Czech Republic – Česká Republika

Czech Republic

Carpathian montane conifer forests ecoregion (Temperate coniferous forest biome)

Frélichová J, Vačkář D, Pártl A, Loučková B, Harmáčková ZV, Lorencová E. Integrated assessment of ecosystem services in the Czech Republic. Ecosystem Services. 2014 Jun

Central European mixed forests ecoregion (Temperate broadleaf and mixed forest biome)(Palearctic realm)

Pannonian mixed forests ecoregion (temperate broadleaf and mixed forests biome) (Palearctic realm)

Demeter L, Bede-Fazekas Á, Molnár Z, Csicsek G, Ortmann-Ajkai A, Varga A, Molnár Á, Horváth F. The legacy of management approaches and abandonment on old-growth attributes in hardwood floodplain forests in the Pannonian Ecoregion. European Journal of Forest Research. 2020 Mar

Western European broadleaf forests ecoregion (temperate broadleaf and mixed forests biome) (Palearctic realm)

Wan JZ, Wang CJ, Yu FH. Large-scale environmental niche variation between clonal and non-clonal plant species: Roles of clonal growth organs and ecoregions. Science of The Total Environment. 2019 Feb

Abstract
The ongoing wolf’s recolonization of continental Europe at the beginning of the 21st century recently reached many regions where wolves were absent for centuries, including several areas on the Czechia’s borders. We observed the process of wolf recolonization across the Bohemian Forest Ecosystem from 2015 until April 2023. We adopted a multifaceted approach, based on systematic tracking surveys, camera traps, telemetry, and provoked howling. The first breeding pair with permanent occupation was detected in 2016, connecting two major European wolf populations – Alpine and Central European. We observed increasing amounts of confirmed wolf occurrence data from 2015 to April 2023, with camera trap pictures and scats being the most abundant data sources. The implications of intensive population expansion were confirmed by locating six activity centres in the wolf year 2022/2023, reflecting six existing packs in the Bohemian Forest Ecosystem. Although those wolf packs spread practically across the whole study area in eight wolf years, the intense phase of recolonization is probably finished, and only continuous small changes in population density are expected. Further observations on the population dynamics are essential, focusing on the transitions between existing packs and the establishment of new territories within the existing social structure.

Abstract

Grey wolves have been recovering throughout Europe over the last decades, widely portrayed as a conservation success story. We evaluated the trends and demography of two wolf populations that recolonised the Czech Republic between 2011/2012 and 2022/2023, integrating a variety of fieldwork and laboratory methods including snow tracking, camera trapping, telemetry and non-invasive genetics, with some of these methods being carried out within a citizen science framework. We then compared these demographic trends with the frequency of wolf attacks on livestock. Wolf territories grew annually by λ = 1.25 ± 0.18 (0.92–1.68) in the Carpathian and λ = 1.39 ± 0.08 (1.22–1.57) in the Central European population. Over the same period, the growth rate of wolf attacks on livestock exceeded the growth rate of territories. Wolf pack sizes averaged 5.7 ± 0.24 individuals in autumn and winter, but packs in their first and second year were significantly smaller than those occupying a territory for at least three years. The wolf density in areas occupied by a wolf pack reached, on average, 4.19±0.49 individuals per 100 km². Overall, the recovery of the Central European wolf population in Czechia was delayed compared with neighbouring Germany and western Poland, and the Carpathian population recovered even six years later. We discuss that this delayed recovery may have been influenced by hunting pressure in neighbouring Slovakia prior 2021 or by other undetected sources of mortality, making the population vulnerable in the long term.

Wolves (Canis lupus) are recolonising large swathes of their former European territories after a lengthy absence. This expanding distribution brings wolves to areas of naïve human communities, inflating risks to human-wildlife coexistence. As such, understanding public attitudes and perspectives to wolf return is central to supporting human-wildlife coexistence. Wolves returned to Germany in 2000 and sporadically to Czech Republic in the 1990s, but only few studies have assessed public attitudes. No research from a protected area visitor perspective has been conducted in Europe, despite their importance for outdoor recreation and nature conservation. We conducted face-to-face surveys of visitors, administered by enumerators during 2018–2019 (n = 869) in the Bavarian Forest and Šumava National Parks, which form a transboundary protected area along the German-Czech border, where the first wolves re-established in 2015. Primarily, we applied aspects of attitude theory, focusing on the components of attitudes (ABC Model of Attitudes) to examine support for wolves from national park visitors (locally and nationally) and if the visitors’ attitudes towards wolves differ. We found substantial support for wolves recolonising Germany and Czech Republic (84.5 %), and agreement that wolves belong in these national parks (89.6 %). Attitudes varied most by country of residence, with Czech visitors more supportive than Germans. Transboundary management which recognises the human dimensions of large carnivore conservation is crucial to supporting coexistence. We highlight the importance of understanding the diverse sociocultural backgrounds across Europe which may influence attitudes towards wolves, and nature conservation areas to support long-term transboundary management policies, coexistence goals, and education.