Educational trails in "Kopce" reserve
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“Kopce”(The Mounds) reserve is situated at the north-western end of the Cieszyn foothills. The landscape of the Cieszyn foothills is currently dominated by arable fields and a range of small forested areas. All that remains of the former natural forests is a few scattered forest complexes of dry-ground forests and beech woods, as well as some small fragments of alder woods in the valleys of rivers and streams.
The plant covering of the Cieszyn foothills has been dramatically changed as a result of the human activity taking place here for centuries. Those forests which grew on soil suitable for agricultural exploitation were cut down and destroyed. The remainder are presently those which stand on inaccessible terrain or land unfit for agricultural use. They grow on the slopes of valleys and rises, on steep scarps along rivers and streams and in places subject to occasional flooding or submergence. The most beautiful and best preserved fragments of these forests are today protected as nature reserves, and one of these is the Mounds reserve in Cieszyn.
Adjacent to the southern side of the reserve are meadows currently used as motocross tracks. The meadows in the Cieszyn Foothills were created by cutting down and clearing forests for grazing land. Meadow land made up only a fraction of the original plant covering of the Foothills, and it was only human labour that brought into existence large areas of meadows and caused the spread of those animals and plants which thrive on meadows and lawns. The nature trail leads through two very different environments – forests and meadows – and in a smaller area also allows an encounter with animals and plants associated with a watery environment.
At the same time, the trail leads through two regions covered by different forms of natural protection: as a reserve and for ecological usage.
Natural protection is intended to preserve the richness and variety of plants and animal species, and to preserve the variety of habitats and ecosystems. The most valuable sites are subject to legal protection, and one form of this is the reserve. This usually consists of a relatively small area of land which has retained its natural state without loss or damage caused by human activity. Within a reserve, the entire natural environment may be under protection, or only some specific elements of it.
Establishing a nature reserve in a given area, the scope of economic activity is also defined – in certain cases any form of interference whatsoever in the natural environment of the protected area is forbidden, including the possibility of visits for tourism, and everything is left to follow natural processes. We call this a strict reserve. In other cases, the areas of work which are allowed are defined with the aim of retaining the natural value of the terrain, and we then have what is called a partial reserve. In partial reserves, a certain degree of forestry activity is allowed, for example, and visitors are generally permitted. The Mounds is a partial reserve, and thanks to this we may visit it and get to know the animal and plant species living here.
We begin our visit to the Mounds and our walk along the nature trail at the base of a fairly steep slope (photo), at the mouth of a canyon with a small stream flowing along its bed. We can arrive at this place from the side of Marklowice, from Frysztacka St., by crossing the railway lines and staying on the left hand side of Leśna St. We stop above the stream at the start of several paths.
The Mounds reserve was created in 1954 (Polish Monitor 1954, no. A-1, art. 21) on an area of 14.77 hectares to protect the natural fragments of leafy forests with the hacquetia Hacquetia epipactis (photo).
Several paths lead from this place through the terrain of the reserve or along its boundaries. One of these runs to the right along the slope following the edge of the forest (the western boundary of the reserve) in the direction of the premises of the sewage treatment plant visible in the distance and the border bridge. This trail leads us to an outcrop of limestone rock. This rock was carved long ago by the waters of the Olza and has retained its steep western scarp (photo). The trees growing tall at the foot of the outcrop partially cover it and we cannot admire the full effect of its dramatic appearance. Along the way, it is worth noticing the numerous specimens of the legally protected Alpine arum Arum alpinum which grow in this part of the forest (ill. and photo).
Alpine arums are one of the most interesting species of our flora, which is why they are worth a second look. What is generally regarded as a flower of an original construction and shape is in fact an inflorescence insulated by a sheath which is purple inside at the bottom, greenish at the top, and from which stick out club-shaped growths. If we cut open the sheath, we would see the fascinating arrangement of the flowers. In the reservation we cannot of course pick or destroy the flowers, so ill. ….. presents a cross-section of the sheath with its bulb. At the bottom of the bulb there is a ring of female flowers, with the male flowers above them. These flowers are separated by a ring of growths formed from adapted sterile flowers. The construction of the arum’s inflorescence is an example of a highly original trap-flower. A smell is produced from the sheath which attracts insects, mainly fruit flies. Insects landing on the outer surface of the sheath slide into it – the surface on this side is too slippery for insects to be able to hold on to it. The insects fall to the bottom of the sheath and cannot get back out because of the growths which block their way. The trap-flower keeps the insects inside for a day or two, during which time first the female then the male flowers ripen. The insects leave pollen they have picked up on other arums on the pistils, and take a new portion of pollen with them when they leave (after pollination, the growths wither and the surface of the sheath becomes less smooth). The insects carry this pollen to other flowers, unaware that they may once again be “imprisoned”. The fruit of the arum is a purple berry.
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The trail leads to a steep high slope, covered mainly with beeches and hornbeams. On the forest floor, among the early spring, white flowering anemones Anemone nemorosa (photo) and the subtly flowering mercuries Mercurialis perennis (ill.), here and there hang the white cups of snowdrops Galanthus nivalis (phot.). Their narrow leaves are difficult to distinguish from the young, still narrow leaves of the bear’s garlic Allium ursinum (photo), which also strives to claim itself enough living space as quickly as possible. In damper places, above the streams and on the sides of the canyon, the yellow flowers of the figroot buttercup Ranunculus ficaria (= Ficaria verna) (ill.) appear in spring. Almost simultaneously, shoots of the common Solomon’s-seal Polygonatum multiflorum (photo) develop.
From the very edge of the forest, even by the path itself, we can observe clumps of the dark green flowers of the hacquetia Hacquetia epipactis (photo). This was one of the main reasons for the reserve’s creation – to preserve this rare and fascinating specimen of our flora for future generations. It is a plant which can reach a height of up to 20 cm, and has butt-end leaves on long stems with a three-leafed hand-shaped leaf blade. What is generally assumed to be the flower is actually an umbelliferous inflorescence composed of numerous small flowers with a yellowish head. The inflorescence is supported by five bases, adapted leaves which give the impression of petals. The hacquetia is one of the first spring flowers to bloom, but its small fruits do not appear until June. There are several colonies of hacquetias on the Cieszyn region – these include the municipal woods on the rivers Olza and Puńcówka in Cieszyn. The colonies in Jaworzynka, Rozumki near Głubczyce in the Opole region, in Mogilany near Kraków and individual colonies on the Lublin uplands are also well known. A beautiful legend about the origin of this flower was immortalised by Gustaw Morcinek in his book „Ziemia Cieszyńska"(“Cieszyn Province”): “The hacquetia reached us from somewhere in the Alps, and its seed was probably brought by the Austrian soldiers of General Devaga when they besieged Cieszyn castle during the Thirty Years’ War in 1647. But there were Swedes in the castle, hence the romantic legend that the hacquetia originated in Sweden. A certain Swedish knight was seriously wounded, and lay slowly dying in a Silesian peasant’s hut outside Cieszyn. The peasant’s daughter had fallen in love with the fair knight, and when her beloved died she took from his breast a little packet of Swedish soil and poured it on the grave of the departed. And along with the earth were the seeds of a flower. In spring, just after the snowdrops there bloomed a nameless, pale yellow flower. They called it a cieszynianka, since it had appeared near Cieszyn. In time, it spread out in a triangle between Cieszyn, Skoczów and Ustroń.” In Polish, the hacquetia is still caled the Cieszynianka. Of course, this legend is beautiful and romantic, though completely illogical. The truth, as is usually the case with legends, is slightly different. The hacquetia only appears in two parts of Europe, far apart. The main centre is in the south, covering the eastern end of the Alps, Styria and Carinthia in Austria, Slovenia, Croatia and reaching into Bosnia.
The northern centre has Moravia at its heart and covers the western part of the West Carpathians, and stretches through the Gates of Moravia to the Cieszyn foothills and the Opole region of Polish Silesia. This distribution of hacquetias was caused by climate changes in the pleistocene glaciation period. The hacquetia only survived such difficult conditions for plant life in two locations, and from these commenced its expansion into new territories. We know that it reached Poland through the Moravian Gate and has its densest concentration at its opening around Cieszyn. How it reached such distant places as Mogilany and the uplands around Lublin we can only guess. We can be certain, however, that it reached Poland naturally, thousands of years before the Swedish invasion or the Thirty-Years War. Stories of it being spread by man are merely old wives’ tales. Nonetheless, the legend of its introduction by the Swedes has lasted, passed on through the years, and has resisted all attempts to dismiss it. This may be a good thing – after all, it is a nice story.
The Polish name of this plant – spring cieszynianka – was proposed in 1924 by Professor Kazimierz Simm of the then Cieszyn College of Agriculture, as a sign that in Poland this species mainly appears in the Cieszyn area.
From the start of the trail, the magnificent beeches Fagus silvatica (photo) command our attention. These have silver-grey bark and their smooth trunks can reach a height of up to twenty metres. Conditions on the reserve suit the beech fine, as can be seen by their vitality and expansiveness – every few years they bear rich fruit. The seed cup, covered in soft thorns, dries up in autumn and the four segments of the lignified fruit open apart and out drop two nuts called beechnuts. In spring, young seedlings grow from these, with large kidney-shaped leaf-sprouts (photo). Beeches are especially beautiful in the spring when the young leaves have a light green colour and tufts of delicate white floss can be seen at their edges. Under the beeches at the edge of the ravine,.we can see in early springtime fields of purple-violet flowering glandular toothworts Dentaria glandulosa (photo). This plant is characteristic of the Carpathian beech forests where it proliferates. Within the reserve, the glandular toothwort occupies the shady sides of the gorge and is the plant which dictates that this part of the reserve belongs to the fertile Carpathian beech forest Dentario glandulosae - Fagetum. Common beeches dominate the forest stand of the beech forest, but the sycamore maple Acer pseudoplatanus (photo), the little-leaf linden Tilia cordata (ill.) and the European ash Fraxinus excelsior (ill.) are also to be found here. In early spring, the forest floor is covered with flowering bitter pea-vines Lathyrus vernus (photo) and solid-tubered corydalis Corydalis solida (ill.), and later wild ginger Asarum europaeum. These greenish brown flowers appear discretely at the end of shootlets right down on the ground. When the kidney-shaped leaves are peeled back, a bell-shaped flower can be seen at their base (photo). It gives off a weak smell of rotting meat, which causes flies to pollinate it. In late spring, we are struck by an intense smell in the reserve. The now fully developed bear’s garlic is blooming (photo). The garlic grows in large colonies on the slopes of the ravine and on the damper parts of the mount. Beside the track grows the common goatweed Aegopodium podagraria (ill.) and cow parsley Chaerophyllum temulentum which will dominate the forest floor in summer.
The trail leaves the ravine edge, turns gently south and runs along almost flat terrain. It is more or less in this place that a small, almost invisible, path cuts off from the main trail to the left and a few dozen metres further on descends to the bed of the main ravine which divides the reserve [3]
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On the southern edge of the main ravine dividing the Mounds reserve, there is a five-metre long cave known as Ondraszek’s Hole. Legend associates this cave/tunnel with Ondraszek, an early 18th century robber who supposedly had one of his many hideouts here. In reality, however, it is a side drift left over from teschenite mining works.
The cieszyn limestones forming the base of the Cieszyn Foothills came into existence as deposits from sea water on the lower chalk around 140 m years ago. At that time, undersea volcanoes were especially active, and it is to these that the Cieszyn Foothills owe the presence of interesting magma rock known as teschenite (from Teschen, the German name for Cieszyn). This rock forms a vein intrusion caused by liquid magma being squeezed through the limestone rocks. Teschenite was first described by Ludwig Hohengegger in 1861, and was exploited in several quarries in the 19th century in places such as Boguszowice.
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Following the main path in a north-easterly direction, we gradually enter the hail forest, a group of subcontinental dry-ground forests Tilio-Carpinetum. The forest stand is now dominated by the common hornbeam Carpinus betulus (photo) and the little-leaf linden. The hornbeam can grow to heights of up to 20 m. The bark of its trunk is light grey and smooth, its leaves oblong and slightly corrugated, similar to beech leaves, but differing in their saw-like edge. The hornbeam is extremely temerophilious and grows under the boughs of tall heliophilious trees. It is the most hardy of all Polish species when it comes to tolerating shade. The lindens grow to up to 25 m, have small leaves 3 – 6 cm long and almost round, slightly heart-shaped with a bright green surface, a blue shade underneath and ginger tufts on the corners of the veins. The common maple Acer platanoides (photo) is a tree which can reach a height of 25 m and has large five- or seven-flap leaves. The sycamore is relatively common in the reserve, and can be recognised by its peeling bark (photo) and large three- or five-flap leaves with sharp incisions between the flaps. The naked fruits can be up to 6 cm long, including winglets. In the hail part of the forest, nearer the boundary, grow field maples Acer campestre (photo). The field maple has three- or five-flap leaves with full, lightly indented flaps. It differs from the common (or Norwegian) maple not only in the shape of its leaves, but also in its bark, which has elongated splintering. This species usually forms shrub varieties, but in southern Poland, particularly in the Cieszyn Foothills, it achieves an impressive size. At Tula, for example, grows an avenue of monumental maples.
In addition to the above mentioned trees, there are also the comparitively rare common oak Quercus robur (ill.) and the ash, as well as individual specimens of the cherry tree Prunus avium, mountian elm Ulmus scabra (ill.) and, of the coniferous varieties, clusters of the artificially introduced larch Larix europaea, and the last specimens of the spruce Picea excelsa, which are dying off probably due to the pollution covering Cieszyn from industrial centres on both the Polish and the Czech side.
Amongst the shrubbery here in the dry-ground forest, as in the beech forest, we meet above all the black lilac Sambucus nigra and the undergrowth of the trees already mentioned. Also common among shrubs are hazel Corylus avellana (ill.), the single- and double-seed hawthorn Crategus monogyna and Crataegus oxyacantha (ill.), the berry Ribes grossularia and the may rose Viburnum opulus (photo).
The forest floor is initially similar to that in the beech forest. Here we also encounter bear’s garlic, dog’s mercury, European wild ginger, pea-vine and hacquetia, as well as the previously unmentioned sweet woodruff Galium odoratum (= Asperula odorata) (photo), a protected species found here in beautiful colonies which are highly spectacular in the blooming season. Nearer the southern edge of the reserve, and thus closer to the meadows, we can find a few Schultes’ bedstraws Galium schultesi – a forest floor indicator species for the dry-ground forest. In early spring another protected species, the blue hepatica Hepatica nobilis (photo), blooms as does the blue and violet lungwort Pulmonaria obsura, followed a little later by the yellow of the tuberous comfrey Symphytum tuberosum (photo) and the weaselsnout Lamiastrum galeobdolon (= Galeobdolon luteum). Here and there the original-looking flower of the herb Paris Paris quadrifolia (photo) catches our eye, while in damper spots we may come across the buttercup Ranunculus lanuginosus (ill.). Plants which bloom from June or early July until late October are: the sticky sage Salvia glutinosa, wood knotroot Stachys silvatica (ill.), bats in the belfry Campanula trachelium and enchanter’s nightshade Circea lutetiana (ill.). The fruitlets of the nightshade stick with their stiff hooked hairs to the feathers of birds and to animals’ fur as well as to people’s clothing.
In late summer and early autumn, the forest floor changes in appearance, more and more chervils appear and we begin to notice the stinging nettles Urtica dioica, touch-me-nots Impatiens noli-tangere (ill.) and small balsam Impatiens parviflora (ill.). The fruitlets of the sanicle Sanicula europaea (ill.) stick to our trouser legs. This is a plant which, on blooming, is extremely difficult to differentiate from the hacquetia. Only the patches of dog’s mercury remain relatively unchanged. The leaves of trees, especially the maples, are covered by various fungus stains and traces of various insects’ feeding are visible on the leaves of trees and green plants.
Among protected species, the common ivy Hedera helix (photo) and bird’s nest orchid Neotia nidus-avis (photo) are fairly common in all parts of the reserve, and daphne Daphne mezereum (photo) appears sporadically. Of the partially protected species, we can find lily of the valley Convallaria majalis (ill. 36), the primrose Primula elatior (photo) and cowslip primrose Primula veris, the common periwinkle Vinca minor (ill.), wild ginger, sweet woodruff and alder buckthorn Frangula alnus.
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The main path bisecting the reserve comes out onto the intersection of two streets, or rather tracks – Dzika and Gajowa streets. This place is a good vantage point from which to admire the entire panorama, with the motocross tracks in the meadows at your feet..
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We leave the main path, which divides the reserve, and turn a little to the right to take the slightly less frequented route to the edge of the forest near a high-voltage electrical pylon. Before us stretches the Mounds Meadows ecological area. After exiting onto the far edge of the reserve we can see a panorama of Cieszyn and Czech Cieszyn with the Silesian-Moravian Beskidy mountains in the background, and in front of us are the meadows with the motocross tracks. For over twenty years, these meadows have no longer been used for intensive agriculture. Traces of the balks which once separated three enclosed arable fields are still visible. The balks and steep slopes were once the only place where thermophilious plants could grow and thrive in the fertile lime soil.
Although the land on which we are standing has been used as a motocross track since the mid-1970s, it has never ceased to fascinate and impress nature-lovers with its richness, and with the wide range of interesting plant and animal species inhabiting it, including many protected species.
In 1995, a complete systematic study of the flora and fauna was carried out, commisioned by the Cieszyn local authorities. The results of this investigation enabled its authors to propose the creation of an ecological zone on the area studied, which was to ensure the preservation of its rich flora and fauna. A resolution of the City Council on October 26th 1995 initiated the Mounds Meadows ecological zone on an area of 18.0898 hectares, and another resolution on the protection of this area was passed by the City Council in January 2003. To the north, the zone borders with the forest of the Mounds reserve, the north-east end being marked by the high-voltage electricity pylon near Gajowa Street, the boundary continues parallel to Dzika Street and 400 m or so farther on slopes upwards in a westerly direction. The boundary then runs north from the waste disposal yard and the fence of the sewage works to the Mounds reserve.
Before we leave the edge of the forest and begin our wander through the meadows, it is worth casting an eye over the narrow belt of foliage which divides the forest from the meadow habitats.
On at least two occasions in the past few years, parts of the forest stand have been removed below the electricity line and the forest floor exposed. This is a drastic procedure which is unfortunately necessary for safety reasons and also because of regulations demanding trees be removed from under high-voltage cables. The exposure of the forest floor created new conditions for the vegetation – some, the heliophilious species, are thriving, while the temerophilious plants are disappearing. It will take several years, however, before a full appraisal can be made of the changes in the plant life in the exposed area.
In the Meadow Mounds ecological zone, there are no nature trails marked out in detail. It is worth wandering round and seeing the whole terrain, and following the routes of the motocross tracks (photo) is one way to do this. From a floral point of view, the most interesting sections of the meadows are located in the south-eastern parts of the ecological zone, on the fairly steep slope by Dzika Street, and in the north-western part adjacent to the Mounds reserve (this piece of land stretches from where we left the reserve’s forest exactly in front of us, on a rise sloping to the south).
We suggest ending our visit to the ecological zone by the small pond in the south-west extreme of its territory [7], near the local waste disposal yard.
On the terrain of the Meadow Mounds zone we can encounter several plant colonies. Dominant among these are the oatgrass meadows and the herbal groups. Parts of the xerothermic turfs are of particular interest. Among these typically meadow environments, there are colonies of plants characteristic of small woods or thickets with the same plant species which we observed inside the Mounds reserve. In the damper parts, there is swamp vegetation, and a typical water habitat has evolved in the pond.
On the areas which have long been exploited (mown) an oat-grass Arrhenatheretum medioeuropaeum meadow system appears. This is dominated by grasses, in particular the oat-grass Arrhenatherum elatius (ill.) and yellow oatgrass Trisetum flavescens. Brome grass Bromus erectus (ill.) is also relatively common here, as is the autumn crocus Colchicum autumnale (photo), a protected species. In areas which are more exposed to the sun, the oatgrass meadows change to habitats of thermophilious vegetation – xerothermic lawns. Predominant in these are brome, lilac sage Salvia verticillata, lesser honeywort Cerinthe minor, the protected species common centuary Centaurium erythraea subsp. erythraea (photo), tor-grass Brachypodium piennatum (ill.) and the cross gentian Gentiana cruciata (photo), which is also subject to protection.
We can see similar vegetation on the motocross tracks. The soil uncovered by the wheels of the motorcycles has maintained populations of rare vascular plant species better than anywhere else. The most commonly occurring plants in such places are: the common centuary, tufted milkwort Polygala comosa, hairy-fruited corn salad Valerianella dentata, the protected carline thistle Carlina acaulis (photo), dwarf spurge Euphorbia exigua, cypress spurge Euphorbia cyparissias (photo), the protected species thorny ononis Ononis spinosa and the common sainfoin Onobrychis viciaefolia. These are relatively short, low-growing plants, but also extremely light-hungry and therefore practically without any chance of survival in the habitats full of perennials and grasses which predominate on the terrains we have described, e.g. meadows and herbal habitats.
The herbal habitats representative of the Trifolio - Geranietea sanguinei class mainly cover the small strips of land of the former balks. This is where the common agrimony Agrimonia eupatoria (ill.) grows, alongside the chic pea Comnilla varia (ill.), marjoram Origanum vulgare (photo), the protected European columbine Aquilegia vulgaris (photo) and others. The damper areas have evolved into habitats for the great horsetail Equisetum telmateia (photo) – a legally protected species which is rather common here.Equally interesting is rthe colony of vesicle milk vetch Astragalus cicer, which in one place forms a carpet covering over 20 m². Scrub vegetation and minor wooded environments, called midfield woods, mainly appear on the former fields balks. These consist mainly of shrubs – the may rose, hedge maple, blackthorn Prunus spinosa and others. We can also find forest floor plants and trees characteristic of the leafy forests, dry-ground forests and beech forests of which they were once part.
The forests neighbouring the meadows to the south also form part of the ecological zone. These forests are close in character to the Mounds reserve, and are home to practically the same forest plant species apart from the hacquetia.
Within the Meadow Mounds ecological zone, the existence of almost forty rare or protected species of plants has been confirmed. In the meadowland on the Mounds we can observe most of the stages of succession, starting from vegetation initially growing up on the bare rock base, on soil which lacks a humus layer up to the final phases of shrub undergrowth transforming into forest habitats.
It is not easy to maintain the plant covering of the meadows on the Mounds in their current unaltered state. Meadow (non-forest) habitats are mainly semi-natural systems. They owe their existence toregular grazing by cattle, or to mowing, which hampers the development of shrub vegetation and consequently also of forestation. On this site a similar role, although on a smaller scale, is played by the destruction by motorcycle wheels of plants which are too prominent, a factor on the Mounds for nearly twenty years. Leaving the meadows without human interference would soon result in the whole area being overgrown with shrubs and then with trees. The forest could return within a matter of decades. Mowing every two or three years, grazing cattle and currently mechanically destroying random pieces of ground by motorcycle wheels disturb this natural process of evolving towards a forest.
Continued use of the motocross tracks, riding mountain bikes on the land and organising an assortment of sporting events such as orienteering should not result in any further fundamental harm to the plants and animals living in the Meadow Mounds ecological zone. As long, of course, as all these events are organised on an appropriate scale and keep to certain conditions, such as excluding the most valuable places, where most of the rare and protected species live, from intensive use. In fact, the continued use of this land in this way and on this scale is one of the conditions for retaining the rich diversity of species and numerous diverse plant habitats on the Meadow Mounds.
As it happens, “protect” does not always mean to leave completely in peace. Sometimes we have to “use” to protect and preserve natural treasures.
Mowing and grazing, and to a lesser extent making use of the motocross and mountain bike tracks, may seem at first glance to be wanton barbaric destruction of wild nature, but in the case of the Meadow Mounds ecological zone they are one of the ways to protect the natural environment which exists here, paradoxical as it may seem.
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It is worth finishing with a look at the little pond. Although it was created artificially, and quite recently, several species of water plants have already appeared in it. Notable here is the bulrush group Typhetum angustifoliae, among which the narrow-leaved bulrush Typha angustifolia (photo) predominates, and this is accompanied by other species of rush: the common spike rush Eleocharis palustris, the marsh bedstraw Galium palustre and the common water plantain Alisma plantago-aqnatica (ill.). The multicellular algae Chara fragilis also grow in the pond at a depth of 0.4 m, forming a characteristic underwater “meadow”. In summer, when the pond water dries up, this habitat dies off, only to be recreated without any problems when the conditions are right once again.
The role of this little pool of reservoir in an environment overgrown with forest and meadow vegetation cannot be overestimated. The pond is above all the site of procreation of the several species of amphibia living on this site.