Principle investigator: Jan Lepš
Funding provider: the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic
Grant No.: 23-05654S
Duration: 2023- 2025

Project is based on the idea that the main driver of competitive exclusion in plant communities is mainly competition asymmetry, and not so much competition intensity. The rate of competitive exclusion increases with competition asymmetry. It is expected that the aboveground competition is more asymmetric than the belowground competition, but the experimental proof is missing. In the project, we use newly established experiments, as well as the long-term data from our permanent plots (mainly Ohrazení). Common project with the working group of Tomáš Herben (Botanical institute CAS, Průhonice).

Principle investigator: Jules Segrestin
Funding provider: the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic
Grant No.: 31-23-07087S
Duration: 2023- 2025

Research in ecology over the past 30 years has provided strong theoretical and experimental evidence that biodiversity plays a key role in several ecosystem functions. Whether these findings can help predict the consequences of the biodiversity loss due to current global changes is a debated topic. In this project, we propose to simulate realistic scenarios of plant species extinction using experimental and observational approaches. The project builds on the set-up of unique experiments in species-rich grasslands of South Bohemia (Czech Republic) and the collection of original data. We aim to investigate the effects of plant diversity on a comprehensive set of ecosystem properties related to the carbon cycle. Beside testing the consequences of species loss on carbon pools and seasonal fluxes, the project integrates a trait-based framework to improve our mechanistic understanding of the underlying ecological processes.

Principle investigator: Karel Prach
Funding provider: the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic
Grant No.: 20-06065S
Duration: 2020- 2023

Project Objectives:
To assess the spatio-temporal variability of vegetation succession at broader spatial scales (landscape, country, continent, global trends). To obtain results that would contribute to successional theory and also could be used in ecological restoration of disturbed habitats and nature conservation.

What was achieved:
A book summarizing current knowledge on succession at a global scale was published (Prach K., Walker L.R. 2020: Comparative Plant Succession among Terrestrial Biomes of the World. Cambridge University Press.) and a total of 11 articles in impacted journals (others are in press or under preparation). One of the main novel findings was that success of succession to reach potential natural vegetation increases with latitude. It was confirmed globally and also within a continent (Europe). Furthermore, it was found that for critically endangered species, mainly young successional stages are important under Central European conditions, and that the number of non-native species decreases during succession. More detailed research on succession has been carried out in the framework of the grant on volcanoes in Iceland (see figure), limestone and gypsum quarries in Spain, and will be carried out on waste dumps in Wales. The European Database of Successional Series (EDaSS) is under preparation.

Principle investigator: Zdeněk Kaplan (BÚ AVČR, Průhonice)
Co-investigator from the department: Petr Koutecký
Funding provider: the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic
Grant No.: 22-10464S
Duration: 2022- 2024

Aquatic plants show specific biological characteristics fundamentally affecting their genetic variation and evolution. In spite of this, they are largely ignored by evolutionary biology. The project aims at disentangling the pathways of reticulate evolution in Ranunculus sect. Batrachium (Water Crowfoots) as a model group of aquatic plants that is distinguished by enormous levels of polyploidy and hybridization. Using a holistic approach integrating cytogenetic methods, up-to-date DNA sequencing approaches and cutting-edge bioinformatics tools we will unravel the evolutionary history of this
group and reconstruct the genomic constitutions of allopolyploids. We will identify main evolutionary drivers that shaped this diversity as well as the role of the Quaternary climatic oscillations for triggering speciation processes in aquatics. Conclusions will supplement existing knowledge conducted on terrestrial plants and thus shed a new perspective on evolution of plants in general.