Monitoring of aquatic macrophytes for nature conservation

The Central European cultural landscape is shaped by human activity, which also has a major influence on the extent and stability of riparian vegetation (littorals). Littorals line all natural and artificial water bodies and thus play an important productive and non-productive role, providing shelter and food for many animals and increasing pond productivity. The overall aim of this paper is to assess different approaches to monitoring vegetation in aquatic and wetland habitats in relation to their biotic and abiotic characteristics and management objectives. The case study "Hučina" represents a type of situational monitoring in the sense of the Water Framework Directive. The aim of this long-term monitoring was to document the biotic and abiotic processes taking place in the littoral zone and to propose management measures to improve the ecological potential of the reservoir, which would be applicable to other reservoirs. The "Růžkatce" study uses the principles of exploratory monitoring. The aim of this work was to contribute to the knowledge of the biology of the rare roseate spoonbill (C. submersum) by comparing its basic growth and reproductive characteristics with those of the commonly occurring spiny spoonbill (C. demersum). The "Bažina" study is an example of situational monitoring under the Water Framework Directive. The aim of this study was to investigate the causes of littoral vegetation decay in a pond that is part of the Vrbenské rybníky PR. Furthermore, to map the current state of the pond ecosystem, to evaluate the possibilities of littoral restoration and to propose management measures leading to the stabilization and revitalization of this ecosystem. Mastering various methods of monitoring aquatic and wetland communities (e.g. vegetation mapping, repeated phytocenological imaging of permanent areas, measurement of various aspects of the abiotic environment and biotic influences) and supplementing the monitoring with experimental testing of hypotheses about their functioning brought new knowledge usable in practical nature and landscape conservation, both in refining management plans and in responding to sudden changes in specially protected areas or in evaluating the success of revitalization measures