Kosířské lomy (literally "Kosíř quarries") is a national nature monument in the

Olomouc Region Olomouc Region (; , ; ) is an administrative unit () of the Czech Republic, located in the north-western and central part of its historical region of Moravia (''Morava'') and in a small part of the historical region of Czech Silesia (''České Sl ...

of the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

Location

The monument is made up of four separate areas. There were three separate nature monuments (Státní lom, Růžičkův lom and Vápenice) until 2017. The area is administered by the Nature and Landscape Protection Agency of the Czech Republic. The former area of Vápenice, located in

Slatinky Slatinky is a municipality and village in Prostějov District in the Olomouc Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 600 inhabitants. Geography Slatinky is located about north of Prostějov and southwest of Olomouc. It lies on the border betw ...

, is the largest part of Kosířské lomy. Two parts are located in

Čelechovice na Hané Čelechovice na Hané is a municipality and village in Prostějov District in the Olomouc Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 1,300 inhabitants. Administrative division Čelechovice na Hané consists of three municipal parts (in brackets po ...

. Kosířské lomy lies within the Velký Kosíř

nature park A nature park, or sometimes natural park, is a designation for a protected area by means of long-term land planning, sustainable resource management and limitation of agricultural and real estate developments. These valuable landscapes are pres ...

Description

Bedrock of Kosířské lomy consists of Devonian dolomites and the Lažánky

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

, which are partly covered by Badenian (mid-

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...

) calcareous

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...

s and

sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is usually defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural ...

s. This is the reason why the area has become an enclave of lime-tolerant ( calciphile) vegetation. The locality is protected because of the rare

plant community A plant community is a collection or Association (ecology), association of plant species within a designated geographical unit, which forms a relatively uniform patch, distinguishable from neighboring patches of different vegetation types. The comp ...

, especially hot dry (xerothermic)

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominance (ecology), dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes such as clover, and other Herbaceo ...

s, growing on terrain bumps, which are remnants of former minor limestone quarries (which gave Vápenice its Czech name). Beside them there used to be a number of little fields and pastures for livestock. Some of the balks which used to separate the fields are preserved and help to prevent erosion. There are also some residues of

orchard An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit tree, fruit- or nut (fruit), nut-producing trees that are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also so ...

s in the northern part of the area. Vapenice koniklec

Steppe-like vegetation grows here mostly. The place is also valued as one of the richest populations of greater anemone (''Pulsatilla grandis'') in

Central Moravia Central Moravia () is an area of the Czech Republic defined by the Republic's Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics, level NUTS 2. It is formed by the Olomouc Region and Zlín Region. It covers an area of 9 231 km2 and 1,213,608 inhabita ...

; in the 2004 census, 19,699 blooms were counted here. Other notable plants growing here are snowdrop anemone (''Anemone sylvestris''), European Michaelmas daisy (''Aster amellus''), sickle hare's ear (''Bupleurum falcatum''), Blue Sedge (''Carex flacca''), Downy-fruited Sedge (''Carex tomentosa''), ''

Carex michelii ''Carex michelii'' is a species of sedge (family Cyperaceae), native to central, southern and eastern Europe, Turkey, the Caucasus, and Iran. It is typically found in semiarid grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominanc ...

'', European dwarf cherry (''Prunus fruticosa''), ''

Dorycnium herbaceum ''Lotus herbaceus'' is a herbaceous perennial plant belonging to the genus '' Lotus'' of the family Fabaceae Fabaceae () or Leguminosae,field cow-wheat (''Melampyrum arvense''), spiny restharrow (''Ononis spinosa''),

military orchid ''Orchis militaris'', the military orchid, is a species of orchid native to Europe. It is the type species of the genus ''Orchis''. Description This plant grows to a height of 20 to 50 cm with a robust stem with rather drawn up oblong ...

(''Orchis militaris''), knapweed broomrape (''Orobanche elatior''), ''

Pilosella macrantha ''Pilosella'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. It includes approximately 250 species native to temperate Eurasia and northwestern Africa. Some sources include it within the genus ''Hieracium''. Species , Plants of the Wor ...

'', ''

Primula veris ''Primula veris'', the cowslip, common cowslip, or cowslip primrose (syn. ''Primula officinalis'' John Hill (author), ), is a herbaceous perennial flowering plant in the Primula vulgaris, primrose family (biology), family Primulaceae. The specie ...

'' subsp. ''canescens'', fragrant scabious (''Scabiosa canescens'') and '' Thesium dollineri''. Bigger stones are covered by saxicolous

lichen A lichen ( , ) is a hybrid colony (biology), colony of algae or cyanobacteria living symbiotically among hypha, filaments of multiple fungus species, along with yeasts and bacteria embedded in the cortex or "skin", in a mutualism (biology), m ...

s, which are an important indicator of the level of air pollution. The grasslands need to be maintained and shrubs of

black locust ''Robinia pseudoacacia'', commonly known as black locust, is a medium-sized hardwood deciduous tree, belonging to the tribe Robinieae of the legume family Fabaceae. It is native to a few small areas of the United States, but it has been widely pl ...

(''Robinia pseudacacia''), common dogwood (''Cornus sanguinea'') and European privet (''Ligustrum vulgare'') have to be regularly removed here. Weed vegetation of the '' Caucalidion lappulae'' alliance can be found at the edges of some surrounding fields, including rare species summer pheasant's-eye (''Adonis aestivalis''), poorman's weatherglass (''Anagallis foemina''), '' Caucalis platycarpos'', hare's ear mustard (''Conringia orientalis''), longleaf (''Falcaria vulgaris'') and '' Thymelaea passerina''. Kosířské lomy is also important from an entomological point of view. There live a number of insects dependent on the local shrub-steppe grasslands. Some of notable species which were observed here are for example

European mantis The European mantis (''Mantis religiosa'') is a large hemimetabolic insect in the Mantidae family, which is the largest family of the order Mantodea (mantises). Their common name praying mantis is derived from the distinctive posture of the firs ...

(''Mantis religiosa'') and moth Jersey tiger (''Euplagia quadripunctaria''). The area of the locality is and it lies 264–318 metres above sea level. It has been protected as a national nature monument of the Czech Republic since 5 April 2017, when its status was declared by the Regional Authority of the

. The locality was also registered by the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

in the category IV (habitat management area) and together with other abandoned limestone quarries at the slopes of Velký Kosíř was included among the Natura 2000 sites under the name Kosířské lomy, code CZ0714076. One of the reasons for listing it is that the locality is valued as an important

orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Orchids are cosmopolitan plants that are found in almost every habitat on Eart ...

site.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kosirske lomy Prostějov District Protected areas in Olomouc Region IUCN Category IV Natura 2000 in the Czech Republic