Research, Surveys and Data Management

The International Union of Speleology (UIS) has declared 2021 as the International Year of Caves and Karst (IYCK). Unique phenomena in our landscape have therewith received deserved attention. Of more than 2,460 karst caves in the Czech Republic, 14 are show caves. All of them are fully legally protected according to national law and in addition, most of them are also protected as important bat hibernation sites (hibernacula) at the European level pursuant to the European Union’s legislation, namely the Habitats Directive. An important pillar of nature conservation is regular monitoring of Specially Protected animal species, and this also is the case in caves.

Invasive alien species (IAS), together with natural ecosystem fragmentation, degradation, destruction and loss, growing natural-resource consumption, environmental pollution and climate change, are among the main negative factors threatening native species and the biodiversity of native ecosystems. In addition, they can cause high economic damage/financial costs or adversely affect human health. Due to the ability of IAS to spread, an isolated approach to their management at the level of individual regions or countries is usually not effective; we need a targeted and tailored strategy that transcends national borders. Therefore, Regulation (EU) No 1143/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the prevention and management of the introduction and spread of invasive alien species was adopted in the European Union, which was transposed into the Czech Republic’s legal order by amending Act No. 114/1992 Gazette on Nature Conservation and Landscape Protection, and other laws related to the issue, entering into force January 1, 2022.

The agri-environmental-climate measures (AECM) announced by the Ministry of Agriculture of the Czech Republic are intended to support management methods mitigating the negative effects of intensive farming on the landscape and its inhabitants, including insects. Despite their productive nature, permanent grasslands are an important landscape component hosting a wide range of invertebrates. The right balance of production practices and compensatory measures can make a significant contribution to maintaining the diversity of grassland organisms and the ecosystem services they provide. The Nature Conservation Agency of the Czech Republic (NCA CR) has therefore commissioned a study on the effects of temporarily unmown grass strips on the diversity and abundance of meadow organisms. The aim of the study was to verify whether the retained parts of grass stands have a positive effect on the biota on common managed meadows of various sizes.

Yes, this is possible. Although computer modelling will not save the Black grouse, its outputs can significantly help in planning various practical measures in the field, regulating tourists at high-risk sites, and educating visitors. Habitat modelling, which uses the possibilities of geo-information technologies, remote sensing data, and advanced spatial analysis methods (e.g. Hirzel & le lay 2008, ElitH & leatHwick 2009), is applied significantly in the study of ecological requirements of (not only) animal species. These methods, technologies, and data allow extensive analyses of the relationships between the occurrence of species of interest and relevant environmental factors (e.g. Franklin 2010, Guisan et al. 2017). A common approach is to model the current or potential occurrence of species (e.g. tHuiller et al. 2004, Hirzel et al. 2006, Basille et al. 2008); the aim is to determine the landscape potential for their perma- nent or temporary occurrence and to evaluate the significance of individual environmental factors for their spatial expansion. Thus, habitat modelling is currently one of the most widely used approaches in conservation biology (e.g. Huck et al. 2010, Basille et al. 2013, Guisan et al. 2013).

Data show that, in the 1990s, 28.4% of the total length of the Czech Republic’s watercourses were unfavourably modified, which is tens of thousands of kilometres of the river network. According to the current National Biodiversity Strategy of the Czech Republic, the country’s current optimistic targets are at least 300 km of restored watercourses for the 2016–2025 period. The status of watercourses and related floodplains has therefore not seen any significant improvement since the 1990s. Compared with biological and physical/chemical quality elements, monitoring and enhancement of the morphological status of the country’s watercourses has enjoyed a less significant position in the long term. However, apart from the “aesthetical” point of view, its improvement is also of unquestionable importance in terms of water retention in the landscape, flood protection, and drought management. It is therefore a topical issue in society.

Particularly in farmland, there are consequences of erosion and soil transportation into watercourses and further to fishponds and water reservoirs. How to correctly assess the current state of a river basin/catchment areas and of a reservoir and to identify the sources of pollution? Therefore, for proposing appropriate conservation measures both in the landscape and directly on watercourses, mathematical modelling can be successfully combined with Geographic Information Systems (GIS), remote sensing and photogrammetry.
When surveying a site, archive data of aerial photography it is a good resource, and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) or drones are useful, both for making overview images and for photogrammetric processing of a ortophotomaps, or of a detailed surface model

The so-called ‘Eight’ year (2018) was significant not only for several anniversaries in Czech statehood (1918, 1938, 1948, 1968), but also for nature protection. The foundation of our oldest forest reserves, Žofín Forest (1838) and Boubín Forest (1858), was commemorated by the Year of Czech Primeval Forests.¹ The anniversary of the founding of the first national professional state institution for nature conservation in 1958 remained somewhat in their shadow. After 1989, the overall preparedness of nature conservation institutions helped to enforce rapid changes in the environment and to establish modern legislation and nature conservation management in the Czech Republic.

Alpine bells (Cortusa matthioli subsp. moravica Soják) is undoubtedly one of the most famous plants of the Moravian Karst, even though very few people have ever seen it. This is because it grows in the Macocha Abyss, high on the vertical rock walls. Access to the habitat is very difficult and only possible with the help of ropes and for physically fit people with the necessary experience. Previously, part of the Alpine bells population also occurred on the debris cone at the bottom of the Abyss, from where it was first described. However, only three specimens now survive here.

The west-east oriented main ridge of the Jeseníky Mountains is an important migration barrier for flying animals. The remarkable col of the Červenohorské sedlo mountain pass, visible from afar, allows them to cross this barrier with less effort than if they flew over the Jeseníky ridges, and it is no wonder that especially during the autumn migration a huge number of birds, bats and various groups of migratory insects are funnelled into the relatively narrow corridor of the saddle. Since 2010, this site has been used for monitoring of migratory birds, to which the monitoring of the passage of bats and selected groups of migratory insects has been added in recent years. Especially in connection with bird migration, this is currently the largest research project in the Czech Republic and is the only locality where birds can be observed under appropriate conditions during both daytime and night-time migrations.