The Journal is published by the Nature Conservation Agency of the Czech Republic in cooperation with the Cave Administration of the Czech Republic, the Krkonoše Mts. National Park Administration, the Bohemian Forest Mts. National Park Administration, the Podyjí National Park Administration and the The Bohemian Switzerland National Park Administration. It has been published since 1946.
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Nature Conservation 3/2012 — 17. 10. 2012 — Nature and Landscape Management — Print article in pdf
Vojar J., Doležalová J. & Solský M.: Brown Coal Spoil Banks – A New Opportunity (not only) for Amphi
– nová příležitost (nejen) pro obojživelníky
Despite the ecological value of unreclaimed post-mining areas, in the Czech Republic, however, rigorous technical reclamation still prevails.
Such approach usually leads to a more uniform environment and destroys the habitat diversity and heterogeneity at successional sites, including the variety of water bodies that are crucial habitats for many aquatic and semiaquatic species including amphibians. The root of the ecological importance of spontaneously developed post-mining areas should be sought in the specific habitat arising there – early successional sites, open forests, forest steppes and variety of oligotrophic ponds without intensive fish management. When comparing water environment on reclaimed and unreclaimed post-mining sites from an “amphibian point of view”, the authors found that the proportion of water area and number of ponds were significantly higher on successional sections than on reclaimed sections of spoil banks. In successiona areas, they also found a higher proportion of smaller shallow ponds, with gentle shore slopes, partial insolation of water surface, partial vegetation cover and more numerous amphibian populations. The authors conclude that primary succession leads to more preferable habitats not only for amphibians than technical reclamation does. Thus, successional post-mining sites provide a great challenge for nature conservation and primary succession should be considered as an equal type of post-mining site restoration.