Historical gardens established around manors form an integral part of the European cultural landscape. Recent studies have revealed that manor gardens may serve as local hotspots of biodiversity and ...provide cultural ecosystem services within urban areas but also in rural landscapes. As a consequence of dramatic land-use changes in recent centuries, followed by a significant loss and degradation of natural habitats, manor gardens often serve as refugia for organisms within the cultural landscape. To compare the proportion of natural habitats in manor gardens with the surrounding landscape, intensively used and semi-natural landscapes were distinguished within a grid using Coordinated Information on the Environment (CORINE) land cover data for the Czech Republic. One hundred manor gardens were randomly selected, followed by a grid overlay of data from the Natura 2000 mapping system. Proportions of natural habitats were calculated for each garden in relation to the surrounding landscape. The results confirmed that manor gardens, compared with the surrounding landscape, play an important role in the conservation of natural habitats, especially in areas with a high level of human impact. For the gardens studied, occurrences of the following natural habitat types from the Natura 2000 system were recorded: forests (25.4 % of the garden area), secondary grasslands (4.4 %), streams and water bodies (1.6 %) and wetlands and riverine vegetation (0.5 %). The proportion of natural habitats within the gardens compared to the surrounding areas was significantly higher in the majority of cases.
The vegetation of low-altitude dry heathlands in Central Europe (Euphorbio cyparissiae-Callunion vulgaris) has declined because the abandonment of traditional management has resulted in gradual ...overgrowth by woody species and because nutrient inputs have changed. Low-intensity grazing and sod-cutting, which are traditionally recommended to regenerate heather (Calluna vulgaris) vegetation from the seed bank, were introduced to restore stands of heather that had disappeared. The study was conducted in the Zlatnice Nature Reserve, located in the northwestern part of Prague (Czech Republic). A system of 1 m2 permanent plots was used to collect the data. Both grazing and sod-cutting were effective for the restoration of the Calluna vulgaris vegetation. During the two years after the introduction of grazing, the greatest increase in the heather cover occurred in the grazed areas. The heather cover in the areas managed by sod-cutting started to increase significantly in the third year following the removal of sods and reached values comparable with the grazed areas. Regular grazing hindered the increase in the cover of herbs; the increase in the herb cover was higher after single sodcutting. Sod-cutting facilitated the expansion of mosses. The experiment suggests that non-intensive sheep and goat grazing is most likely the most appropriate tool to restore dry heathland on shallow poor soils when more than 20 years have elapsed since the disappearance of the heathland. The use of sod-cutting itself is more demanding and brings a higher risk of overgrowth by unwanted herbs and woody species, resulting in repeated degradation of the Calluna vulgaris vegetation.
Vegetacija nižinskih suhih vresav v srednji Evropi (Euphorbio cyparissiae-Callunion vulgaris) je v upadanju zaradi opuščanja tradicionalnega gospodarjenja in to se kaže v postopnem zaraščanju z lesnatimi rastlinami in spremenjenem vnosu hranil. Za obnovitev sestojev z vreso, ki so izginili, smo uporabili pašo z nizko intenzivnostjo in košnjo, ki sta tradicionalno priporočena načina za obnavljanje vegetacije z vreso (Calluna vulgaris) iz semenske banke. Raziskavo smo opravili v naravnem rezervatu Zlatnice, ki se nahaja v severozahodnem delu Prage (Češka republika). Vzpostavili smo sistem stalnih 1 m2 ploskev. Za obnovitev vegetacije z vrsto Calluna vulgaris sta bila uspešna tako paša kot košnja. Pokrovnost vrese se je povečala dve leti po začetku poskusa s pašo, na površinah s košnjo pa se je značilno povečala tretje leto in vrednosti so bile primerljive s pašenimi površinami. Redna paša je ovirala povečanje pokrovnosti zelišč, medtem ko se je njihova pokrovnost povečala po posamezni košnji. Košnja je tudi vplivala na povečanje pokrovnosti mahov. Poizkus je pokazal, da je slabo intenzivna paša ovac in koz verjetno najbolj primeren način obnove suhih vresav na plitvih, s hranili revnih tleh, po več kot 20 let od uničenja vresave. Košnja je bolj zahtevna, pojavlja pa se tudi možnost razraščanja nezaželjenih zelišč in lesnatih rastlin, kar zopet vodi v degradacijo vegetacije z vrsto Calluna vulgaris.
Landscapes intensively farmed over a long time period represent a threat for natural habitats and high levels of biodiversity. Information on the historical land use and spatial changes of natural ...habitats can help to explain the causes of a number of contemporary phenomena, which are important for the development of effective conservation and ecosystem management. This case study from the Czech Republic shows that archival written sources describing landscape quality, including vegetation cover, allow the reclassification of old maps to the level of natural habitat categories (sensu Natura 2000), with the aim of analyzing historic changes in land cover. Significant natural habitat decreases began by the middle of the 19th century. Over the course of 250 years, this area of formerly widespread natural wet meadows has declined by 99 %. An area of water vegetation was reduced by 95 %, willow carrs by 98 %, and a mosaic of willow carrs, wet Cirsium meadow, and alder carrs has decreased by 100 %. These decreases were caused by the conversion of meadows, pastures, and ponds into arable lands. Areas of oak-hornbeam forest, acidophilous oak forest, and thermophilous oak forest were primarily converted into monocultures of coniferous trees. Similarly, the areas with alluvial forests decreased. We conclude that old maps and other archive materials, despite their coarse accuracy, can serve as useful tools for disclosing natural habitat changes and their causes, providing a foundation for formulating biodiversity conservation strategies.
After abandonment, dry grassland (Festuco-Brometea) areas decline due to gradual overgrowing by woody species and the expansion of perennial tall grass species. Dry grassland vegetation was formed by ...extensive livestock grazing, thus grazing is considered one of the most natural methods for managing this type of vegetation. Six years after introducing low-intensity sheep and goat grazing in seven nature reserves in Prague (Czech Republic), the following impact of this management on dry grassland vegetation was observed: The cover of expansive woody species, particularly Ligustrum vulgare, and to a smaller extent Cornus sanguinea and Prunus spinosa declined. In addition, a significant, long-term declining trend of the expansive species Arrhenatherum elatius was also observed. Also the cover of Pimpinella saxifraga and Allium senescens declined significantly with regard to statistical evaluation. On the contrary, the cover of Achillea millefolium, Centaurea stoebe, Securigera varia, Elytrigia repens, Erysimum crepidifolium, Falcaria vulgaris, Fallopia convolvulus and Verbascum lychnitis increased. The cover of species characteristic of dry grasslands (Festuco-Brometea) increased significantly. No changes were observed in the number and cover of the Red List species. In addition, the presence of nitrophilous and ruderal species increased. Species diversity also significantly increased. From our findings we can conclude that managing dry grasslands with low-intensity grazing can help to keep dry grassland vegetation in good condition and conserve its plant diversity.
River ports represent a special type of urbanized area. They are considered to be an important driver of biological invasion and biotic homogenization on a global scale, but it remains unclear how ...and to what degree they serve as a pool of alien species. Data for 54 river ports (16 German, 20 Czech, 7 Hungarian, 3 Slovak, and 8 Austrian ports) on two important Central European waterways (the Elbe-Vltava and Danube waterways) were collected over 40 years. In total, 1056 plant species were found. Of these, 433 were alien, representing 41% of the total number of species found in all the studied Elbe, Vltava, and Danube ports. During comparison of floristic data from literary sources significant differences in the percentage of alien species in ports (50%) and cities (38%) were found. The number of alien species was closely related to port size, but the proportion of alien species expressed as a percentage of the total number of species did not depend significantly on port area. The proportion of alien species in both studied waterways decreased with distance from the sea and was highest in the Hungarian ports and lowest in the Czech Republic, Austria and Bavaria. Lower levels of shipping towards inland regions due to decreased river flow are likely the reason for this trend. The dissimilarity in the species composition of alien and native flora between individual river ports increased with increasing inter-port distance. Neophytes presented a stronger distance decay pattern than did either native species or archaeophytes of the Danube inland ports, potentially due to the different cargoes of individual ports, which may affect the introduction of different neophytes from different geographic areas. The results show that river ports in Central Europe should be regarded as a type of industrial area and deserve full attention with regard to the distribution and spread of alien plants.
Riparian zones provide many ecosystem services and are a frequently found type of green area in urban ecosystems; these areas increase the aesthetic value of urban landscapes. The aim of this 17-year ...study was to assess the applicability of passive vegetation restoration of the gravel/sand bars that emerged after a devastating flood along the river in the city of Prague. The number of species and the sum of their coverages rapidly increased for the initial six years. After the twelfth year, the vegetation composition gradually began to stabilize. Species diversity increased for seven years after the beginning of the succession and then remained essentially unchanged. The diversity values were lower on finer substrates with higher proportions of dust and clay particles. The neophytes, i.e. species introduced after the year 1500, established with more successful on substrates with greater soil skeleton proportions. Finer substrates were preferred by graminoids; among them, the invasive
Arrhenatherum elatius
was the most abundant. The share of invasive species in the total vegetation cover initially fluctuated at approximately 40%; after eight years, it stabilized at approximately 10%. The proportion of naturalized alien species stabilized within the range of 20–30%.
The results show that a new type of species-rich vegetation spontaneously emerged on gravel/sand bars. The vegetation consisted mainly of native and naturalized non-invasive alien species. However, attention needs to be given to potential alien plant invasions.
Manor landscape gardens provide many ecosystem services and are often local harbors of natural habitats and serve as a species pool in intensively managed landscapes. The aim of this study was to ...examine how valuable natural habitats are distributed within landscape gardens. The distribution and quality of 19 types of natural habitats (sensu NATURA 2000) were studied in 26 large manor landscape gardens in the Czech Republic based on a GIS analysis of natural habitat data. Natural habitats are generally more abundant in peripheral sections of gardens; however, this scenario does not apply to all types of natural habitats equally. Forests are in general more abundant in peripheral sections. The abundance of various kinds of secondary seminatural grasslands is mostly not related to distance from a manor. Large areas of wetlands, riverine vegetation and macrophyte vegetation of streams near manors and, in contrast, the large abundance of macrophyte vegetation of still waters in the peripheral sections of gardens are probably distributed due to intentional design. The quality of natural habitats increases with increasing distance from a manor. However, the quality of some forests, secondary grasslands, aquatic and wetland vegetation deteriorates as the distance from manor buildings increase. The sustainable design and management of landscape gardens have resulted in the conservation of natural habitats, which have enhanced the aesthetic value of the gardens and markedly support biodiversity.
•Low to moderate genetic differentiation in Larix decidua was observed across its native distribution area.•More significant genetic differences were proven within Alpine larch than in Carpathian ...larch.•Three different conservation units were delineated in the Alps and one in the Carpathians.
Conservation of the intraspecific genetic diversity of trees is crucial for long-term forest sustainability, especially in the expected scenario of climate change. Larix decidua is an excellent example of a very common species for which better knowledge of the population genetic structure is needed. The aim of this study was to examine the molecular genetic variability of L. decidua in the Alps and Western Carpathians with adjacent areas using simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. Low to moderate levels of genetic differentiation were observed among the study populations across the native distribution area of L. decidua. Based on AMOVA and PCoA, we revealed a significant correlation between genetic and geographical distances in the whole dataset. The group of analysed populations of Carpathian larch from Eastern Poland, the area of the Jeseníky Mountains in the Czech Republic and the Tatra Region in Slovakia is relatively homogenous with regard to genetics. The FST values between these populations did not exceed 0.05, indicating low genetic differentiation. In addition, the population from the Eastern Alps could be assigned to this group. A certain level of relationship to Carpathian populations was also observed in the populations from the Northern Alps. In contrast, more significant genetic differences were proven between the individual regions within the analysed populations of Alpine larch from the Southern Alps, including the Maritime Alps, Central Alps, and north-eastern and eastern borders of the Alps. The FST values between the individual populations from different Alpine regions indicated, in most cases, a medium genetic divergence (0.025–0.112).
Further research is needed to obtain more detailed information about the genetic variability of local native populations of L. decidua and their geographical determination, especially in the area of the Alps.
Dry grasslands are one of the most species rich and endangered types of vegetation in Europe. In the Czech Republic, dry grasslands are mainly of anthropogenic origin and were formed as a result of ...grazing after the clear-cutting of thermophilous oak woods. Gradual changes in the farming landscape throughout the 20th century, particularly in the 1960s, resulted in the abandonment of the relatively infertile habitats of dry grasslands. After abandonment, dry grasslands decline and degrade due to the gradual overgrowth of woody species and expansion of perennial tall grasses. In the year 2000, a grazing management program was introduced in the protected areas within the territory of Prague City to maintain the species diversity of dry grasslands. The responses of the expansive grass species,
Arrhenatherum elatius
L. and multiple woody species (especially,
Prunus spinosa
L.) to differences in grazing periods were monitored for over a decade
.
Grazing in spring through the end of June had the greatest impact on the reduction of
A. elatius
and woody species. Grazing in the height of summer through autumn did not reduce the cover of these plants, and may support the prosperity of both
A. elatius
and the woody species due to higher levels of nutrients.
Krajina České republiky v současnosti čelí nebezpečí sucha, které je způsobeno mnoha faktory. Mezi ně patří změny krajiny a krajinného pokryvu. V článku jsou sledovány změny vodních a mokřadních ...ploch a délky vodních toků na podkladě starých vojenských mapování a současného stavu. Vodní a mokřadní plochy v nížinách zásadně ubyly a krajina byla vysušována s cílem zvýšit zemědělskou a lesnickou produkci. Zatímco na konci 18. století vodní a mokřadní plochy zaujímaly skoro třetinu sledovaného území Novodvorska a Žehušicka ve středních Čechách, v současnosti je to jen 3,5 %. V každé ze sledovaných period ubylo přibližně 10 % jejich rozlohy, významný úbytek těchto ploch v krajině tak nastal již v 19. století. Vodní a mokřadní plochy byly změněny převážně na ornou půdu. Délka vodních toků poklesla zejména v průběhu 19. století. Současná data ukazují nárůst jejich délky, který je ale způsoben budováním zavodňovacích a odvodňovacích kanálů, jejichž délka je také započítána do celkové délky vodních toků, byť nejsou celoročně protékány vodou.
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