scholarly journals Hitchhiking Exotic Clam: Dreissena polymorpha (Pallas, 1771) Transported via the Ornamental Plant Trade

Diversity ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 410
Author(s):  
Jiří Patoka ◽  
Barbora Patoková

Ornamental aquaculture is one of the main sources of non-native species worldwide. Unintentionally transported “hitchhiking” organisms have been previously recorded; although most of these species are transported from tropical regions, here we report on the first accidental transport of the zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) in a shipment of ornamental Aegagropila linnaei (Chlorophyta) from Russia to the Czech Republic. This invasive mussel is listed on the national blacklist of alien species in the Czech Republic and can be easily released in outdoor garden ponds together with A. linnaei. Since the Czech Republic is known to be a gateway for aquatic ornamental species from a European perspective, re-export to other European countries is also possible. Thus, the spread of D. polymorpha via this pathway cannot be excluded. This finding should be of importance to conservationists, traders, decision-makers and other stakeholders.

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (19) ◽  
pp. 8793
Author(s):  
Safwan Ghanem ◽  
Ghaeth Fandi ◽  
Vladimír Krepl ◽  
Tarek Husein ◽  
Osama Rzek ◽  
...  

COVID-19 is likely to be the 2020s’ deadliest pandemic according to the World Health Organization (WHO). There have been more than 3.7 million confirmed deaths after 15 months spread. Besides the loss of human lives, COVID-19 has other unfavorable impacts on society, education, and the economy. Due to successive lockdowns and the continuous quarantines, the demands on power resources have reduced. Therefore, there is a need to investigate the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on electricity prices (EP). In this paper, a set of six economic factors that are affected by COVID-19 and affect EP are considered. These factors were fed into a functional link artificial neural network (FLANN) to model the relationships between them and the EP. An empirical equation was formulated to help decision makers and strategic developers in the electricity markets come up with more appropriate plans. Italy, the Czech Republic, and China were used as case studies in this research.


Author(s):  
Ivana Šafránková ◽  
Jiří Müller

Marguerite daisy (Argyranthemum frutescens) is an ornamental plant, that is used as a potted and landscape plant. In 2006, disease symptoms were observed on marguerite daisy (A. frutescens cv. ‘Butterfly’) in greenhouses in Brno-Tuřany. The pathogen primarily affected newly expanded young leaves and shoot tips. They were chlorotic, twisted and stunted. The affected leaf tips were necrotic. Bud flowers and flowers were deformed and get dry. The extensive purplish brown growth of downy mildew colonized the lower surface of infected leaves. Older leaves were unaffected.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ondrej Majek ◽  
Ondrej Ngo ◽  
Jiri Jarkovsky ◽  
Martin Komenda ◽  
Jarmila Razova ◽  
...  

In the Czech Republic, the first COVID-19 cases were confirmed on 1 March 2020; early population interventions were adopted in the following weeks. A simple epidemiological model was developed to help decision-makers understand the course of the epidemic and perform short-term predictions. In this paper, we present the use of the model and estimated changes in the reproduction number (decrease from > 2.00 to < 1.00 over March and April) following adopted interventions.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Inga Apine ◽  
Uģis Piterāns

Invasive non-native insect species are well-known threat to both local and introduced plant species in Europe. With increasing global trade and effects of climate change it is expected these alien species will continue to expand their distribution areas. One such non-native species is azalea sawfly Nematus lipovskyi Smith, 1974 (Hymenoptera: Tenthredinidae) that feeds on deciduous Rhododendron spp. This species is known to occur in the USA and was found in the Czech Republic for the first time in Europe in 2010. We report the first findings of this species in Latvia that were made based of field observations in the period of 2018-2020. The current known status of the species in Latvia is presented. Our observations of damage caused by sawfly larvae are summarized. Host plants used by sawfly larvae are listed – we note Rhododendron albrechtii as a host plant of this species for the first time. The possible pathways of its introduction and the overall importance of our findings in context with other non-native species expansions are briefly discussed.


2014 ◽  
Vol 60 (No. 4) ◽  
pp. 174-180 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Plhal ◽  
J. Kamler ◽  
M. Homolka ◽  
J. Drimaj

Wild boar is a native species in the fauna of the Czech Republic. It is becoming a problematic game species both in the Czech Republic and in other European countries due to its harmful impacts. So far no suitable method of its sustainable management has been devised. Yet, a correct abundance estimate is essential for proper management, field crop damage prevention and proper hunting planning. This paper employed faecal pellet group count to estimate the wild boar density in a forest environment. The research was conducted in a study area covering 12.83 km<sup>2</sup>, which is surrounded by farmland. The count was done under ideal conditions in early spring, after snow had melted. The study area was organised into several differing environments in which different dung densities were expected. The presence of feeding sites, where wild boars concentrated, was taken into account. The conducted count confirmed differences in the utilization of different habitats within the study area. The resulting wild boar abundance was estimated at 64.3 (&plusmn; 8.9; 95% CI) indd&middot;km<sup>&ndash;2</sup>. &nbsp; &nbsp;


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (21) ◽  
pp. 9000
Author(s):  
Jiří Schneider ◽  
Hana Kubíčková

Although the use and management of ecosystem services (ES) resources and the promotion of their provision are a standard and necessary part of spatial planning tools and documents, a direct implementation of this concept is exceptional. Researchers and entire projects have so far focused mainly on identification of ecosystem services and their resources in urban environment, or on the analysis of their occurrence in spatial planning documents. That was the goal of our research as well. Spatial planning documents, systematically and methodically re-defined using ecosystem services, are what is still lacking. Our article presents the results of the analysis of the use of ecosystem services in spatial plans of five cities, regional centers in the Czech Republic. We used a text evaluation methodology focused on the explicit and implicit expression of ecosystem services. We analyzed the overall approach to the creation of spatial plans. In addition to the spatial plans, we also analyzed their assignments (SPA). We found that the current spatial planning methodology does not work with the ecosystem services approach (ESA) systemically. It focuses mainly on ES resources and implicitly envisages their provision. SPAs are a more flexible and effective tool for enforcing ESA in spatial planning than the lengthy legislative process. However, this presupposes greater knowledge of SPA among the public and decision makers.


2005 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 78-88
Author(s):  
Luboš Beran

Aquatic molluscs of the Elbe River between Němčice (near Pardubice, Eastern Bohemia, Czech Republic) and Hřensko (Northern Bohemia, Czech Republic) at 27 localities were investigated from 1994 to 2004. Altogether 40 species (24 gastropods, 16 bivalves) from 77 species known on the territory of the Czech Republic were found at sites under study. A gradual invasion of 6 non-native species (Potamopyrgus antipodarum, Physella acuta, Menetus dilatatus, Ferrissia clessiniana, Corbicula fluminea) and an extinction of another species (Theodoxus fluviatilis, Planorbis carinatus, Unio crassus, Pisidium amnicum) were documented in comparison with historical records. Rare mussel Pseudanodonta complanata and rare pea mussel Pisidium moitessierianum were found at several localities under study and these finds document survival of these bivalves in the Elbe River. Molluscan communities of particular localities were most often usually compounded from species Viviparus viviparus (downstream of loc. 9), Bithynia tentaculata, Radix auricularia, Radix ampla, Unio pictorum, Anodonta anatina, Corbicula fluminea (downstream of loc. 8), Sphaerium rivicola (downstream of loc. 7), Sphaerium corneum s. lat., Pisidium supinum, Dreissena polymorpha.


Author(s):  
Vladimír Mikule

The study aims to evaluate changes in occurrence of the Mandarin Duck, Aix galericulata (Linnaeus, 1758) in the Czech Republic in 2008–2019 with focus on winter months (December, January and February) 2007/08–2018/19. Seasonal dynamics of occurrence was evaluated for years 2008–2019 by comparison of 3831 observations. The highest number of observations comes from winter period (36.7%), if we exclude data from South Moravian Region (with whole year occurrence), it is 48%. In winters 2007/08–2018/19 occurrence of 772 birds was detected, most of them with determined gender – 469 males (63.4%) and 271 females (36.6%). In winter periods 2007/08–2010/11 the occurrence was concentrated in the Central Bohemian Region (Vltava river). Since the winter 2011/12 the centre of occurrence was in the South Moravian Region which is related with a formation of stable breeding population in that region. Pattern of the highest number of observations in a winter period lasts but the highest numbers of observed birds are possibly of the Czech origin.


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 253-272
Author(s):  
Jana Rozmarinová ◽  
Barbora Říhová

Abstract Health technology assessment (HTA) has become the systematic evaluation of health technology’s properties and effects that inform decision-makers. The implementation and expansion of HTA can contribute to slowing down burgeoning healthcare costs. In the Czech Republic, elements of HTA are quite standardly used in pharmacoeconomics, but questions arise on the use of HTA of medical devices. The theoretical framework developed is followed by a case study of the Czech Republic to assess whether the use of HTA of medical devices in the Czech Republic is implemented. This study uses publicly available resources, mainly public health acts and public notices related to HTA. We examined the institutionalisation of HTA for medical devices (HTA applied only at a selected area of medical devices) in the Czech Republic and compared Czech’s HTA principles of medical devices to the HTA Core Model. It was found that the HTA process used for medical devices is very limited in the Czech Republic. Our data show that HTA was officially established, but in reality, the medical devices have not been assessed following HTA principles.


2007 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 38-47
Author(s):  
Luboš Beran

This paper brings a review of a malacological survey of the Vsetínská Bečva River, its tributaries, canals and other different aquatic habitats in surroundings (Eastern Moravia, Czech Republic). Vsetínská Bečva is a 58 km long river which rises in 870 m a.s.l. and joins Rožnovská Bečva River in Valašské Meziříčí at 288 m asl. Research was focused on endangered bivalve Unio crassus. Aquatic molluscs at 63 sites were studied in 2007. Altogether 19 species of aquatic molluscs (12 gastropods, 7 bivalves) were found. Three non-native species Potamopyrgus antipodarum, Physella acuta, and Gyraulus parvus, which are rare in Moravia, were found. Occurrence of vulnerable but in this region relatively common prosobranch Bythinella austriaca was confirmed in springs and rivulets. Research based on bivalves provided more interesting results. Existence of two large populations of Unio crassus were documented in two canals (mill races) in Hovězí and Vsetín. Populations of Unio crassus were estimated at 1500–2500 individuals in Hovězí and 1000–4000 individuals in Vsetín. Occurrence of young individuals of Unio crassus were confirmed in both cases. Rare bivalves Pisidium amnicum and P. moitessierianum were found at one site in Canal in Vsetín and also non-native Dreissena polymorpha was found at one site – the gravel pit near Nový Hrozenkov.


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