PARTICIPATION IN RESEARCH PROJECTS
1992 -1993: Structural and functional changes in grass vegetation on
deforested areas (Supported by the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic, leader
Prof. J. Gloser.)
I studied growth and photosynthetic performance of two wild grass species namely with respect to their competition abilities in various light conditions. The calculation of whole plant carbon balance under contrasting levels of irradiance was also used for comparison of acclimation ability between studied species.
1993 - l994: Respiratory processes in roots of wild grasses with inherently
different relative growth rate. (Project of the Utrecht University, leader prof.
H. Lambers. Scholarship granted by EC - Tempus exchange program.)
This complex project studied a variation in respiratory requirements for various physiological processes in roots between species. I measured a total respiration rate and a degree of engagement of various respiratory pathways in total respiration of plant roots. I also used specific inhibitors and respiratory uncouplers to determine the efficiency of oxidative phosphorylation in roots of several species.
1994 –1996: Ecophysiology of grassland vegetation on heavily acidified soils
(Supported by the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic, leader Prof. J. Gloser.)
The project was aimed by search for physiological traits of plants which may increase their competitive abilities on acidic soils. My part of work was focused on the estimation of the effects of low pH and ammonium ions on uptake of nitrogen and basic cations in plant roots. The differences in sensitivity to these adverse factors among several species were also tested.
1996-1997: Effects of atmospheric CO2 increase on carbon fluxes in grassland
ecosystems. (Project no. 619 of the COST program of the EC, leader Prof. J.
Nösberger. Fellowship was granted by The Swiss National Commission for Foreign Students -
ESKAS.)
My work was focused on the balance between carbon and nitrogen metabolism under elevated atmospheric CO2. The effect of nitrogen form in substrate on growth and chemical composition of Lolium perenne was of the main importance in experiments in climate chambers. Experiments in the field estimated changes in an availability of ammonium and nitrate ions to Lolium plants for several weeks after defoliation.
1998-2001: The role of nitrogen storage compounds in regulation of growth
processes in Calamagrostis epigejos plants. (Post-doc project supported
by the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic).
In this project there was determined a
seasonal dynamics of nitrogen storage compounds in vegetative plant organs both in the
field and in the pot experiment. The importance of each group of nitrogen storage
compounds for overwintering plants was estimated together with identification of organs
most important for their storage. The influence of nitrogen availability on the size of
nitrogen reserves in plants as well as the relationship between the size of reserves and
plant regrowth after overwintering was evaluated. The changes in nitrogen storage
compounds during regrowth after defoliation were also investigated.