Ecological Restoration in the Czech Republic
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Ecological restoration in the Czech Republic Editors Ivana Jongepierová, Pavel Pešout, Jan Willem Jongepier & Karel Prach Ecological restoration in the Czech Republic Editors Ivana Jongepierová, Pavel Pešout, Jan Willem Jongepier & Karel Prach Nature Conservation Agency of the Czech Republic Prague 2012 Front cover photograph: — Šumava foothills near Želnava. (Z. Patzelt) Back cover photographs: — Raking hay in Javorůvky NR, Bílé Karpaty PLA. (J.W. Jongepier) — Disturbing sites with Gentianella lutescens, Pod Hribovňou NR, Bílé Karpaty PLA. (I. Jongepierová) — Removing eutrophic soil layers, Váté písky NR, Bzenec. (I. Jongepierová) — Sheep grazing in Central Bohemian Uplands (České středohoří) PLA. (J. Marešová) — Elimination of scrub in Vápenice NR, Velký Kosíř Nature Park. (Archive ZO ČSOP Hořepník) Editors Ivana Jongepierová, Pavel Pešout, Jan Willem Jongepier & Karel Prach Reviewers Ladislav Miko Tomáš Kučera Graphic design David Jongepier Printed by Boma Print, Kyjov *is publication was issued on the occasion of the 8th European Conference on Ecological Restoration held in České Budějovice (Budweis) 9–14 September 2012. Published by Nature Conservation Agency of the Czech Republic, © AOPK ČR ISBN 978-80-87457-31-3 CATALOGUING-IN-PUBLICATION – NATIONAL LIBRARY OF THE CZECH REPUBLIC Ecological restoration in the Czech Republic / editors Ivana Jongepierová ... [et al.]. – Prague : Nature Conservation Agency of the Czech Republic, 2012. – 147 p. : ill. ISBN 978-80-87457-32-0 (pbk.) 502.5+712 * 502.174 * 502.171:574.4/.5 * 502.171:574.2 * (437.3) — landscape assessment – Czechia — restoration ecology – Czechia — ecosystem management – Czechia — habitat protection – Czechia — case studies 363.7 – Environmental protection [2] Contents Foreword . .6 Introduction . .7 Nomenclature, abbreviations and explanatory notes . .8 Restoration ecology and ecological restoration in the Czech Republic . .9 Forests . 11 Introduction . 13 Active restoration and management of forest habitats . 17 Conversion of pine monocultures to mixed deciduous forests in Podyjí National Park . 20 Can ,re and secondary succession assist in the regeneration of forests in a national park? . 24 Restoration of forests damaged by air pollution in the Jizera Mountains . 27 Spontaneous recovery of mountain spruce forests a-er bark beetle attack . 31 Grasslands. 33 Introduction . 35 Experimental restoration and subsequent degradation of an alluvial meadow . 39 Restoration management of wetland meadows in the Podblanicko region . 42 Recreation of species rich grasslands in the Bílé Karpaty Mountains . 45 Grazing of dry grasslands in the Bohemian Karst . 47 Resumption of grazing management on abandoned upland grasslands in the Jizera Mountains . 51 Restoring heterogeneity in submontane meadows for the butter/y Euphydryas aurinia . 53 Optimising management at Gentianella praecox subsp. bohemica sites . 56 Restoration of sands as part of the Action Plan for Dianthus arenarius subsp. bohemicus . 59 Restoration of the alpine tundra ecosystem above the timberline in the Giant Mountains . 61 Wetlands and streams . 65 Introduction . 67 Restoration of the Černý potok stream, Krušné hory Mts. 74 Revitalising e0ects of a near-natural bypass at a migration barrier on the Blanice river . 77 Restoration of drained mires in the Šumava National Park . 80 Restoration of the mined peatbog Soumarský Most . 83 Mining and post-industrial sites . 87 Introduction . 89 Restoration and conservation of sand and gravel-sand pits . 94 Coal mining spoil heaps in the Most region: restoration potential of spontaneous succession . 97 Restoration of spoil heaps by spontaneous succession in the Sokolov coal mining area . 99 Restoration of dry grassland vegetation in the abandoned Hády limestone quarry near Brno . 102 Experimental restoration of species-rich deciduous forest on mining deposits in Mokrá limestone quarry . 104 Experimental acceleration of primary succession on abandoned tailings: role of surface biological crust . 106 Abandoned military areas . .109 Introduction . 111 Disturbance management, a way to preserve species-rich communities in abandoned military areas . 114 Restoring disturbance and open vegetation in the former military training area Na Plachtě . 117 Landscapes . .121 Introduction . 123 Reclamation of rural landscapes at Velké Bílovice . 127 Restoration of the Včelnička stream catchment, Bohemian-Moravian Uplands . 130 Restoration of greenery elements in the Podblanicko region . 134 Restoration of standard orchard at Habrůvka . 136 Restoration of semi-natural vegetation in old ,elds in the Bohemian Karst . 138 Conclusions . 141 List of authors . 142 Nature Conservation Agency of the Czech Republic . 145 Society for Ecological Restoration (SER). Working Group for Restoration Ecology, České Budějovice, Czech Republic . 146 Foreword František Pelc Despite strong e0orts and partly positive results in the ,eld of nature conservation, we have recently witnessed continuing deterioration of the natural environment and decrease in biodiversity on a global as well as a national scale. It is therefore no wonder that rather lively discussions have been going on between conservationists, biologists and other interested parties on ways of securing the protection of the most valuable natural environment, usually concentrated in small fragments, in total covering a few percent of our country’s area. Sometimes this problem has unfortunately been centred around two rivalling visions: the approach of ‘conservation’ management (by some considered obsolete), based on non-intervention and preference of natural processes, on the one hand, and ‘active’ management (o-en considered modern), based on sys- tematic intervention by man. *e dispute about what is more correct has led to endless discussions. I am convinced that most protected areas need some kind of active management. However, there will always be a wide range of options depending on what we want to protect – from preferring absolute protec- tion of natural processes to very speci,c management simulating e.g. abandoned farming methods or preserving selected sites or protected species. Both approaches must be part of an integral concept of modern conservation and restoration of our natural heritage. *ey are mutually complementary and no antipodes. It is important to make clear what to protect and how to achieve this, taking into consideration the natural potential and historical context of a given area. Based on this, a long-term, sustainable strategic decision can be adopted, which must however not unpredictably be changed in the short term. In general it would be desirable to respect the fact that man cannot steer everything in the natural environment, and protected areas are no exception. He does not have su1cient knowledge or means. A-er all, it is just a small step from here to the misused noosphere concept by Russian philosopher Vernadský. On the other hand, man has in/uenced the environment and environmental processes in such a way that many natural phenomena cannot be protected or rehabilitated anymore without his intervention. *e present publication is a representative display of restoration management case studies realised in various environments such as forests, wetlands, grasslands as well as speci,c sites damaged or created by mining or other activities. It should also contribute to the so desirable integra- tion of views by scientists, conservationists, foresters, farmers, ,shermen and other interested parties, and their application. As such it should become the starting point of a more e0ective use of scienti,c knowledge to preserve our nature and protect our landscape better. Although the case studies mainly deal with so-called active management, I hope their overall impression will contribute to creating a state in which the management of protected areas and natural habitats will not be divided into ‘conservational’ and ‘active’, but rather be judged as good or bad. František Pelc, Director Nature Conservation Agency of the Czech Republic 6 Introduction *e Czech Republic, a country in central Europe, used to consist of a , ne-scale mosaic of natural, semi-natural and anthropogenous ecosystems. However, this mosaic has been substantially disturbed in the second half of the 20th century under the communist regime. Many ecosystems were disturbed, degraded or destroyed. *e traditional nature conservation approach in the Czech Republic was, similarly to other countries, strictly protecting well-preserved ecosystems. Only in the past three decades, more active approaches utilising methods of ecological restoration have been adopted. *ese are ap- plied to both existing ecosystems, such as meadows, and newly developing ones, for example sites disturbed by mining or developed on former arable land. Recently, also some attempts have been made to.