- Chair of Biodiversity and Nature Tourism
- Chair of Economics in Rural Economy
- Chair of Environmental Protection and Landscape Management
- Chair of Horticulture
- Chair of Hydrobiology and Fisheries
- Chair of Landscape Architecture
- Chair of Plant and Crop Science
- Chair of Plant Health
- Chair of Soil Science
- Polli Horticultural Research Centre
- Rõhu Experimental Centre
University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice (Czech Republic), Faculty of Science, Department of Ecosystem Biology
The main research areas include the ecology of aquatic and soil organisms, microbial ecology and studies of processes in aquatic, wetland and soil ecosystems under anthropogenic stress. The department also takes part in studies and conservation of some rare and endangered plant and animal species.
In soil biology, we focus especially on nutrient fluxes and transformation in relation to microbial activity, microbial community composition and biogeochemical properties of soil. Specifically, cycling of C and N has been studied in different ecosystems such as wet meadows, peatlands, mountain forests, arctic soils. In population ecology, we study different factors influencing population dynamic of animals (especially aquatic invertebrates, fishes) and plants in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. For more information about the department activity click here.
From the Department of Ecosystem Biology are involved three professors and researchers:
» Hana Šantrůčková is a researcher and teacher at the University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice (Czech Republic), Department of Ecosystem Biology. Her primary area of expertise is soil biology and biochemistry, nutrient transformation and stable isotopes in ecological studies. Her current research and interests include carbon sequestration and mineralization in arctic and boreal forest soils; C, N and P transformations in forest soils; effect of acidification, eutrophication and forest management on soil biochemistry. She is currently involved as director in Soil and Water Research Infrastructure (SoWa) focused on comprehensive interdisciplinary research of interactions between soil and water ecosystems, ecosystem processes and services on various spatiotemporal scales in the context of sustainable landscape use.
Keywords: Soil biology and biochemistry, nutrient transformation, soil microbiology.
» Tomáš Picek is a researcher and teacher at the University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice (Czech Republic), Faculty of Science, affiliated with the Department of Ecosystem Biology. His primary area of expertise are microbial processes and nutrients cycling in natural and artificial (constructed) wetlands, the effect of vegetation on wetland and soil biogeochemistry, greenhouse gas emissions and quality of dissolved organic matter in wetland soils.
Keywords: wetland biogeochemistry, constructed and natural wetlands, greenhouse gas emissions, DOC quality.
» Zuzana Urbanová is a researcher at the University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice (Czech Republic) affiliated with the Department of Ecosystem Biology. Her primary area of expertise is peatland ecology. She is focused especially on the effect of long-term drainage and hydrological restoration of different peatland types. She studied peat physicochemical properties, microbial communities, carbon gas fluxes and vegetation and their changes caused by drainage and restoration. She is also interested in the evaluation of restoration measures and identification of suitable indicators of restoration success. She is currently working on a project related to biochemical causes and consequences of peat mosses decay resistance.
Keywords: wetland ecology, peatland ecology, carbon fluxes, methanogenesis, wetland restoration.
Current research projects are focused on:
- Acidity and nutrient constraints on organic matter balance and nitrogen saturation in forest soils;
- The effect of natural dieback of mountain spruce forest on microclimate, chemistry, and biodiversity of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems;
- Decay resistance of Sphagnum – biochemical causes and consequences;
- Effect of hydrological restoration of long-term drained peatlands;
- Phosphorus dynamics in unmanaged terrestrial ecosystems: Links with nitrogen and carbon cycling;
- Fishponds as models for exploring plankton diversity and dynamics of hypertrophic shallow lakes;
- MiCryoFun - Microorganisms in Arctic cryoturbated soils - drivers of organic matter transformations in a changing climate;
- C:N stoichiometry in plant-soil interactions: effects on plant metabolism and processes in the rhizosphere;
- Long-term research of zooplankton in dams in relation to anthropogenic effect and climate change.
Within the frame of these research projects, it would be possible to specify some narrower topics for research project/theses.
For further questions please contact Zuzana Urbanová (researcher).
