Eastern Czech Republic Research Articles

Testing the Efficiency of the Push-and-Pull Strategy during Severe Ips typographus Outbreak and Extreme Drought in Norway Spruce Stands

Protection of Norway spruce stands using anti-attractants was tested during an outbreak of bark beetles (Ips typographus) in their spring flight. The aims of this study were as follows: (1) to test the proposed experimental design for tree protection; (2) to evaluate height-specific alternatives for dispenser installation on trees; and (3) to evaluate the efficiency of tree protection measures using anti-attractants under bark beetle infestation and drought stress. The experiment was conducted at the forest edges adjacent to recent clearcuts on 10 blocks in the eastern Czech Republic. Each block had three adjacent experimental areas, with 20 trees growing in two rows at the recently cut forest edge (10 trees per row). In front of a block in each of the three areas, four pheromone traps were installed. The treatment area was protected by anti-attractants. The second area served as a so-called switch area, where beetles from the treatment area, as the outflux redirected from the anti-attractant, would start new attacks if not caught in nearby pheromone traps. The third area was a control. We attached anti-attractant tube dispensers on each tree trunk of the treated area at two heights. The results suggest a redirecting effect of anti-attractants, pushing beetles into the switch area and causing subsequent attacks, which was greater than in areas containing treated trees. There was no difference between two dispensers placed at 1 and 8 m height and both at 1 m. A switching effect of beetle attacks occurring outside of the treated areas was observed. Mounting anti-attractant dispensers on tree trunks at one low position above the ground can be substantially less labour-intensive and as efficient as positioning them at two different heights. For areas affected by severe drought and extremely dense bark beetle populations, the use of anti-attractants did not prove effective.

Heritage Trees as an Important Sanctuary for Saproxylic Beetles in the Central European Landscape: A Case Study from Litovelské Pomoraví, Czech Republic

Intensive forest and agroforestry management has greatly reduced the biodiversity of saproxylic organisms. Large trees are one of the most important refuges of saproxylic beetles. These large trees that grow outside and inside the forest are declining in the wider landscape. Heritage trees are one of the essential groups of beneficial trees in the landscape. We investigated saproxylic beetles associated with 35 selected oak heritage trees in Litovelské Pomoraví in the eastern Czech Republic. The study aimed to investigate the distribution of saproxylic beetles on trees growing inside or at the edge of forest stands, or on free-growing heritage trees. The other studied variables were the height, DBH, and light condition (sunny or shady) of heritage trees. The results showed that sunny habitats were the only significant factor found for all saproxylic species. However, the significance of increasing tree trunk dimension was found for the endangered species. Diversity indices q = 0 (species richness) and q = 1 (exponential of Shannon entropy index) were also higher for sunny trees, while solitary trees showed a high Shannon index value despite the low number of samples. Redundancy analysis of saproxylic species showed that the preferred habitats of most species were sunny massive solitary oaks. The results indicated that strictly protected heritage trees scattered in the landscape are crucial sanctuaries for many species—especially in landscapes where there are not enough suitable habitats for saproxylic beetles. Finding, conserving, and protecting these rare types of massive trees in the landscape has a significant impact on the conservation of saproxylic beetle biodiversity.

PLATON: use of romiplostim to treat chronic primary immune thrombocytopenia

SummaryChronic primary immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) is an autoimmune disease involving the formation of antibodies to thrombocytes, leading to increased platelet destruction and chronic thrombocytopenia. Additionally, impaired platelet production is due to relative thrombopoietin deficiency. Romiplostim, a thrombopoietin receptor agonist, normalized platelet counts in affected patients in randomized controlled trials and real-world observational studies. The present study collected real-world practice data from Central and Eastern Europe, i.e. Slovakia, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Russia, and Czech Republic, between December 2010 and July 2017. This was an ambidirectional observational, noninterventional cohort study within the approved romiplostim indication. One-hundred patients were analyzed. Prior to romiplostim start, 98% had received other ITP medications and, in the prior 6 months, 40% had experienced bleeding events. Romiplostim was started 1.92 years (median) after ITP diagnosis. The median mean on-study dose was 2.62 µg/kg/week. During romiplostim treatment, platelet counts rapidly normalized to >50 × 109/L, 20% of patients experienced bleeding events (none grade 3/4), and 13% required splenectomy. At the end of study, 25% of patients were in remission. One patient experienced serious adverse drug reactions (thrombosis, dysphagia), none were fatal. In conclusion, romiplostim dosing, effectiveness and safety in these unselected ITP patients seemed comparable with observations in clinical trials and similarly designed observational studies.

Saproxylic beetles in tropical and temperate forests – A standardized comparison of vertical stratification patterns

Forests are complex three-dimensional ecosystems, but little is known about the influence of vertical stratification of forest structure on biodiversity and species turnover. Saproxylic beetles make a substantial contribution to forest biodiversity and ecosystem functions such as nutrient cycling. Management measures aimed at supporting saproxylic biodiversity are becoming an integral part of sustainable forest management practices. Yet, monitoring is carried out under the assumption that saproxylic activity at ground level will be a realistic reflection of saproxylic biodiversity in the forest as a whole.To investigate the validity of this assumption we compare vertical stratification and composition of saproxylic beetle assemblages between three forest types of varying altitude and latitude, including a tropical lowland forest in Panama, a temperate lowland forest and a temperate montane forest, both in the eastern Czech Republic. Beetles were sampled following a standardized sampling protocol using flight intercept traps arranged in vertical transects.Overall, the tropical forest was estimated to harbour two to three times more saproxylic beetle species than the temperate lowland and the montane forest, respectively. However, point richness estimates within vertical strata were remarkably similar between biomes. Species richness was similar in the understorey of all three forests. It peaked in the canopy of the tropical forest but in the understorey of temperate forests. So, while the beetle assemblages were clearly vertically stratified in all three forest types, stratification patterns varied markedly between tropical and temperate forests. This trend is driven primarily by the high richness of saproxylic beetles in the tropical forest canopy. However these richness differences belie the strong similarities in stratification of feeding guild composition observed all three forest types. This would tend to suggest that similar trophic structuring forces might operate across very different forest biomes of the world.Similarities in feeding guild composition suggest that management measures aiming at conserving biodiversity of saproxylic beetles are likely to be effective across different forest types. The differences in vertical stratification, however, suggest that understorey monitoring alone will be insufficient to understand management effects on saproxylic biodiversity. In the tropics, in particular, more emphasis will need to be placed on managing the diverse, three-dimensional structure of forest canopies as habitat for saproxylic beetles.

Early vegetation succession on gravel bars of Czech Carpathian streams

Rivers with a natural flooding regime and gravel accumulations are an important natural habitat endangered by regulations and other types of human impact. Succession after disturbances by floods creates a mosaic of different vegetation types, some of them containing rare specialist species. We studied vegetation succession and changes in plant diversity on river gravel bars of four streams in the Western Carpathians and their foothills in the eastern Czech Republic. This area experienced extreme 50-year flood event in May 2010. Gravel bar vegetation was destroyed, some of the former bars were covered by sediments, and some new bars arose. We sampled gravel bar vegetation two months after the floods and repeated the sampling on each site during the next three years. Initial vegetation has developed through a sparse and species-rich stage into denser stands with more shade-tolerant species. In the fourth year, tall herbs, such as Urtica dioica, Phalaris arundinacea and the alien Impatiens glandulifera, dominated the communities, but shrub vegetation started to develop only in a few places. Species capable of vegetative dispersal prevailed over species dispersed by seeds only. Altitude and size of gravel/stone particles were identified as important factors affecting vegetation succession. The succession ran faster on gravelly substrates at lower altitudes than on stony substrates at higher altitudes. Although the studied streams are partly influenced by human interventions and host only few gravel bar specialists, they are of considerable conservation importance.

More than trees: The challenges of creating a geodatabase to capture the complexity of forest history

ABSTRACTEuropean forests have been copiously documented for centuries. However, forest-related archival sources were rarely utilised to their full potential, mainly because of the difficulties in producing compatible data from large amounts of very different sources. Furthermore, analysing such data for larger areas in high resolution was hardly possible prior to the emergence of historical GIS. This paper presents the geodatabase of the LONGWOOD project, which includes tens of thousands of pieces of information on forest history from the 11th to the 20th century for 3,567 townships in the eastern Czech Republic (c. 27,000 km2). The paper describes the challenges we met, briefly summarizes the results, evaluates the database in a worldwide context and introduces possible directions for future research.

The occurrence of avian acanthocephalan Polymorphus minutus (Goeze, 1782) in raccoons (Procyon lotor L.) introduced to Europe

Acanthocephalan larvae were found during parasitological sections in intestines of four out of 84 individuals of raccoon (Procyon lotor L.) from eastern Czech Republic. They were identified as cystacanths of Polymorphus minutus (Goeze, 1782). Because water birds are the proper hosts of this parasite, this record is among the rare ones. For this reason we present the morphological description, biometric data and photographs of the parasites, as well as a discussion of similar cases reported in the literature.

Efficiency of mechanical seed harvesting for grassland restoration

Maintaining and re-creating species-rich semi-natural grasslands are important issues in current agricultural policy in Europe. The seed that is required for their establishment can be obtained through direct harvesting from semi-natural herbaceous vegetation. To test the efficiency of mechanical seed harvesting on donor Arrhenatherion elatioris grasslands, experiments were performed in northern Italy and eastern Czech Republic. Trials were organized with a randomized block design and involved harvesting as green hay (grass mowing and immediate collection), dry hay (grass mowing and collection after drying on the field), direct combining (grass cutting and threshing at the same combine passage) and seed stripping with pull-type equipment (seed removal without grass cutting with a brush harvester pulled by a tractor). Harvesting was carried out at the time of maximum ripe standing seed yield (SSY) in the first and second regrowth. The harvested materials were analysed for seed number and weight and compared with the SSY. The species composition and phenology were also surveyed. In all methods, the seed mixture obtained contained the species present as seed at harvest time and was correlated with SSY. However, with regard to the seed number collected, the harvesting efficiency changed in relation to species group (grasses or forbs), individual species, seed maturation and regrowth. The most efficient method was harvesting as green hay (efficiency of approximately 71% of SSY and seed mixture composition that was very highly correlated with SSY). The least efficient methods were direct combining (30% of SSY and negative selectivity against light or difficult to detach seeds, producing the highest mean 1000-seeds weight) and harvesting as dry hay (39% of SSY and a high sensitivity to seed maturation level). Seed stripping, operated with downward brush rotation at the leading edge, resulted in an intermediate efficiency (60% of SSY and a seed mixture composition highly correlated with SSY). The harvesting efficiency for seed number was higher at the first regrowth than the second one for both species groups and, especially at the second regrowth, higher for forbs than for grasses. Especially forb harvesting presented a problem with regard to the species number collected. The problem was, not due to harvesting inefficiency but rather for phenological reasons, as several forbs did not produce fertile stems at the first or second regrowth and some other early flowering species had already shed the seed at the harvesting time. These results improve our understanding of factors affecting the efficiency of mechanical harvesting and will help in the preparation of efficient harvesting programs.

Hominid visitation of the Moravian Karst during the Middle-Upper Paleolithic transition: New results from Pod Hradem Cave (Czech Republic)

In 1956–1958, excavations of Pod Hradem Cave in Moravia (eastern Czech Republic) revealed evidence for human activity during the Middle-Upper Paleolithic transition. This spanned 25,050–44,800 cal BP and contained artefacts attributed to the Aurignacian and Szeletian cultures, including those made from porcelanite (rarely used at Moravian Paleolithic sites). Coarse grained excavation techniques and major inversions in radiocarbon dates meant that site chronology could not be established adequately. This paper documents re-excavation of Pod Hradem in 2011–2012. A comprehensive AMS dating program using ultrafiltration and ABOx-SC pre-treatments provides new insights into human occupation at Pod Hradem Cave. Fine-grained excavation reveals sedimentary units spanning approximately 20,000 years of the Early Upper Paleolithic and late Middle Paleolithic periods, thus making it the first archaeological cave site in the Czech Republic with such a sedimentary and archaeological record. Recent excavation confirms infrequent human visitation, including during the Early Aurignacian by people who brought with them portable art objects that have no parallel in the Czech Republic. Raw material diversity of lithics suggests long-distance imports and ephemeral visits by highly mobile populations throughout the EUP period.

The European 2015 drought from a climatological perspective

Abstract. The summer drought of 2015 affected a large portion of continental Europe and was one of the most severe droughts in the region since summer 2003. The summer of 2015 was characterized by exceptionally high temperatures in many parts of central and eastern Europe, with daily maximum temperatures 2 °C higher than the seasonal mean (1971–2000) over most of western Europe, and more than 3 °C higher in the east. It was the hottest and climatologically driest summer over the 1950–2015 study period for an area stretching from the eastern Czech Republic to Ukraine. For Europe, as a whole, it is among the six hottest and driest summers since 1950. High evapotranspiration rates combined with a lack of precipitation affected soil moisture and vegetation and led to record low river flows in several major rivers, even beyond the drought-hit region. The 2015 drought developed rather rapidly over the Iberian Peninsula, France, southern Benelux and central Germany in May and reached peak intensity and spatial extent by August, affecting especially the eastern part of Europe. Over the summer period, there were four heat wave episodes, all associated with persistent blocking events. Upper-level atmospheric circulation over Europe was characterized by positive 500 hPa geopotential height anomalies flanked by a large negative anomaly to the north and west (i.e., over the central North Atlantic Ocean extending to northern Fennoscandia) and another center of positive geopotential height anomalies over Greenland and northern Canada. Simultaneously, the summer sea surface temperatures (SSTs) were characterized by large negative anomalies in the central North Atlantic Ocean and large positive anomalies in the Mediterranean basin. Composite analysis shows that the western Mediterranean SST is strongly related to the occurrence of dry and hot summers over the last 66 years (especially over the eastern part of Europe). The lagged relationship between the Mediterranean SST and summer drought conditions established in this study can provide valuable skill for the prediction of drought conditions over Europe on interannual to decadal timescales.

Current Research on Geomorphosites

Current Research on Geomorphosites

The response of Clitellata (Annelida) to environmental gradients in spring fens

Patterns in aquatic Clitellata assemblage composition are known to be driven by several environmental gradients, with water chemistry and substratum characteristics being particularly important. In this study we explored 54 isolated spring fens across the eastern Czech Republic and Slovakia. These fens varied in calcium and magnesium concentrations, forming a sharp and well defined environmental gradient running from calcium-poor acidic fens to extremely calcium-rich tufa-forming fens. We found that the main changes in clitellate species composition were controlled by this gradient, and/or total organic carbon content, over a wide area, including fen sites differing in other environmental conditions and historical development. However, this pattern was weakened in sites with a high organic matter content, which represented a second driver of change in assemblage composition along with water temperature. Three main types of fens were determined using cluster analysis based on clitellate assemblage composition. However, only the first type, which included tufa-forming fens, was found to fit with the previously established spring fen types based on vegetation (i.e. extremely mineral-rich fens with a tufa, brown-moss mineral-rich fens, mineral-rich Sphagnum fens and mineral-poor Sphagnum fens). The second clitellate type included sites with low temperatures and occasional desiccation, while the third type was characterised by high temperatures and trophy. Using eight environmental predictors, we were able to significantly explain changes in the population abundances of all 12 common species (i.e. recorded at 15-plus sites). The results from individual species modelling also suggests that an increase in organic matter content can trigger compositional shifts towards assemblages of common eurytopic tubificid species. Thus, human-induced eutrophication and negative changes in spring fen hydrology, mainly drying up, can represent a serious threat for species-specific assemblages of aquatic clitellates, especially at alkaline sites due to their isolated and spatially limited nature.

The abundance of a farmland specialist bird, the skylark, in three European regions with contrasting agricultural management

Advances in our understanding of recent farmland biodiversity loss have mainly come from studies in Western Europe. The application of such findings to other regions is questionable, however, and limits the outcomes of management actions. To bridge this knowledge gap, we focused on relationships between farmland bird abundance and sward height and crop type, counting breeding birds in three Central European regions with different agricultural histories and practices: the Eastern Czech Republic, Western Germany and Central Poland. We used the skylark (Alauda arvensis) as a model species due to its tight association with open habitats year-round and its commonness in European farmland. Skylarks were more abundant in Poland than in Germany and the Czech Republic, probably due to less intensive farmland management. Mean abundance declined with growing sward height from April to June and slightly declined with the number of fields surrounding study sites in all regions. Autumn- and spring-sown cereals hosted the highest abundance of skylarks in May, with lower abundance in maize, oilseed rape and meadows irrespective of region. This variation in skylark numbers suggests a temporal shift in abundance, probably reflecting movement between crops with optimal sward height. Taken together, these results indicate that skylark habitat use is somewhat conserved over regions and this knowledge can be used in management plans throughout Europe. However, the observed differences in skylark abundance between regions suggest that the regional-specific level of agricultural intensity may affect the delivery of conservation benefits from such plans.

Intensive woodland management in the Middle Ages: spatial modelling based on archival data

Firewood played an indispensable role in European socio-economic systems from prehistory until the nineteenth century. Recent research has shown that in European temperate lowlands the most important management form to produce firewood was coppicing. In spite of the growing body of research on traditional woodland management, there remain large gaps in knowledge. Detailed studies of individual sites or smaller areas have provided a wealth of information on the methods of medieval coppicing, and at such sites the long-term effects of coppicing on vegetation structure and composition have also been examined. However, little is known about the distribution and extent of coppicing at the landscape scale, and forming a coherent picture of the spatial extent rather than the management details of coppicing in larger regions remains a challenge. This paper investigates the distribution and extent of coppice management in Moravia (eastern Czech Republic, ca. 22,300 km2) in the Late Middle Ages. We created an extensive database of written sources that contained information on the presence of coppice woods at the parish level. Subsequently we used the MAXENT algorithm to create a model of the distribution of coppicing over the entire area. With the help of wood production and consumption estimates, we also calculated the minimum area of managed woodland for the study period. Results show that coppicing was predominant in the lowlands and often occurred at higher elevations as well, where neither natural conditions nor tree species composition were favourable. The paper also highlights the potential of spatial models based on archival data for historical landscape reconstructions.

The extreme drought episode of August 2011–May 2012 in the Czech Republic

ABSTRACTThe weather conditions from August 2011 to May 2012 produced an extreme drought in the eastern Czech Republic (Moravia), whereas the patterns were nearly normal in its western region (Bohemia). The Southern and Central Moravia regions, which represent the most important agricultural areas, were most affected by the drought. The precipitation totals for the studied period were 50–70% of the long‐term mean, which was calculated for 1961–2000. In autumn 2011, the total precipitation accounted for 10–30% of the long‐term mean for most of Moravia, increasing to 30–50% in spring 2012. Moreover, 7.5% of the Czech Republic experienced a 100‐year drought; 20% of the country experienced a 20‐year drought. According to the Palmer Drought Severity Index, the 2012 drought was classified as the worst in the past 130 years. The drought patterns were related to the prevailing high‐pressure systems over Central Europe and the occurrence of weather types with different precipitation amounts in Bohemia and Moravia. The most substantial drought effects occurred in the agricultural sector. A decrease in cereal yields was observed in the analysed production areas in Moravia, which was unprecedented in the past 52 years. Moreover, winter crops were affected more than spring crops. An increased risk of fire occurred due to the drought conditions; the largest forest fire in the past 15 years was recorded during this period. Furthermore, signs of hydrological drought were also reported in rivers. The 2011–2012 drought was compared with the significant droughts in 2000, 2003 and 2007. Austria and Slovakia, which neighbour the Czech Republic, experienced a similar drought. Global circulation model sensitivity experiments appear to indicate that droughts similar to this episode may be occurring at a recurrence interval of 20 years by the 2050s.

Landscape context in colonization of restored dry grasslands by target species

AbstractQuestionsAlthough the role of landscape context, often interpreted as the available species pool, is generally assumed to be important for the restoration of disturbed sites, not many studies evaluating this role quantitatively in restored dry grasslands have been carried out. There is especially a lack of large‐scale, multi‐site studies. We asked how many unsown target species established spontaneously in restored dry grasslands and how spontaneous establishment depended on their occurrence in the surrounding landscape.LocationWhite Carpathian Mts., eastern Czech Republic (48°50′–49°05′ N, 17°19′–17°55′ E, 250–610 m a.s.l.).MethodsWe studied spontaneous colonization by unsown target species in dry grasslands on ex‐arable land at 82 sites, sown with a regional seed mixture, commercial clover–grass seed mixtures or left to spontaneous succession. In total, 246 phytosociological relevés in 5‐m × 5‐m plots were recorded. Restoration started 1–31 yr ago. Nearby semi‐natural grasslands were included as reference sites (94 phytosociological relevés). A total of 108 target species were defined and their presence evaluated in the surroundings of the restored grasslands, i.e., in grid cells (3.1 km × 2.8 km) in which the restored sites were situated. Data were processed using multivariate analyses (DCA, CCA) and GLM.ResultsThe number of target species at the restored sites significantly increased with time elapsed since restoration started and the number of target species occurring in the surroundings. The sites, although restored in different ways, converged in their species composition towards ancient grasslands. The maximum relative colonization of a restored grassland by target species from the surroundings was 23.4%, and the restored grasslands contained max. Fifty‐seven percent of the average number of dry grassland target species present in the ancient grasslands.ConclusionsSowing seed mixtures should be seen as not more than a first phase in the restoration of species‐rich grasslands. In a next phase of restoration, we can reasonably rely on gradual spontaneous colonization by target species if they occur in the surroundings, even at sites sown with commercial seed mixtures or restoring spontaneously. However, full restoration probably takes decades or more.

LONGWOOD - integrating woodland history and ecology in a geodatabase through an interdisciplinary approach.

Forests in Europe have been shaped considerably by human activities during most of the Holocene. Changes in forest structure, distribution of tree species and forest biodiversity are partly driven by management history, and many current forest types result from former management. The interdisciplinary project "Long-term woodland dynamics in Central Europe: from estimations to a realistic model" (LONGWOOD) aims to reconstruct long-term dynamics of woodland cover, structure and management in the eastern Czech Republic (Moravia, ca. 27,000 km2), compare the historical and present state of forests, and analyze general patterns of changes and stability of woodlands as well as the role of humans in these processes. In the LONGWOOD project, palaeoecological, archaeological, historical and ecological sources of information on woodland cover, species composition, and human activities (management, settlement density) over the past 7500 years are collected and integrated in the form of a geodatabase. Combining data of different origin, scale, degree of spatial precision and detail into a single geodatabase is a challenging task. The level of detail, information content, and spatio-temporal distribution of data varies between layers as well as individual records according to the nature of the data source and the data itself. The limited and incomplete sources of information until ca. 1100 AD provide a coarser view on forest history while the historical period (especially the past ca. 250 years) is covered by large amounts of precisely located ecological and historical data enabling detailed spatial and temporal analyses. Data on forest structure, history and management will be related to environmental factors (soil type, climate, elevation and other topographic variables derived from DEM) and social historical data (settlement distribution, population density, landuse). A spatio-temporal forest landscape model will be built to assess the forest changes and the main drivers of change.

Crises Effects on Financial System Structure in some Post-Communist Countries

Developing countries had been affected by the crisis started in the developed countries, characterized by lower growth, higher unemployment and poverty, and changes in inequality, but several channels had affected also emerging countries differently, depending on the extent to which they are vulnerable to particular channels. Major emerging economies from Central and Eastern Europe are post-communist countries that faced transition after adopting market-based economy. All former socialist countries were characterized by an early transition recession transformation result of the restructuring, loss of markets, tough competition from foreign products, best quality, or in other cases cheaper. As regards Romania's status in the context of transition, we may say that it bears the characteristics determined by the situation inherited from the centralized economy and the options of political forces after 1989. The starting point was unfavorable both from an economic perspective, but also social, economic inefficiency due to the existence of industrial projects and sometimes senseless economic, profound structural economic imbalances, sizing of industries and alarming social indicators. In first part, present paper wants to express the role of financial system structure during transition and crises, estimating the effects on a sample of five post-communist countries. We take into discussion data that reflects representative mutations and some restructuring in Central and Eastern European countries, such Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Romania. For all countries we show some important changes of financial system during transition and construct an image matrix that illustrate important indicators of financial system structure and their adjustment. We use data based on Thorston Beck IMF Database (Beck T., WorldBank). In second part of the paper we show some major transmission channels of crisis and some possible effects on post-communist countries, described in economic literature. The analyze uses tables and graphical interpretation. In the last part of the paper we present some OLS estimators of the major factors identified as transmission channels using a dataset from EBRD databases.

Technologies of Art

This paper studies social, material, and technological variation in Paleolithic “art” production. The approach builds on the premise that studying material choices and modification sequences reveals meaningful information about the individuals and society that created the art. Art technologies, rather than appearance, “style,” or iconography, are the focus of inquiry. This paper uses chaine operatoire methodology to analyze portable art from culturally related Upper Paleolithic (Pavlovian) sites located in the eastern Czech Republic (Moravia). This material-based analysis offers insight into the technological options available to artists working in numerous materials. Comparing chaines operatoires at four sites clarifies connections between purportedly linked sites and contributes better understanding of the role of art in the generation and reinforcement of social networks in this region. This case study also illustrates how this methodology might be expanded to consider other sites and cultures.

Fluctuations of floods of the River Morava (Czech Republic) in the 1691–2009 period: interactions of natural and anthropogenic factors

Floods from the middle part of the River Morava (eastern Czech Republic) are considered over the course of the past three centuries, the study being based on data derived from documentary evidence (1691–1880), measured peak water stages, Hk (1881–1920) and peak discharges, Qk (1916–2009), evaluated with respect to their N-year return period (HN and QN ). Changes in land use and water management (water reservoirs, channel modifications) are discussed, as are factors influencing runoff conditions in the Morava catchment. Decadal synthesis of flood series identifies the highest flood activity in the decades of 1911–1920 and 1961–1970 (11 floods each), 1831–1840, 1891–1900, 1901–1910 and 1931–1940 (10 floods each). Uncertainty in this series is related to some incompleteness of documentary data in the pre-1881 period. Very low flood frequency occurred in the 1990s–2000s, although the most disastrous floods were recorded in this particular period (July 1997 at Q 100 and March/April 2006 at Q 20–Q 50). Changes in flood frequency correspond partly to long-term changes in temperature and precipitation patterns. Citation Brázdil, R., Řezníčková, L., Valášek, H., Havlíček, M., Dobrovolný, P., Soukalová, E., Řehánek, T. & Skokanová, H. (2011) Fluctuations of floods of the River Morava (Czech Republic) in the 1691–2009 period: interactions of natural and anthropogenic factors. Hydrol. Sci. J. 56(3), 468–485.