Preserving biodiversity is a long-term goal of European policy. Although it may seem that, thanks to available scientific knowledge and established landscape management systems, the loss of biodiversity is no longer relevant, the opposite is true, despite the fact that more than a quarter of European landscape is under a certain degree of protection. The question of whether the current care for protected areas is correct was dealt with by a wide scientific team, represented on behalf of the Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology by Ing. Radek Bače, Ph.D.
According to the conclusions of research conducted in the Podyjí National Park, it can be stated at the outset that widely applied non-intervention in forests, which have been influenced by traditional management for centuries, leads to a decline in biodiversity, including the extinction of native species.
If we look at today's forests in terms of solar permeability, we find that in comparison with the forests that were here, for example, two hundred years ago, they are shady habitats over the whole area. The openness and dynamism of the forests of past centuries and millennia was ensured mainly by disturbance in the form of frequent harvesting of stump saplings, deliberate burning, grazing cattle, raking litter and many other human activities. However, as traditional practices have been abandoned in most of Europe and regular disturbances are lacking in today's forests, we mostly have heavily closed forests here, which also has ecological consequences.
Forests with a primary wood production function should continue to be managed by modern forest cultivation methods. Regarding forests in protected areas, which are mainly for the protection of biodiversity, the administration should take into account the requirements of the species that inhabit these forests. Many formerly occurring plants, fungi and animals associated with open forests are now extinct or currently in danger of extinction.
What changes can occur in the species richness of dark forests compared to forests associated with open areas? Until World War II, a large part of the national park was under the influence of cattle grazing and so-called stumping, which kept the landscape open. Today, the area is covered mostly by closed Hercynian oak-hornbeam forests and remnants of open thermophilic oak stands, which were the site of research. The researchers also used clearings created to support the endangered Parnassius mnemosyne butterfly and floodplain meadows that connected to an enclosed forest. In total, biodiversity was examined at six habitats: a) open forest, b) closed forest, c) clearing inside the closed forest, d) clearing connected to the floodplain meadow, e) the edge of the closed forest.
The species that represented the overall local diversity and the occurrence of which was studied in individual localities were representatives of butterflies, moths, epigeic and saproxylic beetles, birds, reptiles and vascular plants. The actual process of obtaining samples was not simple and an individual method was used for each taxon, so that the data obtained were as accurate as possible. For example, butterflies were captured using timed photocells, moths were captured by light ultraviolet traps, and saproxylic beetles were captured in saltwater traps. Reptiles were assessed based on how many individuals were hiding under a plastic shelter, and the occurrence of birds was assessed in addition to visual observation, based on records of their singing. All observations and samples were taken at different time intervals most suitable for individual animals. After obtaining a sufficient amount of materials, the samples were evaluated with the help of statistical analysis, where the differences in species richness at individual sites were analysed separately for each group.
The created glades had a positive effect on diversity and abundance in most model groups. Furthermore, it has been shown that linking glades to open habitats is crucial for biodiversity. Partial recovery by stumping thus helps protected species. "This is another scientific study in the temperate zone that has shown that disturbances are the engine of forest diversity. Therefore, we can consider the nationwide non-intervention in lowland forests, where in the past there were various disturbances, either in the form of human management or pressure from large herbivores, to be unnatural. During the 20th century, an active man using every piece of land for his livelihood disappeared from the Czech landscape. The basic disturbance factor has disappeared, and with it about 10% of our native species. In order to prevent continued extinction, it is necessary to transfer scientific knowledge more effectively into conservation practice and at least return to traditional management somewhere,” adds Radek Bače from the Department of Forest Ecology.
Ing. Radek Bače, Ph.D.
He came to the Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences at the CULS in Prague in 2001 from the Klatovy grammar school. He has been working here in the field of forest ecology since 2009. He focuses mainly on the ecology of forest regeneration and conservation biology.
Prepared by: Jakub Málek