Tephroseris longifolia subsp. moravica is an endemic endangered taxon of European importance. Within the nine recently known populations it occurs in very specific site conditions of ecotone habitats. In our contribution, we try to quantify its realized niche with regard to the measured components of its biotic and abiotic environment. The main aim was to assess the importance of spatial environmental variation on taxon occurrence and performance and to relate the obtained ecological information to data on taxon abundance and demography. Possible reasons of taxon rarity are discussed, too. Comparison of plot pairs indicated that plots containing the taxon had deeper soil and higher soil Na and Mg contents than plots without it. They also contained higher number of species, especially forbs. Several soil parameters were positively correlated with taxon size and density while light parameters played minor role. Negative correlations between cover of vascular plants, especially grasses and taxon size and density suggest its reduced competitive ability. Vascular plant-based ecological indicator values were set for light (6), temperature (5), continentality (4), moisture (5), soil reaction (7) and nutrients (5). The studied sites differed in topography, soil characteristics (pH, soil Na, K, Ca, P and NH4) and cover of herb litter. Size of taxon populations was negatively related to their finite rate of increase which varied between 1.25 and 2.04 and was most sensitive to demographic parameters related to growth. We conclude, that the studied taxon is not strictly stenotopic as the ranges of several environmental variables were rather wide. We suppose, that the narrow limits of recent taxon occurrence are consequences of its low competitive ability and demographic processes related to germination and seedling establishment. The differing requirements of its ontogenetic stages (seedlings and generative individuals) may define the final limits of its small-scale distribution.
Background and Purpose:The field of innovation represents for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) a fundamental challenge. If the number of innovative SMEs is to rise, it is necessary to identify key factors determining their innovation activity and eliminate the innovation barriers. The main purpose of the paper is to present the results of primary research focused on identification (evaluation) of key factors and barriers determining innovation activities in Slovak SMEs. The division of SMEs into three groups of enterprises: innovation leaders, modest innovators and non-innovators enables to identify the differences in managers´ perception of the main factors and barriers determining innovation activities in various types of SMEs and to formulate policy implications for Slovak SMEs. Design/Methodology/Approach: Results of the empirical research were processed using MS Excel and the statistical analysis of the data in R3.2.4. statistical system was done. For statistical tests we assumed significance level (α = 0.1). Results: Evaluating the importance of the key factors a majority of enterprises (64.71%) indicated financial resources as the most important factor for the innovations. There is no statistically significant difference in individual (analysed) factors between innovation leaders, non-innovators and innovation followers (modest innovators). The results gained from Fisher exact test (p-value = 0.11) indicated a small difference in evaluating the significance of individual barriers between innovation leaders, non-innovators and modest innovators. Majority of enterprises also see as the main barriers to develop innovation activities bureaucracy and corruption and inappropriate state support of innovation activities. Conclusion:The main implications (conclusion) coming from the research are basic recommendations for state policy makers as well as SME´s managers to foster innovation activities in enterprises. They refer to the areas of financial resources, high-quality human resources, cooperation and participation of SMEs in different networks and clusters, systematic institutional support to SMEs, well-created vision and clearly formulated aims, and willingness of enterprises to innovate. Recommendations are summarised following the results of factor´s and barrier´s evaluation.
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