Miroslav Šálek

• PhD
• Professor (Full) at Czech University of Life Sciences Prague

A global transition of energy production is underway. Coal‐based power production is gradually being replaced by renewable energies, leading to the decommissioning of coal‐mining sites. In Europe, this presents an opportunity for restoring degraded habitats, in alignment with the goals of the Nature Restoration Law. However, systematic approaches t...

Context Agricultural landscapes across Europe have undergone significant transformation due to intensification and land-use changes, resulting in habitat loss and reduced biodiversity. Simultaneously, climate change has intensified extreme weather events, further exacerbating the decline of sensitive farmland species. Objectives We assessed the ef...

The occurrence of avian blood protists is affected by multiple factors that include the characteristics of the hosts, the vectors, the parasites, as well as the environmental factors. This study provides an insight into some of the factors that influence the prevalence of avian Lankesterella, neglected but common blood parasites in breeding populat...

Worldwide environmental effects of anthropogenic land modification have made apparent the urgent need of ecological restoration. However, the methods employed in restoration of post-industrial sites vary across different regions. This study aims to examine the outcomes of different restoration approaches by examining avian communities inhabiting a...

Background: Chicks of precocial birds hatch well-developed and can search actively for food but their homeothermy develops gradually during growth. This makes them dependent on heat provided by parents ("brooding"), which is then traded off against other activities, mainly foraging. Although brooding has been documented in many precocial birds, li...

Aggression is an important component of an animal's defense when protecting offspring from predators. Ground nesting birds use a variety of defense strategies. However, their choice according to situation context is poorly known, especially in nonpasserines and in the subtropics and tropics. The ability to distinguish between differently dangerous...

Nest location is a key factor influencing reproductive success in birds, and habitat choice is considered the main way in which birds select nest sites. Less attention has been devoted to the demand for proximity to other bird nests, which can provide additional profit, namely defense against predators. Here we analyzed the contributions of habitat...

Various animal species worldwide use artificial environments for reproduction, a suitable alternative to dwindling native habitats. An artificial lake system established in the core zone of the Al Marmoom Desert Conservation Reserve, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, primarily intended for recreational purposes, assists wildlife to cope with water short...

Predation is the most common cause of nest failure in birds. While nest predation is relatively well studied in general, our knowledge is unevenly distributed across the globe and taxa, with, for example, limited information on shorebirds breeding in subtropics. Importantly, we know fairly little about the timing of predation within a day. Here, we...

Management of restored areas requires ecologically meaningful spatial data providing objective measures of restoration success. Understanding relationships between species diversity on the one hand and habitat heterogeneity and productivity on the other can help establish such measures and prioritize restoration management. We used airborne LiDAR a...

Predation is the most common cause of nest failure in birds. While nest predation is relatively well studied in general, our knowledge is unevenly distributed across the globe and taxa, with for example limited information on shorebirds breeding in sub-tropics. Importantly, we know fairly little about the timing of predation within a day and season...

Linking population trends to species’ traits is informative for the detection of the most important threatening factors and for assessing the effectiveness of conservation measures. Although some previous studies performed such an analysis at local to continental scales, the global-scale focus is the most relevant for conservation of the entire spe...

Predation is the most common cause of nest failure in birds. While nest predation is relatively well studied in general, our knowledge is unevenly distributed across globe and taxa, with for example limited information on shorebirds breeding in sub-tropics. Importantly, we know fairly little about the timing of predation within a day and season. He...

(CREX) Facultative brood parasitism represents an alternative breeding strategy of birds, which occurs when the parasitic species can have its own clutch but additionally parasitises other nests. The conspecific brood parasitism has been described in 256 bird species and interspecific facultative brood parasitism has been recorded for 68 avian spec...

Parents make tradeoffs between care for offspring and themselves. Such a tradeoff should be reduced in biparental species, when both parents provide parental care. However, in some biparental species, the contribution of one sex varies greatly over time or between pairs. How this variation in parental care influences self-maintenance rhythms is oft...

This study examines the habitat selection of grey partridge (Perdix perdix) and the effect of habitat type within partridge home ranges on nest site choice and nest success. Data were collected via radio-tracking in three different areas in the Czech Republic between 2002 and 2010. Compositional analysis was performed on 12 habitat types and uncult...

Capsule: An experiment in the field supports the hypothesis that Grey Partridges Perdix perdix purposely expose their first laid eggs in order to test the predation risk at their nest site. Aims: To test the hypothesis that female Grey Partridges leave first laid eggs uncovered to assess the predation risk at their chosen nesting site. Methods: Fou...

In the Czech Republic, the grey partridge is a champion of diverse farmland. Data from the mid seventeenth century shows a close connection between its abundance and agricultural practices. The number of partridges peaked at more than 2 million birds between 1933 and 1937. Thereafter, from the mid 1950s, the consolidation of the land into large mon...

Egg size represents a fundamental predictor of chick mass and body condition. Chicks from bigger eggs have significantly increased survival, especially in precocial species, where chicks must forage for themselves and cope with environmental threats, such as bad weather or predators. Therefore, our understanding of the factors influencing egg size...

Arable land is habitat maintained by man that is inhabited by many steppe and wetland species. Due to the intensification of agriculture during the twentieth century, many of these species went into decline or have disappeared. The Little Ringed Plover (Charadrius dubius) is one of a small number of exceptions that are showing the opposite trend. S...

Nest predation is a common cause of breeding failure with direct consequences for the regulation of bird populations. Recently concerns have been raised about increased nest predation in populations of shorebirds. At the same time some large gaps in geographic coverage of studies on nest predation have been identified. To extend our knowledge on ne...

Bulla et al . dispute our main conclusion that the global pattern of nest predation is disrupted in shorebirds. We disagree with Bulla et al .’s conclusions and contest the robustness of their outcomes. We reaffirm our results that provide clear evidence that nest predation has increased significantly in shorebirds, especially in the Arctic.

Nest lining is a key component in nests of many bird species. Among ground-nesting birds with open nests, it usually consists of dry sticks and stalks creating a thermoregulatory insulating layer for the eggs. However, a bigger nest lining can attract predators and increase nest mortality. The factors influencing behavioural plasticity in birds fac...

Background Effective communication between sexual partners is essential for successful reproduction. Avian parents with biparental incubation need to know how to negotiate, when and who will incubate, and how to harmonize partner exchange at the nest. Although considerable effort has been dedicated to studies of incubation rhythms, few studies have...

In birds, incubation by both parents is a common form of care for eggs. Although the involvement of the two parents may vary dramatically between and within pairs, as well as over the course of the day and breeding season, detailed descriptions of this variation are rare, especially in species with variable male contributions to care. Here, we cont...

Is there some kind of historical memory and folk wisdom that ensures that a community remembers about very extreme phenomena, such as catastrophic floods, and learns to establish new settlements in safer locations? We tested a unique set of empirical data on 1293 settlements founded in the course of nine centuries, during which time seven extreme f...

This article covers the most recent population estimates, trends, threats and protection measures for five meadow-breeding shorebirds in the Czech Republic (CZ) and Slovakia (SK): Northern Lapwing Vanellus vanellus, Black-tailed Godwit Limosa limosa limosa, Common Redshank Tringa totanus totanus, Eurasian Curlew Numenius arquata arquata and Common...

No longer a safe haven Many biological patterns have a latitudinal component. One long-recognized pattern is that predation rates are higher at lower latitudes. This may explain why many migratory birds travel thousands of miles from the tropics to the poles to breed. Looking across thousands of records, Kubelka et al. found that climate change see...

Incubation by both parents is the most common form of care for eggs. Although the involvement of the two parents may vary dramatically between and within pairs, as well as over the day and breeding season, detailed description of this variation (especially in species with variable male contribution to incubation) is rare. Here, we continuously vide...

Human populations tend to grow steadily, because of the ability of people to make innovations, and thus overcome and extend the limits imposed by natural resources. It is therefore questionable whether traditional concepts of population ecology, including environmental carrying capacity, can be applied to human societies. The existence of carrying...

Individual-specific reaction to stressful situations may reveal various, individual-specific features, including personality. Breath rate and its change during and after handling [handling stress (HS) test] has been used to test individual response to stress. In previous laboratory research, the HS test has revealed a continuous decrease from peak...

As a species closely associated with people and urban areas, the house sparrow (Passer domesticus) was expected to prosper with increased urbanization. Over the past few decades, however, house sparrow populations have decreased in many towns and cities around the world. The most commonly mentioned reasons for these decreases are lack of food, espe...

Historic rural landscapes are valuable not only as artefacts and as cultural heritage, but also as natural sites with great scenic qualities. Unfortunately, the total area of these landscapes was dramatically reduced in the course of the second half of the 20th century. In our study, we focus on the development of 38 fragments of medieval hedgerow-...

Only a few studies have assessed the predation risk on artificially marked nests, or have examined ways of marking nests to avoid destruction by machinery. Until now, however, neither type of study has directly addressed this apparent trade-off experimentally. The impact of marking the nests of Northern Lapwing Vanellus vanellus with thin 2 m-long...

Background Sexual selection has been hypothesised as favouring mate choice resulting in production of viable offspring with genotypes providing high pathogen resistance. Specific pathogen recognition is mediated by genes of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) encoding proteins fundamental for adaptive immune response in jawed vertebrates. MH...

Conversion of farmland to nonfarm uses significantly influences the spatial variability of farmland prices. We tested 12 factors of land prices that experienced real estate brokers indicated to be the most important determinants for conversion of farmland to non-agricultural use. Five factors can be described as landscape, four as geographic, and t...

The behavioural rhythms of organisms are thought to be under strong selection, influenced by the rhythmicity of the environment. Such behavioural rhythms are well studied in isolated individuals under laboratory conditions, but free-living individuals have to temporally synchronize their activities with those of others, including potential mates, c...

The behavioural rhythms of organisms are thought to be under strong selection, influenced by the rhythmicity of the environment1-4. Such behavioural rhythms are well studied in isolated individuals under laboratory conditions1,5, but free-living individuals have to temporally synchronize their activities with those of others, including potential ma...

Land tenure security is widely considered to be a fundamental factor in motivating farmers to adopt sustainable land management practices. This study aims to establish whether it is true that owner-operators adopt more effective soil conservation measures than tenant-operators, and whether well-designed agro-environmental instruments can provide su...

Social partners of some bird species copulate during the incubation period; explanations for this include strengthening social bonds and/or reducing the risk of extra-pair paternity in consecutive clutches within the same season. According to current opinion, Northern Lapwings Vanellus vanellus exhibit this behavior, uncommon in shorebirds, in orde...

Size-assortative mating (SAM) is a widespread phenomenon related to individual fitness. In our study, we examined: (i) the appearance of SAM, and (ii) the effect of sex ratio on intensity of SAM in wild populations of two explosively breeding anurans, common frogs, Rana temporaria, and common toads, Bufo bufo. Despite a higher male-biased operation...

Urban environment is only rarely considered an exclusive refuge for rapidly declining bird species. Crested Lark (Galerida cristata) is a species in Central Europe whose synanthropization began in the second half of the 20th century due to dramatic changes in agriculture and landscape structure. We analyze how changes in these distribution patterns...

Birds protect their nests against predators in various ways. In addition to active defence, they can hide their nests or use the protection of other species breeding nearby that actively defend the nests. Studies evaluating these strategies simultaneously are rare, especially from areas unaltered by humans. Nest predation risks were studied in a we...

Incubation is an energetically demanding process during which birds apply heat to their eggs to ensure embryonic development. Parent behaviours such as egg turning and exchanging the outer and central eggs in the nest cup affect the amount of heat lost to the environment from individual eggs. Little is known, however, about whether and how egg surf...

Detailed knowledge of demographic parameters (such as age structure and reproduction rates) is crucial for guiding conservation and management decisions regarding wildlife populations. Such parameters of wild ring-necked pheasant populations in the current agricultural landscape remain very poorly described. We researched age structure and reproduc...

The ring-necked pheasant (Phasianus colchicus L.) is one of the most popular small game species both numerically and economically. Pheasant populations are commonly managed in the Czech Republic in order to maximize their harvest. Game managers need to be aware of the possible effects of different management tools on wild pheasant populations. We u...

Predators use various tactics to find and depredate bird nests. This study examines a possible tactic of visually orientated predators termed "delayed nest-visit". This consists in remembering the positions of incubating parents and subsequent easy depredation of eggs when the parents are away from their nests. Conditions for use of this tactic wer...

Capsule Inter-specific nest scrape reuse is rare in waders. We review this phenomenon and document it for the first time in the Little Ringed Plover Charadrius dubius breeding in vacant nest scrapes excavated by Northern Lapwings Vanellus vanellus.

Negative impacts from application of fertilizers and pesticides in agriculture have been observed since the mid-20th century, when their use rapidly increased. This led to decrease in the number of species connected to the agricultural landscape. So-called integrated farming practices are currently being introduced that aim to mitigate negative imp...

Extreme farmland ownership fragmentation is becoming a limiting factor for sustainable land management in some countries. Scattered, excessively small parcels cease to be viable for individual farming, and owners feel forced to rent these parcels to larger enterprises farming on adjacent land. Our study demonstrates a phenomenon that we call the Fa...

Cross-border research enables studying the importance of broad-scale political and socioeconomic factors on land-cover changes. Our plot-based study using GIS analysis of interpreted aerial photographs evaluates changes in rural landscape patterns on both sides of the Austrian–Czech border during 1952–2009. The method compares 20 pairs of 1 × 1 km...

Discharge fluctuation and extreme bed load movement, i.e. erosion and sedimentation occurring on short upper reaches of the river, are characteristic features of torrential rivers. This paper presents a biotechnical appraisal of a torrent catchment for implementing revetments methods, focusing on selected hydraulic characteristics of the flow. The...

During the last century, the changing forms of agriculture drastically influenced many native plant and animal populations. In the efforts to reduce these negative impacts on biodiversity, a number of agricultural enterprises began farming in a more environmentally friendly ways; in addition to conventional farm management, new forms of integrated...

Fragments of idle fields in urbanized zones may attract threatened bird species to nest, but, at the same time, may be favoured by generalist nest predators attracted by food resources abundant in urban areas. Only few studies have analysed effects of nest predation risk in suburban habitat fragments while considering the character of the surroundi...

a b s t r a c t The spatial variability of farmland prices is determined by factors reflecting agricultural use, and also by location-specific characteristics, which are crucial to the conversion of farmland to non-farming uses. In co-operation with experienced real-estate brokers, we collected data from 286 transactions carried out in 2008. We ide...

The unusual climatic situation in 2013 greatly affected the timing of the breeding season in the Northern Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus) in the Czech Republic. In order to assess the extent of this effect, we studied the onset of nest incubation in 517 lapwing clutches in the areas of České Budějovice (southern Bohemia) and Hradec Králové (eastern Boh...

A species-rich bird community with high nesting density was surveyed in the marshlands of the Zabaikalsky National Park, Siberia, Russia in June and July 1993. Altogether 719 nests or breeding territories of 30 bird species were registered on the area of 140 hectares with the total density of more than 5.0 nests per hectare. Species diversity was h...

Remediation of lands devastated by industry includes various forms of restoration, such as technical reclamation and spontaneous succession. These management approaches are debated regarding conservation strategies for postindustrial landscapes. Mining areas consisting of early‐ to late‐developmental stages of both reclaimed and unreclaimed sites o...

Differing reproductive effort, individual qualities and local environmental conditions can lead to uneven mortality risk among individuals within populations and may result in survival differences according to age and sex. Identification of factors contributing to unequal operational sex ratios has been important for understanding population dynami...

Variation in soil properties may influence diversity of invertebrate communities, a crucial component of every ecosystem, and their impact should be considered also in restoration management. Although most spoil heaps have been reclaimed after brown coal mining, some post-mining sites are left to natural succession. Little is known, however, about...

The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of releasing commercially reared individuals of the grey partridge (Perdix perdix) as a method for species recovery. This study compares the mortality risk of grey partridges depending on origin, sex and body condition, controlling for age, infection risk and release method. In total, 110 locally...

Many birds lay eggs speckled with black or reddish-brown spots of protoporphyrin pigment, but the function of these spots is debated. Two recent hypotheses have received considerable attention. Under the "signaling-function hypothesis," speckling reflects female quality and influences allocation of male parental care; under the "structural-function...

The paper analyses and summarizes the results of a national survey of the Northern Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus) in the Czech Republic conducted during the breeding season 2008. Thirty seven observers collected the data within 300 field visits on 151 breeding grounds particularly in southern and eastern Bohemia. A detailed questionnaire was readily f...

Agricultural intensification negatively influences numbers of many farmland bird species. The recently promoted change of farming style towards environment-friendly (integrated) practices with moderate impacts on environment is locally applied in the Czech Republic but the effect of organic farming on bird communities has not been studied in the co...

a b s t r a c t There is a dichotomy in the view of wind farms among members of the public: on one hand, there is a desire for renewable energy sources, and on the other hand, there is a major concern about the visual impact of wind turbines used for power production. This concern for visual impact is a major factor in the reaction of the public to...

Worldwide forests fragmentation has lead to a massive increase of habitat edges, creating both negative and positive impacts on birds. While busy highways dissecting forested areas create edges which are known to reduce bird densities due to the disturbing effect of noise, the impacts of logging forest roads with low traffic volumes have rarely bee...

The diet of red fox was studied on the basis of faecal analysis (2242 specimens) in mountain habitats. Three different areas of the Šumava Mts. (SW Bohemia, Czech Republic) were examined during the growing and non-growing seasons in 1998–2008. Related taxa were pooled, merging similar items into 17 groups for subsequent analysis. Patterns of food c...

Capsule Fishponds and fields were equally attractive for breeding plovers, although predation on nests was higher in fishponds and extremely low in fields.

Natural succession of spoil heaps after brown coal mining leads to the development of rich plant and invertebrate communities and therefore has been considered a proper alternative to conventional reclamation practice. Little is known, however, about the effects of these alternative approaches on vertebrate predators. This study analyses nest-site...

Land consolidation (LC) is an effective program for land ownership defragmentation. The main objectives of this study are: i) to analyze the characteristics of 487 study areas before and after implementation of LC; ii) to evaluate these study areas according to the influence of historical, environmental and socio-economic driving forces on the pre-...

When the bodies of small vertebrates start to decay shortly after death, a number of organosulfur compounds are produced, including methanethiol, dimethylsulfide (DMS), dimethyldisulfide (DMDS), dimethyltrisulfide (DMTS), and S-methyl thioacetate. These molecules appear to attract various necrophagous animals. We tested the roles of DMS, DMDS, and...