Zdenek Kaplan

@czechacademy.bsky.social 👍

Many plants naturalized as aliens abroad have also become more common within their native regions - Nature Communications How changes in species’ native occupancy over time relate to global naturalization success remains unclear. Here, the authors show that species with both high occupancy decades ago and increasing nati...

Plants spreading fast at home often become global invaders 🌱✈️ A new Nature Comms study shows that species expanding in Europe are most likely to naturalize abroad. Watching native trends may be the key to predicting invasions: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Spatially uneven sampling of species occurrences can mislead biodiversity research. A new study of Czech flora by Klímová et al. reveals how different methods mitigate the distortions in the patterns of species richness.
preslia.cz/doi/preslia.2025.541.html

Congratulations on this important taxonomic work!

🌸 This year, we finally (!) have a good yield of apricots (Prunus armeniaca) here in South Moravia, after three years without apricots across the region.

Apricots are thermophilous trees, thriving in Czechia’s warmest areas. Paradoxically, though, they are suffering from global warming.

Mountain meadows and subalpine tall-forb vegetation with Campanula bohemica (endemic), Euphrasia coerulea, Delphinium elatum and Rhinanthus riphaeus.

Rocks with Sorbus sudetica (endemic).

Waterfalls and springs with Dactylorhiza maculata subsp. sudetica (endemic), Hieracium sudetotubulosum (endemic) and Cardamine amara subsp. opicii (type locality).

Subalpine grasslands with Bartsia alpina, Diphasiastrum alpinum, Pilosella iserana and Salix silesiaca.

🧵1/5 Botanical visit to the Krkonoše Mountains, the highest mountain range in Czechia. Peat bogs with Pedicularis sudetica (type locality) and Andromeda polifolia.

Reed stems stuck high in the trees show how high the 2024 flood reached (4 m above normal water level).

Pond with Nymphoides peltata and Potamogeton lucens. Meadow with Gladiolus imbricatus.

🧵1/3 Another field trip in search of interesting plants, this time to fishponds and other wetlands in the Odra river basin, north-eastern Czechia. Utricularia australis, Trapa natans and Salvinia natans.

Another paper from our Batrachium team: subtle yet evolutionarily intriguing aquatic plants have arisen in the beautiful postglacial landscapes of the Alps.

4/4 Eventually, shrubs will hold, and the once-flourishing grasslands fade into scrubland. Without active care and disturbance, many of these vibrant species disappear. Thymus praecox, Lactuca viminea, Quercus pubescens.

3/4 But nature keeps moving. Over time, tough grasses begin to dominate and outcompete the gentler species. Rosa gallica, Verbascum lychnitis, Nonea pulla.

2/4 After abandonment, nature reclaims the quarry. This early successional stage bursts with colour and diversity. Open soil, sunlight and few dominant competitors - perfect for many light-demanding and rare plants to thrive. Acinos arvensis, Melampyrum arvense, Asplenium ruta-muraria.

🧵1/4 An abandoned limestone quarry in the Český kras karst area, Czech Republic. Vicia tenuifolia, Sedum album.

Celebrating #TaxonomyRecognitionDay with blooming plants from Průhonice Park and Castle, where @ibotcz.bsky.social‬ is located. We live and work for the understanding of nature and biodiversity.
#nameittosaveit
‪@czechacademy.bsky.social‬
@tettris.eu‬

The head of our Průhonice Botanical Garden and president of the Union of Botanical Gardens Pavel Sekerka explains why taxonomy is important for botanical gardens. @tettris.eu #nameittosaveit

Our colleagues are joining the @tettris.eu, which links institutions across the continent in an effort to raise the profile and promote taxonomy not only in science but also in practical conservation. Lichenologist Jiří Malíček explains why taxonomy is needed ⬇️ #nameittosaveit

Proper taxonomic classification is crucial for many practical fields. It allows, for example, to distinguish between useful and harmful species, but also between edible and poisonous fungi. Don't forget to take photos of your favorite plants and share them with #nameittosaveit! @tettris.eu

Thousands of species of organisms remain undiscovered. Many of them are disappearing from the wild before we can even get to know them. Taxonomy Recognition Day (23rd May) will remind us, why is taxonomy important. What is taxonomy and why is it important? Follow us
@tettris.eu #NameItToSaveIt #avcr

Have you ever wondered how complex the pathways of evolution truly are? In aquatic plants, they are far more intricate than we imagined. The deeper we explore, the more tangled the evolutionary network becomes. #evolution #speciation #hybridization #polyploidy rdcu.be/ei5UQ

Česká botanická společnost otevřela profil na Bluesky a přestala zveřejňovat informace na síti X.
The Czech Botanical Society has opened a profile on Bluesky and discontinued sharing information on X.
bsky.app/profile/bota...

@zdenek-kaplan-ibot.bsky.social

Decline of the most beautiful Czech orchid, and spatial and temporal dynamics of 102 other species in another instalment of the series on the distribution of plants in the Czech Republic.
preslia.cz/doi/preslia.2025.175.html

Winter mood

Vilmo! Kde jsi koupila tenhle kalendář?!!

Narrow-leaved ragwort (Senecio inaequidens) is the plant of the year 2025 in the Czech Republic.
In previous years, the Czech Botanical Society awarded this title to endangered species, but this year, we chose an alien species whose invasion is taking place at breakneck speed right before our eyes.