Cross-border cooperation: New project records the “Flora of the Bohemian Forest”

Little is known about the biodiversity of plants of the Bohemian Forest (Šumava). The research project “Flora of the Bohemian Forest”, which has been launched, aims to comprehensively investigate the plant diversity in this biologically unique area. Cooperation partners of the project are the Bavarian Natural History Collections (SNSB) with the SNSB IT Center, and the Bavarian State Collection for Botany (SNSB-BSM), the Chair of Botany of the University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, and the two national parks, the Bavarian Forest and Šumava.

“Despite a long tradition of floristic research in this region in both countries, there has been no overall cross-border survey so far,” explains Cornelia Straubinger, responsible for the project at the Bavarian Forest National Park. The Bohemian Forest extends beyond the two national parks the Bavarian Forest and Šumava, from the area of the Großer Arber to the Austrian Mühlviertel. The German-Czech team of scientists has set itself the goal of working together to compile and process historical floristic data of the region and to supplement the current plant diversity with new mapping. “We want to use and establish standardized methods for inventorying plants across borders,” said Straubinger.

The collected data on the current and historical distribution, as well as the frequency of the vascular plant species of the Šumava, will be available to the public after the evaluation by experts – on a joint online portal in Czech and German. The consolidation of all information is of great importance in order to be able to develop suitable measures for species and ecosystem protection on both sides of the border. This also includes monitoring the population evolution of rare and endangered species. A large number of the plants in the national park are endangered or even threatened with extinction such as the “leathery moonwort” (Botrychium multifidum) and the “Bohemian gentian” (Gentianella bohemica Skalický).

“Modern research methods provide new insights into the evolution and ecology of endangered species. In this way, we hope to increase the public willingness to take responsibility for their conservation,” says Wolfgang Diewald, project staff member at the Bavarian State Collection for Botany (SNSB-BSM).

The IT-center of the Bavarian Natural History Collections (SNSB) is responsible for managing and processing the data. It forms the interface between the German and Czech database systems. For GPS-accurate collection of observation data, the DiversityMobile app developed by the SNSB IT center is routinely used in the Šumava project. “Our app forms an important component of the data flow” enthuses Dagmar Triebel, head of the IT center and project coordinator at the SNSB.

The project “Flora of the Bohemian Forest” is a measure for cross-border cooperation between the Free State of Bavaria and the Czech Republic, and it is funded within the framework of the EU Interreg initiative. On the Bavarian side the program is managed by the government of Lower Bavaria. All data are also available to the long-term monitoring project “Flora of Bavaria”.

Contact

Dr. Dagmar Triebel
Botanische Staatssammlung München und SNSB IT-Zentrum
Menzinger Straße 67
80638 München
Tel.: 089-17861-252
Email: triebel@snsb.de

Further information in the Bayernflora Wiki:
https://wiki.bayernflora.de/web/Flora_Silvae_Gabretae_%E2%80%93_Flora_des_B%C3%B6hmerwaldes_%E2%80%93_Kv%C4%9Btena_%C5%A0umavy