Bohemian Uplands PLA

Bohemian Uplands PLA was established in 1976 and covers 196 317 ha. At the moment, it is the second largest protected area of its category in the Czech Republic. The PLA occupies a large part of the Ústí n. L. region in its southern and eastern parts.

The relatively warm climate and the variety of rock composition significantly affects the flora of the Bohemian Uplands. It is one of the most abundant areas in the Czech Republic in terms of botany displaying a number of single-growth and different plant communities. On seemingly  bare slope debris and stone runs we can find a variety of lichens and mosses, wall peppers, Allium senecens supsp. Montanum and Saxifraga rosacea. Rocks and rock terraces are freshened up with alyssum (Alyssum taxatile), violet Iris aphylla, Lactuca perennis, several types of  wall peppers in the Ústí n. L. part of the Uplands usually grow naturally, although  the deciduous forests are not original – mostly oak-groves with plentiful bush and plant undergrowth; beech groves are also found on colder slopes. In many places we can find forest stands instead of former  large orchards and vineyards, which were located here in the 18th and the beginning of the 19th century. Rock forest steppes with remarkable thermophilous flora are very interesting, e.g. spider plant (Anthericum ramosum), St. Bernard´s Lilly (Anthericum liliago), Spinifex, Burning Bush (Dictamnus albus), etc .

In terms of fauna, our region does not differ considerably from other regions in the Czech Republic. The absence of deep forests results in a lower occurrence of red deer, the local forests are  mostly deciduous featuring quite commonly roe deer, moufflon, wild pig, and not so only hares, badgers, stone martens, fat dormice, dormice hollow and fire salamanders. In terms of birds, the local forests are home to the black pecker, great spotted woodpecker, and rarely the wood pigeon, the common buzzard and rough-legged buzzard, the kestrel, Jinx torquilla, wheatear and some species of owl. In the fields we can come across hedgehogs, shrews and rarely small susliks and voles, birds are represented by the partridge, pheasant, lark, crake, etc. Sunny slopes are home to Vipera berus, smooth snake, Anguis fragilis, sand lizard, and in some places, even the European green lizard. Streams and rivers are home to different species of coot, duck, dipper, gadwall and rarely the kingfisher, of rodents we can name the muskrat and rarely beaver, of insectivores the water shrew, still water or moderately flowing water is home to the smooth newt and great crested newt, the common frog, and edible frog. Insects in the Bohemian Uplands are represented by grasshoppers, locusts, crickets, different species of butterflies and beetles.