The possibilities for mire restoration from soil seed bank: The extinct mire near the fishpond Příbrazský rybník

As a result of the increasing demands of human society, natural habitats are being used, disturbed and destroyed. Human activities also significantly affect peatland habitats, which leads to their loss, as a reasult of which these habitats are endangered in many European countries, including the Czech Republic. The loss of peatlands is evident both locally and globally, so in recent decades increasing efforts to restore these habitats. The soil seed bank, which was produced before their disturbance, can be used to restore the species composition of degraded habitats. However, in this way it is possible to restore only those plant species that produce a persistent seed bank in the soil. Furthermore, it is necessary to realize that the soil seed bank is very heterogeneous, both in the number of viable seeds and the number of species. In this diploma thesis, the soil seed bank from extinct peatland habitat, which is located by the Příbrazský pond in southern Bohemia, was examined in ex-situ conditions. The subject of the research was mainly the species composition of plants grown from the soil seed bank, which was taken at different places in the locality and at different depths of the soil horizon. From the examined soil seed bank of the extinct peatland habitat, 54 species of plants grew, thereof 13 of them are evaluated as endangered or near threatened in the Czech Republic, which means that the soil seed bank is able to increase the species richness of the locality. Examining the soil composition of the soil bank, which was taken at different depths of the soil horizon, it turned out that the numbers of individuals and species able to germinate from the soil seed bank gradually decrease since the extinction of the peatland habitat, so it is more advisable to use a not too old soil seed bank in the upper layer of the soil horizon. Furthermore, it was found that the species composition of the soil seed bank is dissimilar in different places of the site, which suggests that it is advisable to restore the extinct habitat at a place whose soil seed bank contains the target plant species