B - Convention on Biological Diversity

The physiotype of mesophilic (true) meadows contains both general types of vegetation and also preintensivetypes, which consist of a very diverse meadow community with continuous extensive managementwithout fertilization (see the Agriculturally Managed Ecosystems chapter). These types have almost totallydisappeared from the dominant cultural landscape and are preserved only under very specific conditions (e.g.in military training areas) and, in total, in a very small area. They are of considerable importance for sciencefor understanding the ecology of balanced and stable ecosystems. These ecosystems are most extensive inthe higher parts of mountains and are preserved mainly as pastures (cattle, sheep, horses) or by mowing or bya specific combination of management (traditional management, frequently created through a long tradition bythe landowners).The vegetation growth in open to closed sand banks is a rapidly disappearing type in the modern landscape,whose distribution is concentraced to areas of airborne sands around the Labe/ Elbe River and the Morava Riverand also in sandstone areas, where it grows in weathered sandstone. Derived types of this vegetation, with theform of interconnected grasslands, occur on the gravel-sand river terraces along rivers (e.g. the middle and lowerVltava, Labe /Elbe, upper Lužnice rivers).Grassland ecosystems also include salt marshes, which are physiognomically similar to ruderal vegetation,without a predominance of grass species that, however, have no support in other sector areas. Halophilic(salt-loving) vegetation is the rarest physiotype of grass-herbaceous biome in the Czech Republic and occursonly at a few sites around subhalophilic fishponds and water courses in Central Bohemia and Southern Moravia.Some industrial sludge beds form a specific secondary habitat for halophilic vegetation, where its less diversetypes can be found.It has been possible to maintain and support various vegetation types with diverse species in the networkof Specially Protected Areas; this is a great advantage both for research activities and also for the practicallyrelated restoration procedures in other degraded areas (sources of genetic material in restoring the originalvegetation). Research projects and monitoring programmes can also be carried out on the subjects in the openlandscape (not protected by a special regime) as a result of the development and support for ecosystems withdiverse species (e.g. the River System Restoration Programme and the Landscape Management Programme). Ithas also been possible to carry out targeted research in the dynamics and functions of the individual ecosystemswithin R&D projects, announced by the Ministry of the Environment.The habitat mapping of during the preparation of the Natura 2000 is an effective instrument for their identification.This mapping (2001 – 2004) permitted identification of valuable landscapes, which were proposed as sites ofEuropean importance and where optimal management is at the same time proposed, leading to conservation ofvaried grassland ecosystems (see the In-Situ Conservation chapter). Pursuant to the Article 6 of Act No. 114/1992Coll., on the Protection of Nature and the Landscape, these ecosystems can be registered as important landscapefeatures.III. Problem Issues1. The ecosystems of semi-natural meadows, which are an important part of the agricultural landscape, weresubstantially disturbed by general intensification of agricultural production. In addition to direct factors,compaction of the soil by heavy machinery had a substantial impact on reducing the biodiversity, and isaccompanied by disturbance of functioning healthy ecosystems and the disappearance of sensitive organisms.86