The long‐term coexistence and co-evolution of terrestrial plants with associated soil microorganisms likely results in local co‐adaptations where growth and fitness of both symbionts are greatest in their shared soil environments. Local adaptation to biotic interactions may be particularly important for mycoheterotrophic plants that critically rely on mycorrhizal fungi for seed germination and subsequent growth, such as orchids. As knowledge on local adaptations in orchids is highly limited and might be critical for their successful restoration, we propose project testing local adaptations in orchids differing in fungal specificity using in vitro, pot culture and in situ reciprocal seed germination experiments. Seed sowing together with sympatric and allopatric genotyped fungal inoculants will provide straightforward test of possible adaptations in orchid-fungus-soil system disentangling all three components. Such experiment will be carried out for orchids for the first time. The results will be transformed into guidelines for managers of in situ restoration of orchid populations.

The project aims to contribute to the coordinated concept of open water conservation through the protection of the populations of the flagship species brown trout on the Czech and German side of the Šumava. The flagship species is the well-known, commercially important and mainly key species for the stability of the aquatic ecosystem (top predator and key link in the life cycle of the critically endangered pearl mussel). Detailed ichthyological monitoring will be carried out in the Šumava region, including genetic analyses of the flagship species and analysis of fish parasites using non-invasive environmental DNA. Areas with different management (no-take areas and sport fishing grounds) in both countries will be covered, as water and fish do not respect boundaries, in order to identify important populations deserving higher protection (conservation centres with genetic banks in natural habitats) and populations strongly affected by the introduction of genetically non-native fish (areas under high pressure from sport fishing). In the programme area, fisheries management will be significantly improved and experience will be transferred between landscape managers, nature conservationists, fish farmers and interest groups.

Changes in chemical and biological composition of mountain lakes currently accelerate, being more pronounced at higher elevations. These trends reflect not only differences in nutrient pools and microbial biomass (decreasing with increasing elevation), but also in the increasing intensity of terrestrial system’s response to environmental changes (recovery from acidification and climate) with elevation. Our study along the elevation gradient of the Tatra Mts. will evaluate responses of different soil types (from forest, through alpine meadows, to till soils in scree) to current changes in temperature and precipitation regimes (differences in speed and temperature sensitivity of microbial processes involved in carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus cycling). Using field and laboratory experiments, we will identify differences in key processes of nutrient retention, mobilization, and leaching from soils. The leaching mechanisms will be used to understand long-term trends in chemical and biological composition of lakes and their current differences along the elevation gradient.

This project has the principal investigator at the Dept. of Ecosystem Biology, but other team members are from the Dept. of Botany (M. Šmilauerová, J. Košnar, E. Holá, B. Divišová, and two master students). Using data from six field experiments, we will explore what effects the fertilization of permanent grasslands has on the communities of arbuscular and fine endophyte mycorrhizal fungi in the context of intensifying agriculture. These effects will be examined with a special focus on the prevailing nitrogen addition, but taking into account its interactions with the availability of phosphorus in soil. Using molecular methods, we will look at the changes in fungal community composition, its taxonomic, phylogenetic and functional diversities, and - using light microscopy - fungal colonisation of roots. For frequent taxa of mycorrhizal fungi, our project will quantify the response of hyphae to the addition of nitrogen, phosphorus and organic matter to soil, by using a novel, further improved method of estimating, under field conditions, two hyphal functional traits. Our project will provide new insights into the functioning of the communities of symbiotic fungi in managed grasslands and therefore enable better understanding of their responses to agricultural intensification pressure.