Ochrana přírody 4/2023 — 24. 8. 2023 — Summary
Summary 42023
Šimečková B.: The Hranice Abyss and Depth Records
The Hranice Abyss is located near the town of Hranice (Central Moravia) within the Hůrka u Hranic National Nature Reserve established in 1952. It is a light hole and its open mouth is located at 315 meters a.s.l. with proportions of 104 x 34 meters and the depth of 69.5 meters. Lower spaces flooded by acidulous carbon dioxide mineral water display 15 – 22° degrees Celsius. The bottom of the Hranice Abyss has not been reached yet: the maximum depth measured has been 450 meter under the surface (2022). The abyss´ extreme depth is caused by the hydrothermal genesis, i.e. by a karst process shaping spaces bottom-up. It is the deepest abyss in the Czech Republic and it has also been the deepest flooded abyss in the world since 2016. The most recent climbing down made by ROV UNEXMIN GeoRobotic machine on 1 August, 2022 resulted, in addition to the depth record, in other ground-breaking outputs. Thanks to three built-in sonars it was for the first time exactly possible to show proportions, shapes and space orientation of the flooded space. Thus, the total depth of the abyss has reached 519 meters.
Hadincová V., Čížková Š., Volfová E. & Čuda J.: Will the Strapwort Survive in the Czech Republic the Year 2050?
The Strapwort (Corrigiola litoralis) is a specially protected, critically endangered species in the Czech Republic growing at the periodically emerging Elbe River sediments. The species has been disappearing from the landscape since the 19th century. The loss of the localities is due to construction of different barriers in the watercourse and consolidation of the riverbanks. Unless the rate of localities loss is stopped, the species would disappear from the landscape completely in the future. Although several studies on alluvial vegetation and strapwort´s fate have been in recent years done, we still miss ones on the species´ specific habitat requirements. That is why the authors carried out a survey of some localities and processed several experiments. They found how the species can survive unfavourable conditions, in which habitat it grows best and which species and under what conditions can threaten its survival.
Štěpánek P.: Saving the Crucian Carp
Older anglers or children playing in water in flooded quarries and forest pools can remember a smaller fish resembling the Common carp (Cyprinus carpio). It was common and numerous, anglers used its dwarf morph as a hookbait in angling predatory fish. Moreover, the Crucian carp (Carassius carassius) has been rapidly disappearing from the wild in the Czech Republic. The main drivers of the decline include loss of smaller waterbodies, forest pools or oxbow lakes where the species was among the prominent fishes. It was pushed out from most of the commercial fishponds by the Common carp keeping there. Another disaster for the Crucian carp was an introduction of its eastern relative, the Prussian carp (Carassius gibelio) in the 2nd half of the 20th century, which can totally replace the native species. The Prague Zoological Garden in collaboration with Prague anglers from the Czech Anglers Union, Biology Centre of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic České Budějovice/Budweis and Plzeň/Pilsen Zoological Garden have developed an action plan to save the remarkable fish. For the Crucian carp´s recovery in the Czech Republic, particularly restoration of its preferred traditional habitats is needed. These include oxbow lakes and tools along rivers and in forests, wetlands following up on fishponds and other artificial waterbodies, but also flooded drains, old raceways, flooded quarries and other flooded underground workings. Fishermen can help by increasing species richness in commercial fishpond stocks and communication with, education of and raising awareness among the general public are also crucial.
Brus J.: Mosquito Management in the Litovelské Pomoraví/Litovel Morava River Basin Protected Landscape Area
Wetlands are among the most important and at the same time also globally the most threatened ecosystems. They contribute to the natural water cycle, retain water in the landscape, positively influence the climate by great evaporation, capture redundant carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and provide many specially protected and significant fish, bird and invertebrate species with suitable habitats. They protect the landscape against floods and last, but not least, are important biodiversity hotspots. The Litovelské Pomoraví/Litovel Morava River Basin Protected Landscape Area (Central Moravia) with naturally meandering Morava River was declared as Wetland of International Importance/Ramsar Site under the Ramsar Convention. Numerous mosquito populations are an integral part of the PLA´s floodplain forests there. Due to a lot of municipalities and inhabitants living in the PLA´s vicinity there are mosquito plagues treated by necessary sanitary and hygienic measures. Therefore, there is a pressure to apply uniformly insecticides against mosquito larvae. Vectobac is among the most often applied ones: it contain bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis (Bti) causing 90 to 100% mortality in larvae of the targeted organisms while direct impacts on other water and terrestrial organisms are generally limited or none. Nevertheless, it is necessary to precisely dose the substance taking into account water parameters and the specificities of the given area. The MOSPREMA project will newly help to identify sites with high accumulation of mosquito larvae and to decide whether applying the insecticide in pools is needed due to risk of the mosquito plague. Information gathered by monitoring is immediately after measurements having been taken in the field recorded on a server and consequently visualized as a map application. The data obtained will help, together with those on real emergence of larvae, distribution and density in mosquito eggs, to develop a model predicting the mosquito population dynamics. Thus, the targeted interventions against mosquitos allow minimizing the adverse effects.
Just T.: Hydromorphological Activities of Eurasian Beavers in Žichlínek Flood Water Reservoir and Their Assessment Using Costs of Usual Measures Standards
In 2006 – 2008 the Žichlínek Dry Flood Water Reservoir near the town of Náchod (East Bohemia) was built financed from the Morava River Basin Management Authority, State Enterprise. It is the biggest premise of this type in the Czech Republic, which should significantly contribute to flood control in basins of the Moravská Sázava/Moravian Sazava and Morava Rivers. The water reservoir was created by partitioning the Moravská Sázava/Moravian Sazava River by a ground dyke reaching the length of 1.6 kilometre and the height of 7.6 meters above the terrain. The submerged area covers 166 hectares. As early as in 2009, the Nature Conservation Agency of the Czech Republic (NCA CR) staff (Moravec, Just) had found in the Žichlínek Flood Water Reservoir first browsings of willows caused by the Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber). Later, the Lukovický potok/Luková Brook watercourse was dammed by a beaver dam with a crest reaching the adjacent terrain level: water level was swelling there. Spilling the brook water particularly on the right-sided floodplain created extensive marshes and naturally authentic lateral watercourse beds begun to be formed there. Due to beavers´ activities in the Žichlínek Flood Water Reservoir, water conditions in the submerged area have been significantly enhanced. Using the Costs of Usual measures Standards applied in the environmental protection sector in the Czech Republic, restoration outputs made by beavers should be estimated at CZK 11.34 million (EUR 467,000). Therefore, assessing beavers´ activities can be a useful tool in similar cases.
Jaška P., Vorel A., Šrutová J. & Hulva P.: On the Origin of Czech Wolves Using the Slavkovský les/Slavkov Foest Mts. As an Example
The Grey wolf (Canis lupus) occurrence has been reported from Slavkovský les/Slavkov Forest Mts. (West Bohemia) over the past few years. In the late summer 2022 information on presence of a pack emerged more often: the occurrence was confirmed by the Nature Conservation Agency of the Czech Republic (NCA CR) staff in Late September/early October 2022 thanks to camera traps and various signs (Jaška et al. 2022). The wolves´ arrival there raises just as somewhere else various emotions across nature conservationists, foresters, gamekeepers/hunters as well as the general public. Despite huge efforts of scientists and nature conservationists to explain all aspects in wolf´s bionomics and expansion of the large carnivore in Central Europe mistaken ideas have been lasting out which can result in useless conflicts. The fact can be illustrated by an often mentioned mistake that wolves are released into the wild by conservationists. The article contributes to recognizing the origin of wolves inhabiting the Czech Republic using the Slavkovský les/Slavkov Forest Mts., an area with rich gamekeeping tradition and of extraordinarily importance for nature conservation and landscape protection being as an example. Since October 2022, wolves from the Slavkovský les/Slavkov Forest Mts. have been intensively monitored by the NCA CR staff, namely that of the Slavkovský les/Slavkov Forest Mts. Protected Landscape Area Administration, in collaboration with the Czech University of Life Sciences Prague and Charles University Prague. Research provides evidence that the arrival of wolves in the Slavkovský les/Slavkov Forest Mts. is another step in Grey wolf´s spontaneous expansion across European countries including the Czech Republic after introducing its strict protection not only in the countries with source populations. Long-term existence of wolves in the Slavkovský les/Slavkov Forest Mts. and in Central Europe as a whole will depend on interactions among the wolf population as well as on interest of livestock farmers, gamekeepers and the general public.
Hromas J.: A Remarkable Discovery (Not Only) For the Na Špičáku Cave
The oldest written notes on caves in the Czech Republic´s territory are shrouded in many mysteries. Moreover, the first trustworthy text deals with the Na Špičáku Cave (northern Moravia). It comes from one of many so-called Old Italian books, i.e. manuscripts intended for medieval prospectors seeking for sources of precious metals and minerals. The report is a part of one of the oldest Italian books called Wegweiser zu den Bergwerken in der Oberlausitz und in Schlesien (Guidepost to mines in Upper Lusatia and Silesia) supposedly written by some Antonius (Anton) Wale as early as in 1430: the manuscript had been kept as a part of bigger volume (convolute) in the Wroclav/Breslau Municipal Library under call number R454 until the World War II. After the war, the manuscript was put on a list of war losses: thus, only younger transcripts have been available. Moreover, Otto Štemberk and Pavel Zahradník, researchers from the town of Trutnov, discovered with a help from Ms Regina Cermann (Vienna) the lost original manuscript in the Berlin State Library in 2021. The Italian manuscript´s author Antonius Wale was born in 1395 and he was dealing with trade in Central and Eastern Europe for forty years, particularly in Wroclaw/Breslau and Krakow/Cracow, where he became, inter alia, an important entrepreneur in mining, namely salt one. The discovery of the lost Old Italian books provides an extraordinary contribution to knowledge of the oldest history of human settlement in the Lužické hory/Lusatian Mts., Jizerské hory/Jizera Mts., Krkonoše/Giant Mts. and Jeseníky Mts. including the Polish foothills and to revealing their mineral resources by first prospectors.
Zajíček P.: On Boats from the Macocha/Stepmother Abyss bottom through the Punkva Caves
The Punkva Caves discovered in 1909 are among the most attractive tourist destinations in Europe. In 1914, a bottom of the Macocha/Stepmother Abyss had become available for tourists as a part of the visitor path there and seven year later, new parts of the caves passed by a subterranean river in direction to the abyss were discovered there. Only in 1933, after pumping out the Zlý sifon/Bad Conduit, the abyss bottom and a well of the Punkva River were interconnected. In the same year, a tunnel above the Zlý sifon/Bad Conduit was bored and in July, boat journeys through the Punkva Caves started in a form as it stands now. The Punkevní jeskyně/Punkva Caves are currently the most visited show cave in the Czech Republic. In the early 20th century nature conservation had been only in its beginning and declaring protected areas in the then Austrian-Hungarian Empire or young Czechoslovakia were rather an exemption. At present similar measures in caves would be considerably questionable if would ever at all be feasible. There is no other way but to respect the current state of the art and to try to minimize negative effects on the cave ecosystems, whether the “windy door” system, microclimate monitoring and its evaluation or long-term research on visitors´ impacts on the cave microclimate.
Drbal K.: 160 Years since the Discovery of the Chýnovská jeskyně/Chýnov Cave
The Chýnov Cave is located in South Bohemia on south-western edge of the Českomoravská vrchovina/Bohemian-Moravian Highlands near the town of Chýnov. The then curators of the National Museum in Prague, Antonín Frič and Jan Krejčí describe descending into the Chýnov Cave in Živa journal in 1863 as follows: “We had been descending down giant or devil´s stairs by brave long-winded steps, coming down huge rocks fallen from ceiling: from far away, water glistened there reflecting rays of torches and announcing to us that we have been at the deepest site of the cave.” During 160 years the cave experienced various types of use and research by humans: last but not least a path accessible for visitors has been step-by-step modified there. Last time it happened in 2007 when an exit gallery was blazed, crossing hanging small bridges were built and the Malá kaple/Little Chapel became accessible for visitors including adjacent upper corridors of the cave. A rich exhibit in an underground part of the former locomotive shed from the Pacov Hill quarry serving as a visitor centre demonstrates direct connection between quarrying and processing limestone and the discovery of the cave.
Plesník J.: The High Seas Will Be Finally Protected: But How?
On 4 March 2023, after a long debate in New York the United Nations member states finally agreed to protect the high seas. These include the seas outside national borders and the economic zone, which reaches up to 370 kilometres off shore. Until that time, the seas outside of that area were not susceptible to any legal framework, although comprising two thirds of all oceans and will now finally be protected by 2030. The talks to come to an agreement have been going on for over 20 years. Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of Sea (UNCLOS) the United Nations High Seas Treaty is a legally binding instrument for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction.
The treaty adopted on 19 June, 2023 addresses four themes: (1) Marine genetic resources, including the fair and equitable sharing of benefits; (2) area-based management tools, including marine protected areas (MPAs); (3) environmental impact assessment (EIA) of commercial activities on the high seas; and (iv) capacity building and transfer of marine technology. The agreement now makes possible to protect 30% of the oceans by 2030. Moreover, it will only enter into force once 60 countries have signed up and legally passed the legislation in their own countries. In addition, it has not been perfectly clear yet how key provisions (e.g. establishing, effectively managing and financing MPAs and their proportion dedicated to strict protection, applying international EIA, measures to monitor and enforcing fulfilling the obligations from the treaty) will be implemented. Thus the treaty definitely is an important step towards maintaining and preserving high seas ecosystems but is has to be more elaborated.
Růžička T., Chlapek J., Lacina D., Kušnírová T., Filipová P. & Zachystalová L.: Nature Conservation Agency of the Czech Republic Contributes to Armenian Biological Diversity Conservation
In 2021 – 2023 the Nature Conservation Agency of the Czech Republic together with the Finnish Environment Institute implemented two-year project entitled as Strengthened protection and sustainable use of biodiversity in Armenia in line with the European standards funded from the EU Twinning programme. The Ministry of the Environment of Armenia was the main partner and a beneficiary of the project´s outputs. The project´s activities aimed particularly at the approximation of the national legislation with the EU acquis, optimizing institutional development and governance, increasing expert and technical background and at raising awareness on proposed legislation and institutional changes strengthening biodiversity and nature conservation. In September 2022 a new task was added, namely developing National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan. In collaboration with the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia, main risk factors threatening biological diversity in the country were identified: to eliminate them, many measures according to branches of activities were proposed, e.g. species protection, protected areas, legislation, institutional infrastructure or ecosystem services and landscape permeability for movements of organisms. The Armenian Ministry gained, inter alia, tools for implementing current nature conservation based on the suitable legal framework, technical/expert background and good communication with partners and the general public.
Plesník J., Klouček O., Ucová S., Říhová P. & Kučera J.: CITES Fifty Years Old. Notes on What Was, Is and Will Be
Illegal and unsustainable wildlife use is considered one of the most important global driver of biological diversity decline and loss. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) was opened to the world’s governments for signature on 3 March, 1973 in Washington, D.C. and entered into force on 1 July, 1975. Heralded as the Convention to protect all species from overexploitation due to international trade, the agreement marked global recognition that wildlife overconsumption, primarily by profit-seeking industries, threatens wildlife. The Convention’s successes include, inter alia, reducing elephant poaching with the 1990, commercial ivory trade ban, aiding spotted cats, crocodilians and giant otters, and drawing attention to and stimulating conservation efforts for numerous species. At present, almost 40,000 wild plant and animal species are protected by CITES against over-exploitation through international trade.
The Czech Republic plays in international wild fauna and flora trade a prominent role. It is not only due to geographical location, but also highly developed and very popular plant growing, cultivation and planting and wild animal breeding. Therefore in the early 1990s, there had been cases of illegal wildlife trading and smuggling citizens of the former Czechoslovakia, later the Czech Republic were involved in. Act No. 16/1997 Gazette fully covering the commitments set by the CITES entered into force and all CITES national authorities started to effectively implement the Convention, Since 2004, after joining the European Union, the implementation has been enhanced by the respective EU legislation and the national institutions have been internationally recognized and some of them awarded.