Kněhyně-Čertův mlýn
Kněhyně-Čertův mlýn is a national nature reserve in the east of the Czech Republic . It includes the summit areas of two mountains in the Moravian-Silesian Beskids : the Kněhyně (1257 m nm) and the Čertův mlýn (1206 m nm). Various types of natural mountain forests have been preserved in the 195 hectare reserve. The terrain is characterized by rocks and pseudokarst phenomena.
Geography and geology
The protected area lies at an altitude of 940 to 1257 m nm in the mountainous region of Radhošťská hornatina , a sub-unit of the Moravian-Silesian Beskids. It belongs to the ChKO Beskydy Protected Landscape Area as its largest reserve. 143 hectares of the site belong to the municipality of Čeladná , Okres Frýdek-Místek , and 52 hectares to the municipality of Prostřední Bečva , Okres Vsetín . The area is undeveloped and unpopulated.
The underground consists of flysch complexes , Godula layers are predominantly represented. The typical phenomena here are broken rocks, pseudokarst caves and gorges. The steep slopes are littered with boulders, which partly take on the character of rocky seas. The predominant soil type are flat podsoles . Five caves with a length of five to 74 meters are known at Čertův mlýn. A number of caves were also found on the summit of Kněhyně during investigations between 1975 and 1988. The largest of them, Mariánka, reaches a length of 47 meters. The Kněhyňská jeskyně cave system with 280 meters of accessible passages is already outside the reserve on the south- eastern slope of the mountain.
Flora and fauna
There are three types of forest in the reserve. In the lower areas there are beech forests of the Dentario-enneaphylli-Fagetum type (whorl-tooth-root-red beech forest). The common beech dominates them, with sycamore maple , silver fir and spruce mixed in . In the herb layer the whorl-leaved tooth root , eared St. Christopher's herb , forest sanicle , onion tooth root , forest barley and blueberry grow . At higher altitudes, the stock changes into a high-montane sycamore-beech forest of the Aceri-Fagetum type . The mountain lady fern , plane-leaved buttercup and alpine lettuce thrive here . Mountain spruce forest of the Athyrio-alpestris-Piceion type can be found in the summit areas . In addition to spruce, rowan berries are common, the herb layer is dominated by ferns. Rib fern and woolly riding grass are often found here, for example . One of the peculiarities of the local flora is the occurrence of the monkshood Aconitum firmum subsp. Moravicum , which is not found in the Czech Republic outside of the Moravian-Silesian Beskids.
The mountain forests serve as a habitat for some rare bird species, for example the hazel grouse and the three-toed woodpecker . The capercaillie was native here until the 1980s, but has now disappeared from the reserve. A number of species of mice such as the forest birch mouse have been recorded here in small mammals, the lynx , the stone marten and the brown bear have already been observed several times in large mammals . The caves are important winter quarters for bats. At the regular censuses were the lesser horseshoe bat , the greater mouse-eared , the Daubenton's bat and the brown long-eared encountered here.
Ecological and touristic importance
The pass that connects the two peaks and the lower slopes served as sheep pastures in the past. The forests in the higher elevations were not used for forestry due to their inaccessibility and have retained their natural composition. The stocks are around 160 to 180 years old. The oldest layer of trees has largely died, and successful natural regeneration can be observed in places. The south-eastern slope of the Čertův mlýn and the western slope of the Kněhyně were, however, heavily damaged by immissions in the 1970s and 1980s , cut down and reforested. The reserve is accessible on marked hiking trails.
Web links
Coordinates: 49 ° 29 ′ 34 ″ N , 18 ° 18 ′ 18 ″ E