Jan Šipoš

Mendel University in Brno · Department of Zoology, Fisheries, Hydrobiology and Apiculture

Xerothermophilous beetles are one of the endangered ecological groups of animals, mainly because of the loss of suitable habitats for their development. Many species of these beetles are associated with specific light conditions. Those preferring higher insolation levels may find such conditions in coppices. Coppicing is a type of forest management...

The causes of decreasing plant species richness include abandonment of traditional management and the spread of invasive species, even in alpine habitats. Studies on the restoration and management of alpine habitats are predominantly focused on vascular plants, although an important part of alpine vegetation and its diversity is formed by bryophyte...

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of selective logging on species richness, composition, and conservation value of epigeic spider community. We studied an initial stage of abandoned coppice restoration in the Děvín National Nature Reserve (Czech Republic). We sampled experimental plots in forest stands with three canopy thinning i...

Odonates are one of the best-known aquatic insect groups, with the renowned ability to reflect the quality of freshwater ecosystems. In the last few decades, major emphasis has been placed on the importance of secondary aquatic habitats as refugia for odonates. Biota of man-made habitats, especially dams, are burdened by countless negative anthropo...

Low plant species richness and abundance, as well as contamination, can lead to a lack of nutrients in the diets of pollinators. This can cause increased oxidative stress, low resistance to disease and reduced detoxification ability. We proposed three forage mixtures with different botanical compositions, all of which should provide continuous fora...

Rodent bark gnawing is common during winter in times of low or unavailable food supply. During the growing season, it is a rare phenomenon, but can occur due to low food supply and/or poor food quality resulting from climatic influence. We evaluated this unusual damage of apple tree (Malus domestica) orchards by rodents in two localities in the Cze...

This study investigated the impact of small rodents on young trees during three growing seasons (2018–2020) in the Czech Republic. Tree damage by small rodents, the quantity and quality of herbaceous plant biomass and the species composition of small mammals were monitored at two sites in European beech forest plantations. The number of trees damag...

Abstract: Western honey bee (Apis mellifera) is one of the most important pollinators in the world. Thus, a recent honey bee health decline and frequent honey bee mass losses have drawn attention and concern. Honey bee fitness is primarily reduced by pathogens, parasites, and viral load, exposure to pesticides and their residues, and inadequate nut...

In the Czech Republic, the abundance (burrow index (BI) of the common vole (Microtus arvalis), an herbivorous pest rodent in Central Europe, were collected in vole-suitable agricultural crops in spring and autumn. We used a 20-year data set that we predicted would cover enough spatial and temporal variations in the natural population fluctuations t...

Malnutrition is one of the main problems related to the global mass collapse of honey bee colonies, because in honey bees, malnutrition is associated with deterioration of the immune system and increased pesticide susceptibility. Another important cause of mass bee colonies losses is the use of pesticides. Therefore, the goal of this study was to v...

Ascosphaera apis is a causative agent of chalkbrood, which is one of the most widespread honey bee diseases. In our experiments, the influence of several artificial media and cultivation under different temperatures was evaluated. Concretely, the radial growth of separated mating types was measured, reproductive structures in a Neubauer hemocytomet...

Lowland forests of Central Europe had been managed by diverse traditional practices for millennia. Such management helped to maintain heterogeneous habitat conditions suitable for a wide variety of arthropod species. Modern approaches to conservation, however, with their strategies of nonintervention, unintentionally caused an overall habitat homog...

Invasive woody species can substantially affect their environment and communities, enhancing the interest in conservation management. Non-indigenous dwarf pine (Pinus mugo) in the treeline ecotone of the Eastern High Sudetes Mountains and its experimental removal is the model example. We asked how species composition and diversity develop after it...

This study investigates the impact of the common vole on cereal crops adjacent to winter rape in a rodent outbreak year. Significant damage was found at the margins of adjacent cereal fields, indicating direct colonisation by voles from the winter rape fields. The damage gradually decreased towards the centre of the fields. We suppose that the redu...

The conversion of forests from complex natural ecosystems to simplified commercial woodlands is one of the major causes of biodiversity loss. To maintain biodiversity, we need to understand how current management practices influence forest ecosystems. We studied the effects of forest successional stage and management intensity on the abundance, spe...

Questions Coppice woods were once widespread in Europe. It is usually assumed that underwood tree taxon composition was not directly influenced by people, whereas especially Quercus was promoted among standard trees. However, no work has quantitatively tested these assumptions. Our main question was whether there were any patterns in our data to su...

Winter rape is a widespread crop in Europe that provides the common vole with a suitable diet and cover from autumn to late spring (approximately eight months). This review shows the following: • That common vole populations reach a high density in winter rape. Widespread rape fields (large size) provide better support for common vole populations...

Acorn crops and rodent populations [bank vole (Myodes glareolus), yellow-necked mouse (Apodemus flavicollis), and wood mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus)] were monitored for 11 years (2002–2012) in mature oak commercial forests in South Moravia (the Czech Republic). Large acorn crops, marking so-called seed years, were recorded in 2003, 2006, 2009, 2010,...

Detritus (decaying organic matter) and phyllodes of mosses are two main components in the diet of groundhoppers (Orthoptera: Tetrigidae). We studied the energy balance of consumed food under laboratory conditions in the detrito-bryophagous groundhopper, Tetrix subulata (Linnaeus, 1758). The results indicated that the energy food budget of this detr...

The effect of artificial canopy opening on the diversity of weevils (Curculionoidea) was studied at two study plots in oak dominated formerly coppiced forest in the eastern part of Podyjí National Park in the Czech Republic. The canopy opening resulted in a significant increase of species richness from an initial 33 (before the opening) to 57 speci...

The damage of seedlings caused by rodents (namely voles of the genera Microtus and Myodes) was monitored in two localities: in the vicinity of Vítkov (Nízký Jeseník) and in the Drahanská vrchovina Highlands. The number of rodents and their food supply (plant species, biomass amount and nutrient content in biomass) were determined on experimental pl...

The synergistic effect of drought, bark beetles and forest composition currently creates large-scale clearcuts in forests of Central Europe. The impact of rodents on seedlings increases with the size of a clearcut. We have not been able to fully assess the significance of rodent impact so far. However, we already have some experience in areas affec...

In the past, insect species richness was high in Central European seminatural grasslands, which were characterized by low‐intensity land use. Currently, however, the hay in most of these grasslands is mechanically harvested, which negatively impacts insect biodiversity. One way to reduce this negative effect is to leave unmown patches as refuges. I...

Aeshna juncea (Linnaeus, 1758) is a robust Holarctic dragonfly species. In Europe, it occurs from middle altitudes up to the mountains, in the south it becomes sparser confined to the higher altitudes. The species is a typical inhabitant of forest ponds, acidic meadows and peatbogs with a three or four years development time. The aim of this study...

Research on canopy arthropods has progressed from species inventories to the study of their interactions and networks, enhancing our understanding of how hyper-diverse communities are maintained. Previous studies often focused on sampling individual tree species, individual trees or their parts. We argue that such selective sampling is not ideal wh...

This study was funded by grant NAZV QK1820091 (The Ministry of Agriculture of the Czech Republic). All aspects of trapping complied with EU Council directive 86/609/EEC on the experimental use of animals.

Questions Recent studies have suggested that response patterns of species and phylogenetic diversity may differ. Here, we address the following questions: What are the most important drivers and is there a difference in the responses to environmental drivers between species and phylogenetic diversity? If so, which ecological mechanisms determine th...

Harmonia axyridis is a global invasive alien species and its ecological effects are well documented. However, in some regions where it was deliberately introduced, it never became fully established. Until recently, Southern Europe was one such region, although, recently several overwintering populations were found in northeast Spain, which may indi...

• Montane forests represent the majority of natural forests remaining in Europe. Their quality can be indicated by the occurrence of saproxylic invertebrates. Information on the habitat requirements of threatened species inhabiting such forests is a necessary prerequisite for qualified management decisions. • Ceruchus chrysomelinus (Lucanidae) is a...

A unique evaluation of the apple tree trunk bark damage caused by common vole and European hare was presented. Damage was found in an apple orchard under organic farming, in Central Moravia (Czech Republic), at 700 m a.s.l. There were two cultivated apple cultivars Red Spring and Melodie/Angold. Damage occurred in winter with the snow cover lasting...

Traditional woodland management created a dynamic mosaic of differently aged patches providing favorable conditions for a variety of arthropods. After the abandonment of historical ownership patterns providing traditional management and deliberate transformation to high forest after the World War II, large areas of forest became darker and more hom...

Knowledge about herbivores and their parasitoids in forest canopies remains limited, despite their diversity and ecological importance. Thus, it is important to understand the factors that shape the herbivore–parasitoid community structure, particularly the effect of vertical gradient. We investigated a quantitative community dataset of exposed and...

Question European temperate forests have been managed for millennia, and this management has left a long‐lasting legacy in soil chemistry and plant species composition and diversity. One of the most common practices was the raking of leaf litter, which was used as bedding for farm animals. We asked, what is the legacy of historical litter raking fo...

BackgroundA crucial step in conserving biodiversity is to identify the distributions of threatened species and the factors associated with species threat status. In the biodiversity hotspot of the Himalaya, very little is known about which locations harbour the highest diversity of threatened species and whether diversity of such species is related...

The colonization of European landscapes during and after the Middle Ages has been studied by historical geographers for more than a century. While many details of colonization processes are well understood, landscape-scale studies are largely missing not least because of the difficulties in obtaining compatible temporal data for thousands of villag...

Whilst studies have shown that climatic (North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO)) and biotic (acorn production) factors influence rodent populations, mechanisms driving temporal and spatial fluctuation of rodent populations are understudied. This study evaluates relationships between the influence of environmental factors (biotic and abiotic) and phenotyp...

Understanding the effects of coppicing on forest ecosystems is important for progress towards sustainable forest management. A newly established coppicing experiment in a secondary temperate deciduous forest in the SE Czech Republic provides a rather unique insight into succession driven by canopy thinning in a forest still lacking species typical...

Coppice abandonment had negative consequences for the biodiversity of forest vegetation and several groups of invertebrates. Most coppicing restoration studies have focused only on a single trophic level despite the fact that ecosystems are characterized by interactions between trophic levels represented by various groups of organisms. To address t...

1. Semi-natural habitats in Europe host a substantial proportion of biodiversity, but they experience biodiversity loss due to ongoing agricultural changes. We regard the Rattle grasshopper (Psophus stridulus) as a charismatic species of species-rich submontane xerothermic grasslands. To enable conservation of the species and its habitat, we studie...

Although earwigs (Dermaptera) may be important components of ecosystems because of their locally high abundance and omnivory, their vertical distribution among forest strata is poorly understood. This study used a mobile aerial lift platform to survey the spatiotemporal distribution of earwigs along the vertical dimension in a forest. In 2013 and 2...

Environmental change can be viewed as the combined result of long-term processes and singular events. While long-term trends appear to be readily available for observation (in the form of temporal comparisons or space-for-time substitution), it is more difficult to gain information on singular events in the past, although these can be equally signi...

Groundhoppers (Tetrigidae) are a basal group of Caelifera that exhibit a conservative feeding strategy associated with the consumption of detritus and lower plants. We studied the feeding strategies and associated morphology of the mandibles of seven tropical groundhoppers from three different subfamilies occupying three different habitats in Borne...

Insects tend to feed on related hosts. The phylogenetic composition of host plant communities thus plays a prominent role in determining insect specialization, food web structure, and diversity. Previous studies showed a high preference of insect herbivores for congeneric and confamilial hosts suggesting that some levels of host plant relationships...

Although ecological succession is one of the principal focuses of recent restoration ecology research, it is still unclear which factors drive this process and positively influence species richness and functional diversity. In this study we sought to elucidate how species traits and functional diversity change during forest succession, and to ident...

The main objective of reclamation activities is to accelerate the restoration of post-industrial areas. However current ecological studies that compare reclaimed and non-reclaimed habitats evaluate these areas mainly by species richness and conservation potential. We thus tested which environmental characteristics of the spoil heap determine the st...

Due to changes in the global climate, isolated alpine sites have become one of the most vulnerable habitats worldwide. The indigenous fauna in these habitats is threatened by an invasive species, dwarf pine (Pinus mugo), which is highly competitive and could be important in determining the composition of the invertebrate community. In this study, t...

The main objective of reclamation activities is to accelerate the restoration of post-industrial areas. However current ecological studies that compare reclaimed and non-reclaimed habitats evaluate these areas mainly by species richness and conservation potential. We thus tested which environmental characteristics of the spoil heap determine the st...

Most studies of biodiversity related to ecosystem functioning have focused only on a single trophic level despite the fact that ecosystems are characterized by interactions between trophic levels represented by various organisms. To address the patterns of functional diversity in the perspective of coppicing, we studied the effects of conservation-...

Conglobation (rolling-up) is a typical defensive behaviour of pill millipedes (Diplopoda: Glomerida). Reactions of millipedes to a number of stimuli necessary to evoke conglobation and its persistence following three types of treatment were evaluated. The treatments were: touching, squeezing and dropping. Millipedes responded most strongly to being...

Despite their small extent, alpine ecosystems belong to the most valuable, yet highly threatened natural biotopes worldwide. Alpine habitats are endangered particularly by anthropogenic influences and climate change as well as invasions of non-native plants. Although plant invasions are regarded as one of the most serious threats to biodiversity gl...

We evaluated individual behavioural patterns of isopods expressed as tonic immobility following some intrusive treatments. Common rough woodlice, Porcellio scaber, were kept individually in plastic boxes and tested for tonic immobility repeatedly. Reactivity, sensitivity (number of stimuli needed to respond), and endurance of tonic immobility (TI)...

We studied a population of the Red-winged grasshopper Oedipoda germanica, which is a highly stenotypic and endangered species in Central Europe. The locality studied is completely isolated and at the northern limit of this species distribution (north-west of the Czech Republic). We used capture-mark-recapture in 3 consecutive years (2008-2010). We...

Understanding succession is one of the main goals in ecosystem ecology, but very few studies regarding arthropods have actually examined this topic in sufficient detail. Missing are studies that examine the long-term trend of primary succession of arthropods in post-industrial habitats and also the functional consequences of primary succession on a...

Some species of centipedes and millipedes inhabit upper soil layers exclusively and are not recorded by pitfall trapping. Because of their sensitivity to soil conditions, they can be sampled quantitatively for evaluation of soil conditions. Soil samples are heavy to transport and their processing is time consuming, and such sampling leads to distur...

The rich species pool in semi-natural grasslands is associated with high spatial and temporal heterogeneity. This empirical study is one of the first to jointly analyze the response of orders, individual species and functional richness of arthropods to particular management practices and to linear landscape features, such as strips of grass and bel...

Understanding diversity patterns along altitudinal gradients, and their underlying causes are important for conserving biodiversity. Previous studies have focused on climatic, energetic, and geographic variables (e.g., mid-domain effects), with less attention paid to human-induced habitat modifications. We used published data of bird distributions...

Ameixa, O. M. C. C. et al.: Influence of species composition of biocorridors on the abundance of aphids in cereal fields ABSTRACT Agriculture intensification in most European countries over the last 50 years resulted in a significant loss of biodiversity in agro-ecosystems. Attempts are now being made to restore originally complex agricultural land...

Semi-natural grasslands managed by mowing and grazing are an important part of European landscape. Orthopterans are considered to be an appropriate indicator to assess the impact of agricultural management on grassland ecosystems. We studied effects of mowing , grazing and two kinds of edges on Orthop-tera of submontane hay meadows and pastures in...

Unique alpine ecosystems are threatened by skiing activities all over the world. We studied the effect of alpine ski-slopes on epigeic beetles by pitfall trapping in the Praděd National Nature Reserve (Czech Republic) where the management of ski-slopes has never caused any disturbance to the vegetation cover. Using a mixed modelling approach, we de...