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Description
The project is focused on the support of nesting and forage opportunities of the Eurasian Hoopoe (Upupa epops) and the support of populations of legally protected species of birds, insects and plants in the area of Morkůvky and Nenkovice villages in the South Moravian Region. Hoopoe acts as a flagship species in this project because it is attractive and well known to the public. This species needs enough suitable cavities for nesting and sufficient size of open, grassy areas to forage for insects and its larvae. When searching for food, it flies on adjacent shortgrass meadows and slopes. These habitats are currently threatened by overgrowth due to the decline of traditional agricultural techniques (grazing, mowing). It is, therefore, necessary to protect the remaining shortgrass meadows from degradation and to restore new potentially suitable localities that have succumbed to long-term uncontrolled succession. The main activities of the project include appropriate landscape management both in space and time and the construction and placement of artificial nest boxes for legally protected species of birds, insects and plants that require a similar type of environment.
The project aims to bring additional necessary financial resources to activities that are key in the South Moravia region in terms of maintaining diversity and the presence of legally protected species. The aim is to expand these biologically valuable open areas, which suffer from inadequate care due to the lack of adequate funding. The project is following similar activities carried out in protected areas within the region and as a whole properly extends them.
Summary of project results
Active management maintains the locations in optimal condition and prevents their degradation, thereby supporting the increase of populations of endangered species dependent on steppe habitats. Open steppe habitats in the context of the Czech landscape suffer from overgrowth because the number of species maintaining the vegetation in the wild is currently decreasing. Mowing, grazing, cutting shrubs, installing artificial nest cavities for the Eurasian hoopoe. Increasing the number of nesting opportunities for the Eurasian hoopoe and improving the condition of steppe turfs as a feeding habitat may strengthen the local population of this critically endangered species in the future.
A total of 7.74 ha of management work was completed, of which 3.53 ha was mixed grazing by a herd of sheep and goats, 3.05 ha was brush cutting, and 1.16 ha was cutting of undesirable shrubs. Thanks to the project, the management of the locations is more intensive and more diverse. Thanks to the cutting, it has been possible to save and connect isolated islands of steppe at the Syslovce location. These were completely overgrown amid blackthorn and bloodtwig dogwood thickets and hosted protected species of plants and animals. Through cutting, the space available for potential expansion has increased. At both locations, the condition of the turfs and thus the populations of dicot plants and the species of insects dependent on them, etc., have been improved. The condition of the locations has undoubtedly improved, and the project''s contribution is very positive.
Furthermore, three artificial nest cavities for the Eurasian hoopoe were placed.
Since the start of this project in 2021, the condition of the Morkůvky location has significantly improved. We observe a gradual reduction in expansive and invasive species: reed grass (Calamagrostis epigejos), tall oat-grass (Arrhenatherum elatius), bloodtwig dogwood (Cornus sanguinea), and others. Due to the cutting, it has been possible to connect individual isolated islands of steppe communities, giving the populations of plants and animals found here more space, thus enabling them to better exist and potentially thrive in the long term. We also gained valuable experience in eliminating the very expansive bloodtwig dogwood shrub. It is not advisable to remove this shrub during the dormant season (October-February), but rather to start cutting towards the end of summer and ideally treat the cut surfaces with herbicide. It is also important to regularly mow and graze the areas after cutting to suppress regrowth, which was very appropriately planned and carried out in this project. Through grazing and mowing on grasslands, we achieved the removal of accumulated thatch and the elimination of expansive monocot grasses in favor of dicot flowering plants. Improving the condition of the turf is crucial for enhancing the food supply of the target species, the Eurasian hoopoe (Upupa epops), and other species that rely on a similar food chain (e.g., Eurasian wryneck (Jynx torquilla; critically endangered according to law 114/1992 Sb.), red-backed shrike (Lanius collurio; threatened), European stonechat (Saxicola rubicola), or corn bunting (Miliaria calandra; critically endangered)). Because higher quality, more diverse turfs with a greater proportion of dicot plants allow for a greater occurrence of insects, both in number and species diversity.
The initial state of the Syslovce location was significantly better than that of Morkůvky. Nevertheless, the project has enabled more intensive and diverse management at this location. Thanks to the cutting, it has been possible to save and connect isolated islands of steppe. These were completely overgrown amid blackthorn and bloodtwig dogwood thickets and hosted protected species of plants and animals. Through cutting, the space available for potential expansion has increased. As with the mowing and grazing at the Morkůvky location, here too, the condition of the turfs and thus the populations of dicot plants and the species of insects dependent on them, etc., have been improved. The condition of the location has undoubtedly improved, and the project''s contribution is very positive
All management works carried out have a clear positive impact on the landscape and the target species, supporting their long-term existence in the landscape. However, it is very important to continue management in the coming years, especially to monitor the areas after cutting, particularly in the Morkůvky location, which may be susceptible to the encroachment and spread of some expansive species due to its surroundings.
In 2024, we observed the first nesting in one of the boxes – in mid-May, a female was spotted at the Morkůvky location with a clutch of seven eggs, which we consider to be a huge success, and in a relatively short time after the management work was carried out (it often takes several years for the birds to find the nesting boxes).