Východiska: Asociace lesních mateřských škol (LMŠ) reprezentuje jeden ze současných alternativních výchovně-vzdělávacích směrů, ve kterém dominuje volná hra, situační učení a spontánní pohybové činnosti (SPČ). Státní mateřské školy (SMŠ) naopak následují Rámcový vzdělávací program, kde převažují řízené pohybové činnosti (ŘPČ). Cíle: Cílem je komparace pohybového režimu ve SMŠ a v LMŠ a dětských lesních klubech (DLK) zaměřená na četnost a délku preferovaných organizačních forem a následná diskuze vedená v kontextu formování pohybové gramotnosti dětí. Metodika: Studie je deskriptivního charakteru využívající dotazníkové šetření uskutečněné s koordinátory LMŠ a DLK a s pedagogy ze SMŠ. Výsledky: LMŠ a DLK se z 81 % denně věnují SPČ a z toho z 50 % trvá 2-4 hodiny. Ve SMŠ se SPČ denně věnují ze 49 % a z 61 % trvá do 2 hodin. ŘPČ v podobě ranní tělovýchovné cvičební jednotky (TCJ) realizují SMŠ téměř v 75 % případech každodenně a z více než 56 % trvá 10-30 minut. LMŠ a DLK ŘPČ realizují každodenně pouze ve 38 % případů a v 63 % trvá do 10 minut. Ve 33 % LMŠ a DLK ranní TCJ nerealizují vůbec. Závěry: Ve SMŠ bývá častěji a déle realizována pravidelná ŘPČ v podobě ranní TCJ, zatímco v LMŠ a DLK převažuje SPČ. SMŠ mohou mít významnější roli při učení se pohybovým dovednostem především v první a druhé fázi motorického učení, při rozvoji flexibility, při uvědomování si a chápání souvislostí spojených s pohybovou aktivitou. LMŠ a DLK mohou dominovat při učení se pohybovým dovednostem ve fázi stabilizace a automatizace, při rozvoji aerobní zdatnosti, svalové zdatnosti a motivace (obzvláště vnitřní a dlouhodobé). Charakter výzkumu je však díky nízkému počtu "n" a použití nestandardizovaného dotazníku spíše ilustrativního charakteru, což je jeho největší limit.
Background: The Association of Forest Kindergartens represents one of the contemporary alternative-educational courses. These institutions are based on the dominance of a free play, situational learning and spontaneous physical activities (SPA). On the contrary state kindergartens follow Framework Educational Program for pre-school education where organised physical activity (OPA) prevails. Objectives: The aim is a comparison of children movement regime in state kindergartens (SK) and in forest kindergartens and children's forest clubs (FKC). Emphasis is put on analysis of the frequency, time duration and organization forms of implemented physical activities and subsequent discussion about physical literacy. Methods: Study is based on descriptive character using a questionnaire survey conducted with 26 coordinators of forest kindergartens and forest clubs and 49 pedagogues of state kindergartens. Results: Forest kindergartens and clubs (FKC) are involved in spontaneous physical activity (SPA) every day in 81 % and it lasts for 2-4 hours. In state kindergartens (SK) the SPA covers 49 % every day in the morning and in 61% it lasts within 2 hours. On the contrary in SK there is OPA implemented in almost 75 % cases in a daily form of morning physical education exercises and in more than 56 % it lasts for 10-30 minutes. FKC implement OPA daily only in 38 % and 63 % represent the time duration within 10 minutes. In 33% in FKC the morning physical education exercises are not implemented at all. Conclusions: The movement regime is different in state kindergartens (SK) and forest kindergartens as well as in children's forest clubs (FKC). In the state kindergartens (SK) the organised physical activity (OPA) dominates and morning physical education exercises are more regularly implemented, whereas in FKC the spontaneous physical activity (SPA) predominates. SK may have stronger impact on motor skills learning especially in first and second stage of motor learning, on development of flexibility, on being aware and understanding the context of importance and implementation physical activities in one's life. FKC may dominate in motor skills learning in stage of stabilisation and automatisation, may dominate in development of aerobic fitness and muscle fitness and motivation (especially the inner motivation and long-time motivation). Character of the survey is because of it's low "n" and non-standardised questionnaire rather of illustrative character. It is the biggest limit of the study.
Terrestrial laser scanning is a powerful technology for capturing the three-dimensional structure of forests with a high level of detail and accuracy. Over the last decade, many algorithms have been developed to extract various tree parameters from terrestrial laser scanning data. Here we present 3D Forest, an open-source non-platform-specific software application with an easy-to-use graphical user interface with the compilation of algorithms focused on the forest environment and extraction of tree parameters. The current version (0.42) extracts important parameters of forest structure from the terrestrial laser scanning data, such as stem positions (X, Y, Z), tree heights, diameters at breast height (DBH), as well as more advanced parameters such as tree planar projections, stem profiles or detailed crown parameters including convex and concave crown surface and volume. Moreover, 3D Forest provides quantitative measures of between-crown interactions and their real arrangement in 3D space. 3D Forest also includes an original algorithm of automatic tree segmentation and crown segmentation. Comparison with field data measurements showed no significant difference in measuring DBH or tree height using 3D Forest, although for DBH only the Randomized Hough Transform algorithm proved to be sufficiently resistant to noise and provided results comparable to traditional field measurements.
- MeSH
- Algorithms MeSH
- Automation MeSH
- Forests * MeSH
- Imaging, Three-Dimensional * MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
The biodiversity of the Southern Balkans, part of the Mediterranean global biodiversity hot-spot, is threatened by land use intensification and abandonment, the latter causing forest encroachment of formerly open habitats. We investigated the impact of forest encroachment on butterfly species richness, community species composition and the representation of life history traits by repeated seasonal visits of 150 one-hectare sites in five separate regions in three countries-Greece, Bulgaria, and the Republic of Macedonia (FYROM-the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia)- 10 replicates for each habitat type of grasslands, open formations and scrub forest within each region. Grasslands and open formations sites hosted in average more species and more red-listed species than scrub forest, while no pattern was found for numbers of Mediterranean species. As shown by ordination analyses, each of the three habitat types hosted distinct butterfly communities, with Mediterranean species inclining either towards grasslands or open formations. Analysing the representation of life history traits revealed that successional development from grasslands and open formations towards scrub forest shifts the community composition towards species overwintering in earlier stages, having fewer generations per year, and inhabiting large European or Eurosiberian (e.g. northern) ranges; it decreases the representation of Mediterranean endemics. The loss of grasslands and semi-open formations due to forest encroachment thus threatens exactly the species that should be the focus of conservation attention in the Mediterranean region, and innovative conservation actions to prevent ongoing forest encroachment are badly needed.
- MeSH
- Residence Characteristics * MeSH
- Species Specificity MeSH
- Forests * MeSH
- Butterflies growth & development MeSH
- Regression Analysis MeSH
- Life Cycle Stages * MeSH
- Geography MeSH
- Animals MeSH
- Check Tag
- Animals MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
- Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
- Geographicals
- Mediterranean Region MeSH
A novel passive exchange meter (EM) device was developed to assess air-surface exchange and leaching of Hg in a forest floor. Flux measurements were carried out in a subtropical forest ecosystem during a full year. Over 40% of the Hg fixed in fresh forest litter was remobilized in less than 60 days in warm and humid conditions as a response to rapid turnover of labile organic matter (OM). A two-block experiment including understory and clearing showed that losses of Hg covaried with seasonal conditions and was significantly affected by forest coverage. The process controlling the bulk loss of total Hg from the litter was volatilization, which typically represented 76-96% of the loss processes (Floss). The Floss ranges were 520-1370 and 165-942 ng m-2 d-1 in the understory and clearing, respectively. On a yearly basis, deposition of airborne Hg exceeded total losses by a factor of 2.5 in the clearing and 1.5 in the understory. The vegetation litter in this subtropical forest therefore represented a net sink of atmospheric Hg. This study provided a novel approach to Hg air-soil exchange measurements and further insights on the link between Hg remobilization and OM turnover along with its environmental drivers.
442 s. : il.
Microbial activity in forest soils is driven by the dynamics of ecosystem processes, largely dependent on trees as the major primary producers. Diurnal variation of root activity, seasonality of photosynthate production or recalcitrance of decomposing plant biomass all affect microbial abundance, composition of their communities and activity. Due to low N content, fungi appear to be the major decomposers of complex plant biomass: litter and deadwood and to largely shape associated bacterial communities and their activity. On the other hand, bacteria are important in decomposition of fungal mycelia and N-cycle processes including N-fixation. Microbial activity is also affected in the short term by climatic events and in the long-term by ecosystem development after disturbances.
Concern that European forest biodiversity is depleted and declining has provoked widespread efforts to improve management practices. To gauge the success of these actions, appropriate monitoring of forest ecosystems is paramount. Multi-species indicators are frequently used to assess the state of biodiversity and its response to implemented management, but generally applicable and objective methodologies for species' selection are lacking. Here we use a niche-based approach, underpinned by coarse quantification of species' resource use, to objectively select species for inclusion in a pan-European forest bird indicator. We identify both the minimum number of species required to deliver full resource coverage and the most sensitive species' combination, and explore the trade-off between two key characteristics, sensitivity and redundancy, associated with indicators comprising different numbers of species. We compare our indicator to an existing forest bird indicator selected on the basis of expert opinion and show it is more representative of the wider community. We also present alternative indicators for regional and forest type specific monitoring and show that species' choice can have a significant impact on the indicator and consequent projections about the state of the biodiversity it represents. Furthermore, by comparing indicator sets drawn from currently monitored species and the full forest bird community, we identify gaps in the coverage of the current monitoring scheme. We believe that adopting this niche-based framework for species' selection supports the objective development of multi-species indicators and that it has good potential to be extended to a range of habitats and taxa.
- MeSH
- Biodiversity * MeSH
- Forests * MeSH
- Birds * MeSH
- Statistics as Topic methods MeSH
- Conservation of Natural Resources MeSH
- Animals MeSH
- Check Tag
- Animals MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
- Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
- Geographicals
- Europe MeSH
