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Roztocký Háj - Tiché údolí (Roztoky Grove - Quiet Valley) Nature Reserve

Principal data The valley of the Únětický potok brook and adjacent slopes and plateaux in the respective cadastres. Cadasters: Roztoky nr. Prague (district Prague-West), Suchdol and Prague 6. Area: 114.2343 ha. Elevation: 195 - 300 m above sea level. Established by the Ordinance of the Ministry of Education No. IX-357-2-51 of August 10, 1951, the Ordinance of the Ministry of Education No. 100.988/51 of September 9, 1951, and the Ordinance of the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic No. 14 200/88 of November 29, 1988.

Reason of establishment, principal motive of protection Protection of the general character of the landscape, indigenous flora, minor fauna and geological formations.

Geology, geomorphology, pedology The bedrock consists of Proterozoic rocks with the prevalence of greywackes, siltstones and shales and a powerful strip of lydites (silicites in the west. There are also veins of porphyric and basalt rocks. Loamy and stony screes, deluvium, loess with rankers and brown earths on top, relics of tropic weathering. Dispersed boulders below lyditeridges.

Botany Large woods with alternating cow-wheat oak and hornbeam, woodrush oak, heather oak and hornbeam and maple woods. The formerly mown valley meadows change spontaneously into alder woods. The northern bare slopes used to be covered with large heaths which receded after forestation. Similarly the acidophilous rocky steppes and sandy areas on southern slopes are becoming overgrown with shrubs - hawthorn, dog rose, blackthorn and in succession sequence with ash and oak trees. The number of important species includes Corydalis pumila in oak and hornbeam wood, Alyssum montanum on the prophyrite vein, Biscutella varia on the diabase vein, and Corynephorus canescens and Helichrysum arenarium on sandy terraces.

Zoology The wood is partly natural and continuous (testified to by the presence of Acalles comutatus), partly artificial, including alien wood species (false acacia, red oak, and others). This is reflected also in invertebrate fauna: typical and significant species can be found in natural parts of the forest only. The number of ground beetles includes e.g. Amara nitida, Poecilus virens, Pterostichus burmeisteri and Abax ovalis, the number of phytophagous leaf beetles e.g. Clytra quadripunctata, Cryptocephalus marginatus, Phylotreta ochripes and Aphtona cyanella, the snout beetles the terricolous Brachysomus echinatus, Trachodes hispidus. The oaks host Polydrusus marginatus and Curculio pellitus, the hazel Curculio nucum, the elm Magdalis armigera, the scots pine Polydrusus impar and others. Plectophloeus erichsoni erichsoni from the Pselaphidae family was found here. The butterfly species include e.g. the swallow-tail (Papilio machaon) and the scarce swallowtail (Iphiclides podalirius), the small tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae) and the garden tiger (Arctia caja). The gastropods are represented by Perforatella bidentata. Numerous vertebrate specis, especially birds. Nesting site of the green and the grey woodpeckers and the wryneck. There are about 50 species of passerines including the icterine warbler, the serin, the bullfinch, the goldfinch and the yellow-hammer. Some 20 mammal species. However, the suslik and the hamster have disappeared.

Forestry The better part of the area (over 100 ha) is covered with mixed woods at present with the prevalence of oaks (42.5%), pines (21.4%), hornbeams (10.9%) and birches (7.7%). The admixture of the red oak propagates intensively by shoots. Inadequate wood species planted after the Second World War devastated completely some valuable areas, such as the area covered with Filipendula ulmaria below the Kozí hřbety ridge.

Notes The forest was influenced anthropically as early as in the prehistorc time. There is a Hallstatt mound burial ground on the plateau. The slopes were used as pastures and subjected to secondary forestation only at the beginning of the 20th century. The area is threatened by heavy tourist traffic (from the nearby city). Forest management conforms with the approved forest management plan. Accidental tree felling, hunting, grazing. There is an educational track through the reserve.

Bibliography Kubíková (1985), Kubíková, Molíková (1980).


Hollow willow trees
Hollow willow trees along the Únětický potok brook.

Hedgehogs
Hedgehogs belong to frequent inhabitants of Prague area.

A Quiet Valley...
A "Quiet Valley" can be found even in Prague.

The woods consist mostly of leaf trees
The woods in the nature reserve of Roztoky Grove - Quiet Valley consist mostly of leaf trees.

The Únětický Potok Brook...
The Únětický Potok Brook has carved its bed mostly in Proterozoic rocks.

The Roztoky Grove
The Roztoky Grove - Quiet Valley (PR).


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