Departmental Description – what we do

Primary production of forest ecosystems
  • Allometry
  •  Wood anatomy
  •  Dendrochronology
  •  Phenology
  •  Growth of woody plants and biomass production
  •  Carbon sequestration
  •  Impacts of climate change on woody plants
Biodiversity
  • Forest management models and their effects on animal biodiversity
  •  Study of invertebrate predators
  •  Invertebrate taxonomy
  •  Impact of landscape structure on biodiversity
Secondary production
  • Application of molecular-genetic methods in food chains
  •  Feeding and population ecology of small mammals
  •  Impact of small mammals on forest tree plantations
  •  Return of large carnivores to the cultural landscape of Europe
  •  Dynamics of food webs
Ecological stability
  • Foreign substances and elements in the environment
  •  Definition and significance of indicators of forest ecosystem functioning
  •  Stabilization of hazardous elements in contaminated soils
  •  Toxicological risks of agrochemicals to beneficial invertebrates

Background – where we work

  • Building T on the University campus – houses the main facilities for scientific work. The Department’s offices are located on the building’s 1st and 2nd floors.
  • The Primary Production Laboratory in Building T is dedicated to the processing of plant biomass samples.
  • The Secondary Production Laboratory and the associated Autopsy Room in Building T are used to process animal samples and are subject to the university’s authorisation to use wild experimental animals.
  • The Rájec Ecosystem Station is part of the Czech Republic’s National Scientific Research Infrastructure for Carbon Monitoring (CzeCOS) and the DendroNetwork monitoring group. The station provides facilities for investigating the influence of climate on spruce ecosystem functioning, along with phenological and dendrochronological observations and long-term monitoring of energy and substance flows.
  • The Lednice Ecosystem Station provides facilities for monitoring the Central European floodplain forest biome.

Cooperation – we are not alone

  • Our Department places great emphasis on cooperation with research departments, universities, conservation organisations and commercial businesses. Such cooperation is essential for successful research, project implementation and transfer of current knowledge into teaching and commercial practice. We are also actively involved in several important international networks as science cannot be undertaken in isolation. Through these partnerships, we share knowledge, resources and innovation, allowing us to push the boundaries of our capabilities and contribute to the advancement of scientific knowledge.
List of international partners
  • Atlantic Technological University  
  • Babeș-Bolyai University
  • European University Foundation
  • Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut
  • German-Mongolian Institute for Resource and Technology
  • HUN-REN Centre for Ecological Research
  • Icelandic Forest Service
  • Ilia State University  
  • Kasetsart University  
  • Khon Kaen University
  • Microhumus, Francie
  • Mongolian University of Life Sciences
  • National University of Mongolia
  • Nature Research Centre, Vilnius  
  • Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research
  • Technická univerzita vo Zvolene
  • Transilvania University of Brașov
  • University of Copenhagen  
  • University of Iceland
  • University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna [
  • University of Oviedo
  • University of Oxford
  • Université de Rennes
  • University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne
  • Univerzita Komenského v Bratislave 
  • Utah State University
  • Vienna University of Technology (TU Wien) 
List of university, scientific and research institutions
  • Biologické centrum AV ČR, v. v. i.
  • Botanický ústav AV ČR, v. v. i.
  • Czechglobe – Ústav výzkumu globálni změny, AV ČR v. v. i.
  • Ústav biologie obratlovců Akademie věd ČR, v. v. i.
  • Centrum dopravního výzkumu, v. v. i.
  • Česká lesnická akademie Trutnov
  • Česká zemědělská univerzita v Praze
  • Jihočeská univerzita v Českých Budějovicích
  • Masarykova univerzita
  • Univerzita Jana Evangelisty Purkyně v Ústí nad Labem
  • Univerzita Karlova
  • Univerzita Palackého v Olomouci
  • Vysoká škola báňská – Technická univerzita Ostrava
  • Vysoká škola chemicko-technologická v Praze
  • Vysoké učení technické v Brně
  • Výzkumný a šlechtitelský ústav ovocnářský Holovousy, s. r. o.
  • Výzkumný ústav lesního hospodářství a myslivosti, v. v. i.
  • Výzkumný ústav Silva Taroucy pro krajinu a okrasné zahradnictví
Commercial collaboration
  • Agentura ochrany přírody a krajiny ČR
  • Biskupské lesy
  • Český svaz ochránců přirody
  • Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit
  • Diecézní lesy Hradec Králové s. r. o.
  • Environmental Measuring Systems s. r. o.
  • HBH Projekt spol. s. r. o.
  • Hnutí DUHA
  • Hnutí DUHA Šelmy
  • Klub českých turistů
  • Krajský úřad Jihomoravského kraje
  • Lesní svět
  • Lesy České republiky, s. p.
  • Lesy Colloredo Mansfeld s. r. o.
  • Lesy města Brna
  • MERCATA LES, s. r. o.
  • Ministerstvo životního prostředí
  • Mongolian walking association
  • Národné lesnícke centrum
  • Sdružení vlastníků obecních, soukromých a církevních lesů v ČR
  • Správa CHKO Pálava
  • Správa Národního parku Podyjí
  • Štátna ochrana prírody
  • Tatrzański Park Narodowy
  • Ústav pro hospodářskou úpravu lesů
  • Ústřední kontrolní a zkušební ústav zemědělský
  • Vojenské lesy a statky ČR, s. p.
National and international networks

Departmental staff – who we are

We are a collective of passionate scientists, young researchers and experienced teachers. The strength of our research team lies in its diversity. The Department acts as a base for academics with a wide range of international experience.

Ing. Jan Světlík, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor – Department of Forest Ecology
Head of department – Department of Forest Ecology
IFE FFWT, Zemědělská 3, 61300 Brno (Černá Pole)
Office: T3.04
+420 545 134 188
Department of Forest Ecology
Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology
Zemědělská 3, 613 00 Brno
+420 545 134 180
List of employees

Department of Forest Ecology

Staff

Contact persons for thematic areas:

Mgr. Ondřej Nezval, Ph.D.
Primary production, phenology
+420 545 134 192
Mgr. Pavel Rotter, Ph.D.
Ecological stability, ecosystem pollutants, assessment of forest ecosystem function indicators
+420 545 134 179
Ing. Václav Pecina, Ph.D.
Alien substances in the environment, development projects in Mongolia
+420 545 134 522
Mgr. Radek Michalko, Ph.D.
Food web dynamics
+420 545 134 038
Ing. Tomáš Hamřík, Ph.D.
Biodiversity of spiders
+420 545 134 183
doc. Ing. Luboš Purchart, Ph.D.
Invertebrates
+420 545 134 012
Mgr. Ing. Tamara Wijacki, Ph.D.
Animal molecular biology methods, laboratory management
+420 545 134 191
Ing. et Ing. Ladislav Čepelka, Ph.D.
Small mammals
+420 545 134 501
Mgr. Miroslav Kutal, Ph.D.
Large carnivores
+420 545 134 501
Mgr. Martin Duľa, Ph.D.
Large carnivores
+420 545 134 501