and was without doubt strongly supported by the Department’s strong hydrobiological tradition. After certain stagnation in this trend in the 1970s and 1980s, the study of Monogenea was chosen as the future core area of research in 1991. Today about 3500 species of these parasites have been described from 1500 species of fish. Taking into account the number of fish species known today, we can assume that the given species number of Monogenea does only represent 15 to 20 per cent of their global biodiversity. The Czech and Slovak Republics are among those countries with a high standard of surveillance (178 species). The good knowledge of our fish parasite fauna therefore presents ideal conditions for the study of the biology and ecology of these parasites, particularly of their temporal and spatial diversity. Thus the study of the biological diversity of these parasites is the main research area within the Department. Interesting results have been reached particularly while looking at the impact of so-called environmental stress on the composition and structure of fish parasite communities. The vivipary of representatives of the genus Gyrodactylus or the building of pairs by members of the family Diplozoidae are unique biological phenomena. However, due to extraordinary difficulties with the species identification, they have been very poorly studied. Another promising field of study is the biology and ecology of parasites accidentally introduced into the cultures of economically important fish species. Therefore, the Department’s parasitologists have developed extensive co-operation with a number of foreign institutions. Our objective is to establish a research unit of modest size that would be capable to combine methods of the classic study of temporal and spatial dynamics of biodiversity based on precise identification of the species involved with the most state-of-the-art experimental methods.

The development of the research on vertebrates is from its start closely connected to the scientific work of Prof. Gaisler, who took up a position at the Department in Sept. 1969. From its beginning the research dealt with the ecology of small mammals, especially bats. More than 130 scientific papers and several monographs as well as his membership in many boards and organisations show Prof. Gaisler’s outstanding position in science. Positive feed-back on the presented results has been obtained on congresses, symposia and conferences on global and European level (in the last 5 years for instance in Boston, Evora, Bonn, Nebra, Veldhoven, Krakow, etc.). Today, research on mammals focuses on the monitoring of small terrestrial mammals and bats in various types of ecosystems - natural ones as well as such that have been heavily influenced by man. Attention is particularly paid to the diversity of taxocoenoses both in colline (Odra floodplain, South Moravian lowlands) and montane landscape (Carpathians, Jeseníky and Orlické hory). The coenological research of mammals in karst and other rocky areas (Moravian karst, Pálava) has a long tradition. Some attention is also paid to the process of synanthropisation of mammals in large cities (Brno). In the last years modern ultrasound detectors have been used to monitor bats. Thus bat activity can be observed without disturbing the animals. Studies of the behavioural ecology of model species of bats using ultrasound and telemetric devices are seen as a very promising field of research. They are mainly looking at foraging behaviour including diet analysis from feces, anti-predation strategies, and habitat preferences in connection to ecological factors.

Dozens of graduate and postgraduate (doctoral) students have been trained in the fields of botany, zoology hydrobiology, parasitology and ecology in close connection to the fields of research presented above (the Department of Physiology has been mentioned in another Research Plan). The Faculty of Science has been accredited the right to train Ph.D. students and to administer the process of promotion to senior lecturer /associate professor (”docent”) and professor in the fields of research given.

The team consists of the staff of two departments (Department of Botany, Department of Zoology and Ecology; and additional 4 employees from the Department of Comparative Animal Physiology and General Zoology, who do not specialise in physiology) and has a mean age of 46 years. In the year 2000 it consists of 6 professors, 7 senior lecturers (associate professors), 12 lecturers (assistant professors) and research assistants, and 4 technicians. According to plan another 5 employees (university graduates, possibly also secondary school graduates) should be hired for the time period of the Research Plan.

Follow for detailed description on the individual research teams.