LTSER Silva Gabreta - Czechia

The Šumava Biosphere Reserve, which includes the Šumava National Park, was established as a Czech LTSER platform in 2008. Its territory covers most of the Czech part of the Bohemian Forest (Šumava in Czech, Böhmerwald in German) along the historical border of Bohemia with Bavaria (Germany) and Austria. The Bohemian Forest creates the most extensive forest landscape in Central Europe, where primeval mountain forest remnants, glacial lakes, peat bogs, and mountain secondary grasslands are home to various communities of vegetation and animal species. The centre of this region is preserved as the Šumava National Park (680 km2). Human colonisation and exploitation of the Bohemian Forest has a long history accelerated during the Middle Age and caused gradual changes in land use. Deforestation and agriculture as well as local population peaked before the beginning of the last century (before the World War I), while after the World War II came to a significant reduction of the settlement. In consequence of historical and economical changes in the region, dramatic land use changes, such as land abandonment or boom of tourism, have largely affected regional development in the recent past. Due to the serious changes in settlement and land use, this region is worth to study also socio-economic issues, e.g., land abandonment and secondary succession, current changes in farming, sustainable forest management, tourist and transport pressure (parking, biking and skiing facilities), etc. In particular, developers’ plans for new downhill-skiing areas or large-scale die out of mountain spruce forests may be considered as serious social-economic conflicts. The Bavarian Forest National Park (242 km2) is the nearest partner of the Šumava NP. More and more research and monitoring projects are operated transboundary following the natural distribution of biotopes as well as natural migration of wild animals in the region of both NPs. The main focus of long-term research and monitoring is on ecosystem processes such is natural regeneration of mountain forests after wind storm disturbances and spruce bark beetle outbreaks, as well as on changes of water regime and species diversity in response to climatic changes. Changes in ecosystem services and better awareness of the National parks for public are the most discussed topics of currently emerging socio-economical studies. Common Czech-Bavarian LTSER platform Silva Gabreta has been initiated. A name was adopted from the peer-reviewed journal Silva Gabreta (silvagabreta.npsumava.cz) published by the Šumava NP since 1996, which is a joint publication base for regional studies (mostly in English, partly in Czech or German with English summary).