We study various aspects of ecology, biology and diversity of insects associated with woodlands together with processes affecting their habitats and survival. Our research combines entomology, ecology, forestry and GIS methods in order to contribute to rational, evidence-based conservation of biodiversity. To facilitate for information flow between the academic and the "real" worlds we also collaborate with various NGOs, state organizations, land owners and media.
Latest publications
Dapporto, L., Mouquet, N., Bruschini, C., Arif, S., Bonelli, S., Bordoni, A., Cappa, F., Chelazzi, G., Ffrench-Constant, R., Giannoni, M., Joron, M., Kamenova, S., Keskin, E., Kühn, E., Lohman, D. J., Lucek, K., Marabuto, E., Menchetti, M., Moreira-Pinhal, T. C., Moro, G., Orizaola, G., Pasquali, L., Skowron Volponi, M., Salvati, V., González Sevilleja, C., van Swaay, C., Warren, M., Wynhoff, I., Vila, R., Wiorek, M., Mingrui, L., Wright, C. J., Zingaro, V., Sucháčková Bartoňová, A., Cini, A., Portera, M., (2026) Beauty bias in butterfly research and conservationCurrent Biology
Franzén, M., Jansson, N., Avci, M., Brin, A., Brustel, H., Budka, J., Buse, J., Carpaneto, G., Chiari, S., Čížek, L., Coskun, M., Dagley, J., Hammond, P. M., Micó, E., Öncül Abacıgil, T., Pavlíček, T., Schlaghamerský, J., Šebek, P., Sverdrup-Thygeson, A., Varli, S. V., Westerberg, L., Wilde, I., Zauli, A., & Milberg, P. (2026) Taxonomic and methodological biases in saproxylic beetles: Body size, trophic group and detection probabilityInsect Conservation and Diversity
Our group participated in Ecology 2026, the 10th Conference of the Czech Society for Ecology, held on 9–11 September at the Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, contributing one talk and two posters:
Gioele Moro
presented research on post-fire recovery in beech forests in Bohemian Switzerland, showing how plants and arthropods follow different trajectories of community assembly, shaped by dispersal ability and fire severity.
Petr Kozel presented a poster showing that host tree species strongly influence carbon and nitrogen isotope signatures in saproxylic beetles—an important consideration when using stable isotopes to reconstruct deadwood food webs.
Claudio Sbaraglia presented a poster examining how beetles colonise deadwood. His results showed that sun exposure primarily influences beetle arrival, while fungal communities and their associated chemical cues help shape successful colonisation.
Lukáš Čížek participated in the Biodiversity Crisis conference, held on 14–15 September 2026 in Třešť, and joined the newly established Association for Biodiversity Research and Support. Bringing together researchers, conservation practitioners and public authorities, the association aims to strengthen evidence-based conservation and connect biodiversity research with policy and practice.
10. 10. 2025
Plenary speaker Anders Granström | Author: Michaela Helclová
Conference: Fire in Central European Ecosystems
From October 6–8, 2025, we organized a conference at Děčín Castle focusing on the impact of fire on the biodiversity of various habitats, the consequences of wildfires in protected areas and the wider landscape, the management of affected areas, and the potential use of fire for nature conservation or as a fire prevention measure.
A total of 141 participants attended the conference, including 29 from abroad.
Link to the website: FireCE
18. 12. 2024
cover | Author: David Hauck
Nová KNIHA!!!
Kniha Tradiční hospodaření v lesích a biodiverzita, která vznikla ve spolupráci s Českou zemědělskou univerzitou v Praze a Botanickým ústavem AV ČR v rámci projektu TAČR Kappa (TO01000132), je nyní dostupná
on-line.
Publikace čtenářům přibližuje, jak se historicky proměnila lesní stanoviště v evropských podmínkách a jakým způsobem to ovlivnilo organismy, které lesy, případně stromy, potřebují ke svému životu. Kniha obsahuje popis tradičních praktik, ale i stručné návody pro ekologickou obnovu stanovišť.
16. 9. 2024
Poster session | Author: Petr Kozel
9th Conference of the Czech Society for Ecology
On 11-13 September 2024 an ecological conference was held in České Budějovice, where our master student Veronika Grygarová, PhD student Gioele Moro, scientific researchers Petr Kozel and Alena Sucháčková, and a technician Michaela Helclová presented their research. The conference was attended by 153 participants.
10. 2. 2024
Veronika and her poster | Author: Míša Helclová
Zoological Days 2024
Between 8.2. - 9.2. 2024, our lab members (Veronika Grygarová, Petr Kozel, Michal Perlík and Michaela Helclová), attended a traditional Zoological Conference. This year the conference took place in Ostrava and was attended by many participants from various universities and other research institutions in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
1. 11. 2023
Best talk | Author: Míša Helclová
11th Symposium on the Conservation of Saproxylic Beetles
Between 14.9. - 15.9. 2023 our team members Lukáš Čížek, Lukáš Drag, Petr Kozel, Michal Perlík and Michaela Helclová gave a talk and presented a poster about their projects at the 11th Symposium on the Conservation of Saproxylic Beetles. This year the conference took place in Aranjuez, Spain. At the same time, the saproxylic insect topics were discussed with other attendants of the conference.
29. 8. 2023
Oak tree with C.cerdo | Author: Petr Kozel
VetExT excursion to Sweeden and Norway
Between August 6 and 18, Pavel Šebek and Petr Kozel, together with colleagues from ČSOP Vlašim and Arboristicá akademie took part in a workshop to learn more about veteranisation and tree management in northern Europe. We visited several sites with solitary trees, grazed forests including protected areas and palace parks in Sweeden and Norway. For instance, we saw one of the oldest (900 years) oak and one of the largest (ca 720 cm in circumference) elm in Europe. In the end, we learned numerous insights into traditional tree and forest management focused mainly on sustaining biodiversity and public security.
1. 11. 2022
Travellers | Author: Míša Helclová
11th International Conference on Biodiversity Research
Míša Helclová, Petr Kozel, Michal Perlík, and Pavel Šebek attended the 11th International Conference on Biodiversity Research in Daugavpils, Latvia, held on 20th-21st October 2022. They presented their current topics from the ecology of saproxylic beetles, bees and wasps, and visited several natural interests of Lithuania on the way.
10. 2. 2021
Forest monitoring | Author: Lukáš Čížek
The legal action against the Ministry of Agriculture
Biology Centre CAS has pressed charges against the Ministry of Agriculture of the Czech Republic. The reason was a long-standing argument about the forest management plan that should be applied in the forest owned by the Biology Centre in the South Moravian Region.
Mr. Rosalioman! A new superhero was born in Bezdez
The mark-recapture study of Rosalia alpina (tesařík alpský) was already captured in the
movie. The story has become so popular that Česká televize has recently decided for a comics remake targeting on a younger audience. Enjoy the reading!
An interactive database of pollarded willows in South Moravian and Zlín Regions (Czech Republic) and Trnava Region (Slovakia) is accessible at this website.
This monitoring has been supported by the project no.304021D168 (Živé břehy – společná ochrana říčních ekosystémů).
We launched the shared calendar. If you know about any event relevant to our group (field work, conference, defence, presentation,…), please, share it with others!
7. 2. 2020
Olomouc | Author: Míša Helclová
Zoological days
Between 6.2. - 7.2. 2020, two PhD students Michal Perlík and Petr Kozel and one master student Michaela Helclová gave a talk about their projects at the traditional Czechoslovakian zoological conference. This year, the conference took place in Olomouc and was attended by 465 participants from various universities and other research institutions.
15. 10. 2019
Pollarding | Author: Lucka Ambrožová
Interreg excursion to France
Between 7.-15. October 2019, several members of our team, together with colleagues from AOPK, ŠOPSR, ČSO and Krok Kyjov went for an excursion to learn more about coppicing and pollarding in western Europe. We visited foresters in Bad Windsheim (Germany) and discussed their experience with bigger-scale middle-forest management. In France, we stopped in Maison Botanique (Boursay) in exposition of pollarded trees and then moved to Marais-Poitevin to see large-scale traditional management of pollarded ashes along river channels. We continued to the borders with Spain to Sare where we visited pollarded oaks, beeches and traditionally grazed forests. Altogether, we got several new insights and tips for traditional forest managements.
25. 7. 2019
Buchanky | Author: Michal Perlík
Trip to Russia
In summer 2019 our team, together with the German colleagues from the team of Jörg Müller, visited the Orenburg Region in southwestern Russia. A majority of the biodiversity in this region is shared with the Czech Republic or Germany, but due to a very low intensification in the local forestry and agriculture, many species and habitats we consider rare are quite commonplace.
1. 5. 2019
Stará obora | Author: Petr Kozel
Sampling in Stará obora
In 2019 we installed 12 window traps in Stará obora near Hluboká nad Vltavou. This sampling is a part of a large veteran project investigating the effect of deadwood microhabitats and sunlight on saproxylic communities. We also searched for saproxylic beetles in the area in order to collect some samples for the isotopic analyses. The fieldwork was carried out by Petr Kozel, Pavel Šebek and Jan Kadlec.
28. 2. 2019
Cerambyx cerdo | Author: Lukáš Čížek
New article released
Our latest research article has been published in European Journal of Entomology. The paper describes the differences in realized niche of a veteran tree specialist, Cerambyx cerdo, among three sites in South Moravia. Although it is generally found on large veteran trees, the beetle can exploit even trees with small diameters, when these are in open conditions and their health deteriorated.
20. 12. 2018
Kožojed moravský | Author: Jan Miklín
Objev roku 2018!
Časopis 21. Století zařadil objev kožojeda moravského (Paranovelsis moravicus) mezi 21 největších objevů roku 2018 v ČR.
Kožojed moravský je zcela nový druh brouka z čeledi kožojedovitých, který byl objeven na starých dubech v jihomoravských lužních lesích nad soutokem Moravy a Dyje.
Více se o tomto nálezu můžete dočíst
zde
nebo
zde.
Moreover, the picture of the Rosalia longicorn (Rosalia alpina) was selected for the cover image of the December 2018 Issue of
Journal of Biogeography.
19. 11. 2018
Working team | Author: Pavel Sebek
Czech-French project
Pavel Šebek is currently on a short internship at Irstea in Nogent-sur-Vernisson where he is working with French colleagues, Christophe Bouget, Gwendoline Percel, and Guillem Parmain on a collaborative project between our lab, Christophe's lab, and Jakub Horák (ČZU, Prague).
12. 6. 2018
Bavarian Forest NP | Author: Petr Kozel
10th European Saproxylic Beetle Conference
From 8th to 10th June, our team members, Lukáš Čížek, Lukáš Drag, Fran Kostanjšek, Petr Kozel, Pavel Šebek, and Matthias Weiss, attended a biennial symposium on saproxylic beetles organized by Jörg Müller in Sankt Oswald, Bavaria, Germany. All the members gave talks about their research subjects and participated on a search for a rare beetle Ditylus laevis.
29. 3. 2018
Rhysodes sulcatus | Author: David Hauck
New paper released!
Our latest research article is in early view of
Insect Conservation and Diversity
and should be published later this year. It describes habitat requirements of the wrinkled bark beetle, Rhysodes sulcatus, one of the primeval forest relict species. The beetle requires fallen logs of large trees with moderate humidity.
9. 10. 2017
Veteran trees | Author: Jan Miklín
New paper released!
Our latest research article is in early view of
Diveristy & Distributions
and soon it will be published. The study brings an evidence that, to a great extent, occurrence of veteran trees and their associated species are conditioned by open conditions of the canopy in the past.
28. 9. 2017
Students | Author: Pavel Šebek
Finished PhD and new PhD students
On 28th September 2017, Matthias Weiss has successfully defended his Ph.D. thesis entitled: " Key factors affecting composition and diversity of saproxylic beetle assemblages".
Our Master students Lucka Ambrožová, Petr Kozel, and Michal Perlík, have successfully defended their Master theses in June 2017. All the three have also started their Ph.D. in our lab.
Congratulations to all and good luck in future!
1. 9. 2017
Soutok | Author: David Hauck
Guidelines for conservation
In September, Ministry of the Environment has certified the
guidelines
for conservation of open woodlands written by our team members. The document describes different management strategies that can be used in maintenance and restoration of open woodland habitats. It should serve as a general guideline for conservationists, stakeholders and managers of protected areas.
10. 5. 2017
Rambouillet | Author: Pavel Šebek
Travel to France
In the start of May, Pavel Š. installed FIT traps in the forests of Rambouillet, a wooded complex with diverse management strategies, active coppice with standards woods, pheasantry, and reserves. The field work and sampling was arranged with help of Christophe Bouget (Irstea) and his team.
2. 5. 2017
Bavarian Forest NP | Author: admin
2nd International Conference on Forests
The second International Conference on Forests took place from 26. to 29. 04. in the Bavarian Forest National Park, Germany. Two talks were presented by the members of our team. Pavel Šebek talked about the Podyjí project in which the effect of artificial canopy opening on biodiversity has been studied. Two days later, Lukáš Drag presented the first results of the radio-tracking study focused on the protected saproxylic beetle Cerambyx cerdo. The list of other participations was very diverse, the keynote talks were presented by e.g. Prof. David Lindenmayer, or Prof. Lenore Fahrig.
18. 4. 2017
Borzhava Forest | Author: Lukáš Drag
Travel to Ukraine
Last week, Pavel Šebek, Lukáš Drag and Lukáš Čížek spent several days in Ukraine (Закарпатська область). Together with the collaborators from Uzhhorod National University, they searched for the suitable tree locations within the lowland forest of Borzhava river to hang the Flight Interception Traps (FIT).
24. 3. 2017
Soutok | Author: Jan Miklín
Interactive Map
An interactive map of trees and beetles in SE Morava floodplains (Czech Republic) has been released. It summarizes information on trees and beetles collected by mainly David Hauck and Ondra Konvička. Honza Miklín transformed the data into the interactive map.
