Number of the records: 1

Conservation potential of abandoned military areas matches that of established reserves: Plants and butterflies in the Czech Republic

SYSNO ASEP	0391441
Document Type	J - Journal Article
R&D Document Type	Journal Article
Subsidiary J	Článek ve WOS
Title	Conservation potential of abandoned military areas matches that of established reserves: Plants and butterflies in the Czech Republic
Author(s)	Čížek, O. (CZ) Vrba, Pavel (BC-A)_{ORCID, RID} Beneš, Jiří (BC-A)_ORCID Hrázský, Z. (CZ) Koptík, J. (CZ) Kučera, T. (CZ) Marhoul, P. (CZ) Zámečník, J. (CZ) Konvička, Martin (BC-A)_{RID, ORCID}
Number of authors	9
Source Title	PLoS ONE. - : Public Library of Science - ISSN 1932-6203 Roč. 8, č. 1 (2013), e53124
Number of pages	9 s.
Language	eng - English
Country	US - United States
Keywords	butterflies ; millitary areas ; Czech Republic
Subject RIV	EH - Ecology, Behaviour
R&D Projects	GAP505/10/2167 GA ČR - Czech Science Foundation (CSF)
Institutional support	BC-A - RVO:60077344
UT WOS	000313551500050
EID SCOPUS	84872228392
DOI	10.1371/journal.pone.0053124
Annotation	Military training generates frequent and irregular disturbance followed by succession, resulting in fine-scaled mosaics of ecological conditions in military training areas (MTAs). The awareness that MTAs may represent important biodiversity sanctuaries is increasing recently. Concurrently, changes in military doctrine are leading to abandonment of many MTAs, which are being brought under civilian administration and opened for development. We surveyed vascular plants in 43 and butterflies in 41 MTAs in the Czech Republic and compared the records with plants and butterfly records from 301 and 125 nature reserves, respectively. After controlling for effects of area, geography, and climate, we found that plant species richness was equal in the two land use categories; butterfly richness was higher in MTAs; reserves hosted more endangered plants and more endangered butterflies. Ordination analyses, again controlled for potential nuisance effects, showed that MTAs and reserves differed also in species composition. While specialist species of nationally rarest habitat types inclined towards the reserves, MTAs hosted a high representation of endangered species depending on either disturbed ground, or successionaly transient conditions. These patterns reflect the history of the national nature reserves network, and the disturbance-succession dynamics within MTAs. The conservation value of formerly army-used lands is increasingly threatened by abandonment, and conservationists should support either alternative uses mimicking army activities, or sustainable management regimes.
Workplace	Biology Centre (since 2006)
Contact	Dana Hypšová, eje@eje.cz, Tel.: 387 775 214
Year of Publishing	2014

Number of the records: 1