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 1/2011 — 11. 4. 2011 — Research, Surveys and Data Management — Print article in pdf
The Menetries Ground Beetle – A Jewel of Peat Bogs in the Czech Republic
The Menetries Ground Beetle (Carabus menetriesi) is a critically endangered member of the ground beetle (Carabidae) family. Pursuant to Directive No. 92/43/EEC on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora (Habitats Directive), it is the priority species to be protected in the European Union. At the same time, the insect species is included into the Czech Republics Red List of Threatened Species.
In the Czech Republic, the Bohemian Menetries Ground Beetle (C. m. pacholei) occurs mainly in the Šumava/Bohemian Forest Mts. peat bogs, rarely in the Slavkovský les/Slavkov Forest Mts., Novohradské hory Mts. and Krušné hory/Ore Mts. Multi-year monitoring in the Krušné hory/Ore Mts. and Šumava/Bohemian Forest Mts. has revealed that the species significantly prefers peat open/treeless area with the predominating Peat Moss (Sphagnumspp.). The Menetries Ground Beetle has been threatened by many factors often acting synergistically: air pollution causing substantial changes in peat-bog chemical patterns, peat-bog loss (ameliorations, drainage), continual overgrowing of peat bogs by forest, which is often caused by ameliorations carried out in the vicinity and by consequent changes in water conditions. In the Czech Republic, management at the sites being overgrown by forest aims at blocking the succession by cutting tree species and at building small dams on drainage channels in previously drained peat bogs. It also is necessary to maintain connectivity among near peat bogs inhabited by the Menetries Ground Beetle.