Research
BESTMAP - Behavioural, Ecological and Socio-economic Tools for Modelling Agricultural Policy
Agricultural land covers almost 50% of the European Union (EU). The unsustainable intensification of agriculture, the loss of cultivated land and ongoing climate change threaten not only the land but also the livelihoods of the 10 million farmers who farm it. Policy instruments, including the EU's Common Agricultural Policy, are failing to address the ever-deteriorating environment. This is the focus of the BESTMAP project, funded by the EU's Horizon 2020 research and innovation framework programme, which aims to develop a set of decision support tools that take into account farmers' needs and effectively monitor the impacts of agricultural policy on natural, social and cultural values in rural areas.
About project in czech
Doba trvání projektu
září 2019 – srpen 2023
Konsorcium
12 partnerů ze 7 evropských zemí (Velká Británie, Německo, Česká republika, Španělsko, Belgie, Srbsko, Bulharsko)
Projektový tým na Katedře ekologie a ŽP
RNDr. Tomáš Václavík, PhD., tomas.vaclavik@upol.cz, +420 585 634 555
Prof. Dr. Ing. Bořivoj Šarapatka, CSc., borivoj.sarapatka@upol.cz, +420 585 634 560
Ing. Marek Bednář, Ph.D., marek.bednar@upol.cz
Dr. Fanny Langerwisch, fanny.langerwisch@upol.cz
Projekt BESTMAP bude rozvíjet a uplatňovat nové přístupy, které zohledňují složitost rozhodování zemědělských subjektů. Vytvořené počítačové modely pomohou vybudovat rámcovou metodiku pro využití těchto přístupů v praxi. Hlavním výstupem bude vytvoření snadno použitelného webového nástroje, který pomůže tvůrcům politik analyzovat zavedení nových agro-environmentálních programů a modelovat dopad zemědělských programů na regionální a národní úrovni.
Projekt BESTMAP
- Vypracuje nový metodický rámec v oblasti behaviorálního modelování, který zohlední složitost rozhodování zemědělců.
- Navrhne a představí sadu otevřených, flexibilních a přizpůsobitelných počítačových modelů ve spojení s existujícími daty (např. LPIS/IACS) a výstupy z dálkového průzkumu země (např. Sentinel-2).
- Propojí ekonomické a multiagentní nástroje pro podporu rozhodování s hodnocením ekosystémových služeb, biodiverzity a socioekonomických charakteristik zemědělských systémů.
- Vytvoří uživatelsky přívětivý online nástroj pro porovnání různých scénářů zemědělských politik za účelem transformace stávajícího systému Společné zemědělské politiky
- Zlepší účinnost koncepce, monitorování a implementace budoucích politik rozvoje venkova EU.
Případové studie
Metodika modelování zemědělských systémů bude implementována napříč Evropou v pěti regionech (Velká Británie, Německo, Španělsko, Srbsko a Česko) s různým zemědělským, sociálně-ekonomickým a politickým prostředím. Jedním z testovaných regionů bude i oblast Jižní Moravy. Součástí bude analýza aplikovatelnosti vytvořených přístupu na území celé EU.
Website: bestmap.eu
Twitter: @Bestmap_EU
Facebook: @BestmapEU
Ticks
Using the study of the distribution, abundance and prevalence of three groups of relatively overlooked, tick-borne pathogens (namely representatives of the genera Rickettsia, Anaplasma and Babesia), the projects have two main goals. The first is to create Czech risk maps for the above-mentioned groups of pathogenic agents through GIS modeling. The second goal is to create a publicly accessible application for subsequent analysis of the distribution and abundance of different studied pathogens.
Ecology is a biological science that has changed into a mature academic discipline with a rich theoretical background in recent decades. The concept of ecology can now be found almost everywhere. However, the field has to pay for this popularity a cruel tax - emptying the content for the general public, where everyone fills their own content. However, in the academic concept that is being developed and also taught at natural sciences, the definition of ecology is still the same: studying relationships that have living organisms among themselves or with the environment. In principle, humans are not discussed in ecology. Problems are usually studied at the individual level, population or community level and take place on a variety of time and space scales. Thus, ecology distinguishes itself both from nature conservation biology and from environmental sciences that address environmental issues related to human activity. Ecology is no longer a social movement that does not explore and has a clear ideological idea of the world, including human behaviour.
The research activities of the members of the Department are divided into seven main research groups:
- population ecology, demography and dynamics of mammalian populations
- ecology and conservation biology of invertebrates
- the impact of climate and anthropogenic changes in mountain ecosystems
- agroecology and soil ecology
- microbial ecology of waters
- landscape ecology, landscape fragmentation issues, revitalization, biodiversity, migration, species distribution modelling
- biodiversity of tropical rain forests
Research groups
Animal population ecology
The population ecology, demographics and mammalian dynamics group studies ecological processes in populations of many major animal species. The abundance of some species does not change much in time and their dynamics are simple, while others change very quickly and conspicuously. Other populations show regular changes in abundance. Such species include, for example, vole rodents, which reproduce at regular intervals of 3-5 years. The main representatives of the Czech Republic include the field vole, vole and red vole. The key theory that tries to explain variability in population abundance is the theory of population regulation through negative feedback. For other species, we observe long-term trends in abundance. As our current research has shown, the abundance of the once abundant hamster in the Czech Republic, previously considered by farmers as an undesirable pest, has declined in an alarming manner in recent decades. The abundance of other species, such as wild boar, is reversible and exponentially growing. The causes of such time trends are rarely known deeper.
Conservation ecology of Invertebrates
The group studying ecology and conservation biology of invertebrates has initially focused on the population ecology of individual endangered butterfly species and the ecology of soil invertebrate communities. Today, the research is focused on modelling the risk of endangered herbivorous insect taxa (especially beetles and Hymenoptera) with respect to their life features and landscape fragmentation. Moreover, the group study an impact of slopes on invertebrate communities in Jeseníky, the impact of agri-environmental measures in the agricultural landscape or the effects of forest management on invertebrate communities.
Alpine and mountain research
Research on the impact of climate and other anthropogenic changes on mountain ecosystems is not only experimentally studying the manipulative changes in climatic or nutritional factors on mountain plant communities, but also the regeneration of these communities after experimental disturbances arising from skiing or higher tourism intensity.
Soil science and agroecology
The agroecology and soil ecology group is focused on the landscape and soil of agroecosystems which were particularly influenced by anthropogenic influences, especially in the post-war period. For example, the proportion of scattered green areas, which was around 2.5% in the pre-war period, fell to 0.5–0.7%. 45% of agricultural land is at risk of erosion. These changes threaten the biodiversity of the agricultural landscape. Most butterflies disappeared from the Czech Republic in comparison to all Europe. In the last 10 years, 20% of bird field species have been reduced and the number of hares or partridges is less than 10% of the pre-war level. Among the projects solved, which were also designed to propose remedial measures, it is possible to mention projects to optimize agricultural and river landscapes focusing on landscape biodiversity or the effectiveness of agri-environmental measures, soil degradation and determination degree of degradation changes, the sustainability of water, and land resource management. New approaches have been introduced, such as the study of selected soil enzymes as indicators of changes in the soil environment, the use of caesium radionuclide in dating erosion processes in the landscape, new approaches to landscape modelling using geographic information systems.
Aquatic ecology
The microbial ecology of water group has long been involved in the research of microbial biofilms and microbial processes involved in the organic carbon cycle in running waters, especially in the bottom, so-called hyporheic sediments (see Fig.). These sediments are the main metabolic centre of running waters, where the decomposition and transformation of organic matter and nutrients take place. Among other things, there is the production of gases that have a strong radiation character (so-called greenhouse gases), such as CO2, CH4 and N2O. The present research is focused on the study of the spatial distribution of methanogenic and methanotrophic bacteria in hyporheic sediments and the explanation of differences in substrate sources for methanogenesis and methane production/consumption during the year at various sites in the longitudinal course of the small lowland stream Sitka. Modern molecular methods such as FISH (fluorescence in situ hybridization), PCR, DGGE, gene cloning, and sequencing are used to detect and identify methanotrophic bacteria and methanogenic archaea. When clarifying the mechanism of formation and circulation of methane in sediments and the water column, we proceed from the analysis of stable 13C / 12C isotopes in methane gas samples.
Landscape ecology
The Landscape Ecology Group studies the changes and processes that take place around us on a large scale. In order to understand how changes in the environment affect the distribution and survival of species, populations and communities, we need to examine changes in the structure and layout of the landscape and how organisms respond to these changes. In landscape ecology research, we strive for an interdisciplinary approach that builds on established ecological theories while applying our own field observation, geographic analysis, statistical methods and predictive modelling to better understand the spatial interactions between organisms, man and the environment. Major research topics include: identifying landscape changes and uses, habitat analysis and modelling of species distribution, understanding and predicting the spread of invasive species, the impact of land use on biodiversity and ecosystem services.
Biosystematics of tropical herbs
The biodiversity group of tropical rain forests focuses mainly on the study of systematics, taxonomy, phylogeny and biogeography of herbaceous plants in paleotropic rain forests. Special attention is paid to mycoheterotrophic plants of the genera Thismia, Epirixanthes, Sciaphila and others in the Malesian phytogeographical region, especially on the island of Borneo. The group also closely cooperates with other research teams at other workplaces that deal mainly with the dynamics of the palaeotropic rain forest.
Project (in czech) QK1810233 - Kvantifikace dopadu hospodaření na erozi, kvalitu půd a výnosy pěstovaných plodin s návrhem pěstebních technologií šetrných k životnímu prostředí
In the scope of this research project of the Ministry of Agriculture, production losses and negative environmental changes (deterioration of soil properties, accelerated water runoff from the landscape, loss of organic matter, reduction of environmental quality) are quantified on the basis of a detailed assessment of the impact of erosion processes on the soil. The impact of erosion on yields and soil conditions is studied at each stage of the research. In the conditions of specific farms, the project will propose the optimisation of areas at high and moderate risk of erosion, also in the light of the subsidy system conditional on this designation, and will design a system of erosion protection that respects both the production perspective and the protection of natural resources. A subsequent economic analysis will be used to recommend advantageous agrotechnologies suitable for selected important soil types in the Czech Republic.
Already on the basis of the first results from a specific area, we have prepared a certified map on the UPOL land addressing the optimization of strip crop rotation as an important part of soil erosion protection.
The researchers from UPOL: Prof. Bořivoj Šarapatka, Dr. Marek Bednář, Dr. Patrik Netopil, Ing. Jan Černohorský