Long-term decline in breeding abundance of Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) in the Czech Republic: a case study of a population trend at the Chomoutov lake

The aim of this paper is to evaluate the long-term trend in breeding abundance of Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) at the Chomoutov lake, Czech Republic. In the period 1978-2014 (always between April 22 and May 10), we conducted 14 nest counts in the bird colony using the direct nest search method. In total, we counted 57,860 nests, from which 2,174 nests were found in the initial year 1978, the maximum number of nests (8,371) in 1993 and 3,304 nests in the last counting year 2014. The nests were located on the ground on an island elevated 2-3 m above the water level. In 1997, we found an unusually located nest on a nesting pad in a poplar tree (Populus sp.), 821 cm above the water level. In this paper, we point out the long-term decline in breeding abundance of Black-headed Gull in major breeding colonies in the Czech Republic, where the abundance declined by up to 95%, while numerous colonies have vanished completely. We discuss factors influencing the negative population trend of Black-headed Gull on the monitored site and in the entire Czech Republic

Dominance and Diversity of Bird Community in Floodplain Forest Ecosystem

The paper is aimed to assessment of diversity and structure of bird community in floodplain forest ecosystem. Authors present results of analyses data on bird communities obtained at two transects in the Litovelské Pomoraví Protected Landscape Area (Czech Republic) in the period 1998–2012. Research of bird communities was carried out using the point-count method. The article deals with qualitative and quantitative representation of breeding bird species, including their relation to habitat type (closed floodplain forest, ecotone). Altogether 63 breeding species were recorded at the Vrapač transect and 67 at the Litovelské luhy transect, respectively. To be able to detect all recorded species, 11 out of 14 years of monitoring were needed at the Vrapač transect and all 8 years of monitoring at the Litovelské luhy transect, respectively. Authors show that the values in dominant bird species change significantly among the particular census dates within one season, mainly with respect to their activity and detectability. Results are discussed in the frame of sustainable forest management in floodplain forest ecosystems. The presented article can promote to discussion aimed to management strategy for floodplain forest ecosystems, which ranks among natural habitat types of Community interest protected under the Natura 2000 European network

Distribution of Common Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) in the Ramena řeky Moravy National Nature Reserve (Czech Republic) in Relation to the Coppice-with-standard Forest Management

The paper brings results of a long-term monitoring of a breeding population of the Common Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) carried out at the Morava River (an 11.11 km long section) in the Ramena řeky Moravy National Nature Reserve (Litovelské Pomoraví SPA, Czech Republic) in the years 1987–2012. Monitoring of breeding sites of the Common Kingfisher was performed using a modified nest searching method. In the study area, numbers of Common Kingfishers fluctuate significantly between 1 and 15 breeding pairs (i.e. between 0.09 and 1.26 breeding pairs per 1 km of the river). In a statistical analysis of data from the period 2005–2012, factors affecting distribution of Kingfisher nests in the study area were assessed. A statistically significant relationship was found between the distribution of Kingfisher breeding sites and the distribution of riparian stands of the floodplain forest in a coppice-with-standards forest. This finding is discussed in relation to the current tendencies to apply coppicing in areas of high conservation value

Bird Diversity as a Support Decision Tool for Sustainable Management in Temperate Forested Floodplain Landscapes

Sustainably managed forests provide multiple ecosystem services in cultural landscapes, including maintaining biodiversity. Better understanding of the benefits regarding the biodiversity of different silvicultural practices is important for sustainable landscape management. Conservation targets in forested landscapes should be determined by land managers and policy-makers, based on serious ecological research. This study deals with response of bird diversity to three different habitat types of temperate hardwood floodplain forests, which reflect specific forms of forest management. Research was based on long-term field bird census in the years 1998 to 2002 applying the point count method. Data was analysed using regression analysis with dummy variables. The results of the study indicate that hardwood floodplain forest heterogeneity, supported by different types of forest management (old-growth forest protection, group-selection harvesting and forest edge protection), provides large-scale habitat mosaic conditions suitable for many breeding bird species with different ecological niches. This result suggests that comparison of bird diversity response to different forest management types can be used as a decision support tool for sustainable landscape management strategy and local management practices in forested cultural lowland landscapes. Improvements in both regional and local ecological knowledge are generally needed in order to control floodplain land use decisions, which are typically made on the scale of landscape management

Applying of Indicator Vertebrate Species to Environmental Assessment in the Landscape: Danube – Oder – Elbe Water Canal in the Czech Republic

The aim of the study is to assess potential impact of construction of the Danube - Oder - Elbe (DOL) water canal on populations of vertebrate species - amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals - and present using these species as bioindicators on landscape level. For analysis of the data, the canal route was divided into smaller sections which were assessed separately. The following criteria were analysed: 1) current occurrence of target vertebrate species, 2) identification of species affected by canal construction, including evaluation of their numbers, 3) identification of affected species protected by Czech legislation, 4) identification of affected species protected by EU legislation, 5) impact assessment of the DOL project on Special Protection Areas (SPAs) and Special Areas of Conservation (SACs), 6) data synthesis and impact assessment of the DOL vertebrates in the particular catchment areas. It is apparent that the most important negative impacts on vertebrate populations and their habitats in case of implementation of the DOL plan can be expected in the following sections of the Morava river: Hodonín - Břeclav, Kroměříž - Otrokovice, Veselí na Moravě - Hodonín, Troubky - Kroměříž, Doubravice - Střelice; of the Oder river: Jeseník nad Odrou - Ostrava, Ostrava - state border; and of the Elbe river: Česká Třebová - Pardubice. In case of construction of the DOL canal, disturbance, damage or loss of vertebrate habitats will occur at least at 6 out of 9 studied sections in the Morava catchment area, at 3 of 4 sections in the Oder catchment area and at 2 of 3 sections in the Elbe catchment area

Land-Use Changes at Nest Sites of the Little Owl (Athene noctua) in the South-Moravian Region of the Czech Republic

The Little Owl is currently endangered bird species of agricultural lowland areas in Central Europe. Nesting sites of the Little Owl are often old trees as well as buildings and quarries with suitable nesting cavities. The Little Owl has severely declined in a major part of Europe during the past decades. Information on habitat requirements of the Little Owl and data related to land-use changes at nest sites (covering both the breeding and foraging habitats) are needed for conservation programmes aimed at this bird species. Land-use changes in farmland rank among frequently discussed negative factors causing the population decline of the Little Owl. The aim of this study is to analyse land-use changes at nest sites of the Little Owl in the South-Moravian region (Czech Republic) between the years 1976/1977 and 2014. In both studied periods (1976/1977 and 2014), the most important land-use type within 500 m from the nest sites of the Little Owl was arable land (66.94 % – 62.25 %), followed by built-up areas (19.97 % –22.41 %), while the other land-use types made up less than 5 %. The proportion of the particular land-use type did not change significantly between the years 1976/1977 and 2014. The most important change in comparison with the period 1976/1977 was the decrease in the area of arable land by 4.69 % and that of orchards and gardens by 1.99 %, while the surface of built-up areas increased slightly by 2.45 % and that of meadows and pastures by 1.5 %. The analysis shows that at the known nest sites of the Little Owl in the South-Moravian region (Czech Republic), there were no significant changes in the proportion of the particular land-use types within 500 m from the nests between the years 1976/1977 and 2014. Based on these results, we can conclude that in comparison with the availability of nest sites, which seems to be the important limiting factor for the occurrence and population density of the Little Owl, land-use changes in study area were not very important factor influencing decline of the Little Owl

Barn Owl Productivity Response to Variability of Vole Populations.

We studied the response of the barn owl annual productivity to the common vole population numbers and variability to test the effects of environmental stochasticity on their life histories. Current theory predicts that temporal environmental variability can affect long-term nonlinear responses (e.g., production of young) both positively and negatively, depending on the shape of the relationship between the response and environmental variables. At the level of the Czech Republic, we examined the shape of the relationship between the annual sum of fledglings (annual productivity) and vole numbers in both non-detrended and detrended data. At the districts' level, we explored whether the degree of synchrony (measured by the correlation coefficient) and the strength of the productivity response increase (measured by the regression coefficient) in areas with higher vole population variability measured by the s-index. We found that the owls' annual productivity increased linearly with vole numbers in the Czech Republic. Furthermore, based on district data, we also found that synchrony between dynamics in owls' reproductive output and vole numbers increased with vole population variability. However, the strength of the response was not affected by the vole population variability. Additionally, we have shown that detrending remarkably increases the Taylor's exponent b relating variance to mean in vole time series, thereby reversing the relationship between the coefficient of variation and the mean. This shift was not responsible for the increased synchrony with vole population variability. Instead, we suggest that higher synchrony could result from high food specialization of owls on the common vole in areas with highly fluctuating vole populations

Krajinně-ekologické‚ vodohospodářské‚ ekonomické a legislativní hodnocení záměru výstavby kanálu Dunaj - Odra - Labe:Vliv potenciální výstavby kanálu Dunaj - Odra - Labe na biodiverzitu lužních lesů

Orientační ekologická charakteristika ekosystémů lužních lesů v ČR, které by byly dotčeny potenciální výstavbou vodního kanálu DOL. Stručné shrnutí dosavadních poznatků o vlhkostním režimu půd lužních lesů a vlivu vodohospodářských úprav na ekosystémy lužních lesů

The Taylor’s power law relationships for the vole time series data.

<p>The upper panels show the relationship between variance and mean for non-detrended (a) and detrended (b) data. The lower panels show the relationship between the coefficients of variation (CV) and mean for non-detrended (c) and detrended (d) vole data.</p