Patterns and drivers of Nothobranchius killifish diversity in lowland Tanzania.

Temporary pools are seasonal wetland habitats with specifically adapted biota, including annual Nothobranchius killifishes that survive habitat desiccation as diapausing eggs encased in dry sediment. To understand the patterns in the structure of Nothobranchius assemblages and their potential in wetland conservation, we compared biodiversity components (alpha, beta, and gamma) between regions and estimated the role and sources of nestedness and turnover on their diversity. We sampled Nothobranchius assemblages from 127 pools across seven local regions in lowland Eastern Tanzania over 2 years, using dip net and seine nets. We estimated species composition and richness for each pool, and beta and gamma diversity for each region. We decomposed beta diversity into nestedness and turnover components. We tested nestedness in three main regions (Ruvu, Rufiji, and Mbezi) using the number of decreasing fills metric and compared the roles of pool area, isolation, and altitude on nestedness. A total of 15 species formed assemblages containing 1-6 species. Most Nothobranchius species were endemic to one or two adjacent regions. Regional diversity was highest in the Ruvu, Rufiji, and Mbezi regions. Nestedness was significant in Ruvu and Rufiji, with shared core (N. melanospilus, N. eggersi, and N. janpapi) and common (N. ocellatus and N. annectens) species, and distinctive rare species. Nestedness apparently resulted from selective colonization rather than selective extinction, and local species richness was negatively associated with altitude. The Nothobranchius assemblages in the Mbezi region were not nested, and had many endemic species and the highest beta diversity driven by species turnover. Overall, we found unexpected local variation in the sources of beta diversity (nestedness and turnover) within the study area. The Mbezi region contained the highest diversity and many endemic species, apparently due to repeated colonizations of the region rather than local diversification. We suggest that annual killifish can serve as a flagship taxon for small wetland conservation

Lobbying - economic and legal aspects : attitudes of members of the law academia and members of the lower house of the Parliament of the Czech Republic to the regulation of lobbying

Lobbying - Economic and Legal aspects Abstract The diploma thesis deals with lobbying and its economic and legal aspects. The aim of the thesis is to present lobbying from a broad perspective in the context of other regulations by using descriptive, comparative and analytical methods and to provide a comprehensive overview of the development of efforts to regulate lobbying in the Czech Republic. Particular attention is paid to the analysis of the last governmental regulatory initiative where I am testing a hypothesis of whether the underway regulation is systemically correct in light of examples in other countries. I also conducted two surveys aimed at finding out the attitudes of members of the law academia and members of the lower house of the Parliament of the Czech Republic to the regulation of lobbying in the Czech Republic. The data serve both to (i) illustrate the interpretation of lobbying across the work, (ii) but also because of the specific proposed variant of lobbying within the framework of the approved substantive intent of the lobbying law (the deadline for submitting a paragraph to the government is set to end 2018), and (iii) I believe that they can be useful even when finalizing the bill, or other later proposed measures under the de lege ferenda considerations on lobbying. The thesis is...Lobbing - ekonomické a právní aspekty Abstrakt Diplomová práce se zabývá problematikou lobbingu a jeho ekonomických a právních aspektů. Cílem práce je za pomoci především deskriptivní, komparativní a analytické metody předložit pohled na lobbing v širším kontextu a přinést ucelený přehled vývoje snah o jeho regulaci v České republice. Zvláštní pozornost je věnována analýze poslední vládní iniciativy lobbing regulovat, kde se snažím potvrdit, či vyvrátit hypotézu, že regulace vzniká systémově správně vzhledem k příkladům v jiných státech. Za tím účelem jsem mimo jiné provedl dva průzkumy cílené na zjištění postojů členů akademické právnické obce a členů dolní komory Parlamentu ČR k regulaci lobbingu v České republice. Tato data slouží jednak (i) pro ilustraci výkladu o lobbingu napříč celou prací, (ii) zvláštní význam ale mají i vzhledem ke konkrétní navrhované variantě regulace lobbingu v rámci schváleného věcného záměru zákona o lobbingu (termín pro předložení paragrafovaného znění vládě je stanoven do konce roku 2018) a (iii) věřím, že mohou být užitečná i při finalizování zmíněného návrhu zákona, případně pro jiná pozdější navrhovaná opatření v rámci úvah de lege ferenda o regulaci lobbingu. Práce se člení na tři části, kapitoly, podkapitoly a dílčí pasáže. První část je věnována fenoménu lobbingu a jeho...Katedra národního hospodářstvíDepartment of National EconomyPrávnická fakultaFaculty of La

Lobbying - economic and legal aspects : attitudes of members of the law academia and members of the lower house of the Parliament of the Czech Republic to the regulation of lobbying

Lobbying - Economic and Legal aspects Abstract The diploma thesis deals with lobbying and its economic and legal aspects. The aim of the thesis is to present lobbying from a broad perspective in the context of other regulations by using descriptive, comparative and analytical methods and to provide a comprehensive overview of the development of efforts to regulate lobbying in the Czech Republic. Particular attention is paid to the analysis of the last governmental regulatory initiative where I am testing a hypothesis of whether the underway regulation is systemically correct in light of examples in other countries. I also conducted two surveys aimed at finding out the attitudes of members of the law academia and members of the lower house of the Parliament of the Czech Republic to the regulation of lobbying in the Czech Republic. The data serve both to (i) illustrate the interpretation of lobbying across the work, (ii) but also because of the specific proposed variant of lobbying within the framework of the approved substantive intent of the lobbying law (the deadline for submitting a paragraph to the government is set to end 2018), and (iii) I believe that they can be useful even when finalizing the bill, or other later proposed measures under the de lege ferenda considerations on lobbying. The thesis is..

Evaluation of land cover changes after extraordinary windstorm by using the land cover metrics : a case study on the High Tatras foothill =Hodnotenie zmien krajinnej pokrývky po mimoriadnej víchrici s využitím krajinnoekologických indexov : príkladová štúdia úpätia Vysokých Tatier

On the 19th November 2004, a wind disaster caused extensive damages, especially in the forests of the Tatra National Park. Despite that windstorm consequences of natural processes impact the spatial structure of landscape excessively, their studies have been subject only to a minor interest so far. The aim of this paper is to characterize the land cover changes in the Štrbské Pleso - Tatranská Lesná area, before the wind disaster and after its impacts have been processed. We also analyze the relationship between wind-caused damages to the vegetation and the natural landscape structure, using various landscape metrics.15617

Водоснабжение и водоотведение. Конспект лекций для самостоятельной работы

Учебно-методическое пособие .Доступ к полному тексту открыт из сети СФУ, вне сети доступ возможен для читателей Научной библиотеки СФУ или за плату.Даны методические рекомендации для самостоятельного изучения материала, не вошедшего в основной лекционный курс. Предназначено для организации образовательного процесса по программам специалитета 08.05.01 «Строительство уникальных зданий и сооружений» (профиль 08.05.01.01 «Строительство высотных и большепролетных зданий и сооружений»)

Longitudinal demographic study of wild populations of African annual killifish

Abstract The natural history of model organisms is often overlooked despite its importance to correctly interpret the outcome of laboratory studies. Ageing is particularly understudied in natural populations. To address this gap, we present lifetime demographic data from wild populations of an annual species, the turquoise killifish, Nothobranchius furzeri, a model species in ageing research, and two other species of coexisting annual killifishes. Annual killifish hatch synchronously, have non-overlapping generations, and reproduce daily after reaching sexual maturity. Data from 13 isolated savanna pools in southern Mozambique demonstrate that the pools supporting killifish populations desiccated 1–4 months after their filling, though some pools persisted longer. Declines in population size over the season were stronger than predicted, because they exceeded the effect of steady habitat shrinking on population density that, contrary to the prediction, decreased. Populations of N. furzeri also became more female-biased with progressing season suggesting that males had lower survival. Nothobranchius community composition did not significantly vary across the season. Our data clearly demonstrate that natural populations of N. furzeri and its congeners suffer strong mortality throughout their lives, with apparent selective disappearance (condition-dependent mortality) at the individual level. This represents selective force that can shape the evolution of lifespan, and its variation across populations, beyond the effects of the gradient in habitat persistence

Success of cuckoo catfish brood parasitism reflects coevolutionary history and individual experience of their cichlid hosts

Obligate brood parasites manipulate other species into raising their offspring. Avian and insect brood parasitic systems demonstrate how interacting species engage in reciprocal coevolutionary arms races through behavioral and morphological adaptations and counteradaptations. Mouthbrooding cichlid fishes are renowned for their remarkable evolutionary radiations and complex behaviors. In Lake Tanganyika, mouthbrooding cichlids are exploited by the only obligate nonavian vertebrate brood parasite, the cuckoo catfish Synodontis multipunctatus. We show that coevolutionary history and individual learning both have a major impact on the success of cuckoo catfish parasitism between coevolved sympatric and evolutionarily naïve allopatric cichlid species. The rate of cuckoo catfish parasitism in coevolved Tanganyikan hosts was 3 to 11 times lower than in evolutionarily naïve cichlids. Moreover, using experimental infections, we demonstrate that parasite egg rejection in sympatric hosts was much higher, leading to seven times greater parasite survival in evolutionarily naïve than sympatric hosts. However, a high rejection frequency of parasitic catfish eggs by coevolved sympatric hosts came at a cost of increased rejection of their own eggs. A significant cost of catfish parasitism was universal, except for coevolved sympatric cichlid species with previous experience of catfish parasitism, demonstrating that learning and individual experience both contribute to a successful host response