Basic terms of the One Nature Project
We work with different terms from different branches in the One Nature Project. Here we present the most basic and commonly used ones that you can find on our website and in the Project outcomes.
Biodiversity, biological diversity
means the richness of living nature, i.e. the general diversity of life in all its forms. It is comprised of four levels: genetic (refers to the richness of genes in a population of a given species), species-related (determined by the number of species of animals, plants, and micro-organisms), ecosystem-related (defines the dissimilarity of different ecosystems) and functional (functional diversity of species – different species have different functions in an ecosystem).
Biotope vs. natural habitat vs. ecosystem
A biotope is a collection of all living and non-living actors that interact to create the environment of an individual, species, population or community and that meet the requirements characteristic of plant and animal species; This also concerns the national unit of biotope mapping that is more refined than the European unit (habitat).
A natural habitat is defined as a natural or semi-natural terrestrial or aquatic area that is delimited based on the geographical characteristics of living and non-living nature. A natural habitat is a taxonomic unit at the EU level and it usually comprises several habitats mapped at a national level.
An ecosystem is a functional system of living and non-living environmental media that are linked by the exchange of substances, the flow of energy and the transfer of information, and that interact and evolve over space and time.
Ecosystem services (ES)
are the benefits that nature and ecosystems provide directly or indirectly to people. We use the more recent term Benefits of Nature to People as a synonym. There are various subdivisions, for example into the following kinds of benefits:
1. material, e.g. providing food, raw materials, water,
2. non-material, e.g. providing conditions for recreation and regeneration, providing cultural, artistic and spiritual stimuli,
3. regulatory, e.g. pollination, climate regulation including mitigation of climate change impacts, habitat creation and maintenance.
Examples of specific benefits of Natura 2000 are given on the website of the same name.
Ecosystem services assessment
is a set of methods developed over a long period of time in the scientific community to reflect the importance of natural processes to humans. The assessment can be carried out in biophysical units (for example, the amount of fish in a lake or the amount of rainwater retained in a given ecosystem to help avert an impending flood). Many ecosystem services can also be expressed in monetary terms based on the direct and indirect links they have on human society and the economy (for example, saving costs or providing regeneration). Expressing the value of ecosystem services aims at influencing their full appreciation by the public and politicians.
Protected areas
is a geographically delimited part of nature and landscape where we aim at maintaining or improving the local target feature´s status through conservation and management measures. In the Czech Republic, we distinguish between what is called especially protected areas in the CR and European Natura 2000 sites, which overlap with the especially protected areas as many protected areas are valuable for the conservation of both Czech and European nature.
Natura 2000 sites are:
– A Site of Community Importance (SCI) is a site designated for the protection of natural habitats, wild fauna and flora in accordance with Annex I of the Habitats Directive; there are 1,113 Sites of Community Importance in the Czech Republic.
– A Special Protection Area (SPA) is designated for the protection of birds on the basis of the Birds Directive; it is the most suitable area for the protection of selected bird species in terms of their occurrence, status and abundance of populations and also of regularly occurring migratory species; there are 41 SPAs in the Czech Republic.
The especially protected areas are:
– A national park (NP) is a large area, unique on the national or international level, a significant part of which is occupied by natural ecosystems or ecosystems little affected by human activity, and in which plants, animals and non-living nature are of exceptional scientific and educational importance; there are four national parks in the Czech Republic.
– A protected landscape area (PLA) is a large area with a harmoniously formed landscape, a characteristically developed relief, a significant proportion of natural ecosystems of forest and permanent grassland, with an abundance of tree species and, where appropriate, preserved monuments of historical settlement; there are 26 protected landscape areas in the Czech Republic.
– A National Natural Monument is a natural formation of smaller area, especially a geological or geomorphological formation, a site of minerals or rare or endangered species in fragments of ecosystems, of national or international ecological, scientific, or aesthetic significance, including those which have been shaped by human activity together with nature; there are 125 national natural monuments in the Czech Republic (as of 13th July 2021).
– A National Nature Reserve is a smaller area of exceptional natural values where ecosystems of national or international importance and uniqueness are linked to a natural relief with a typical geological structure. There are 111 national nature reserves in the Czech Republic (as of 13th July 2021).
– A natural monument is a natural formation of a smaller area, especially a geological or geomorphological formation, a site of rare minerals or endangered species in fragments of ecosystems, of regional ecological, scientific, or aesthetic significance, including those which have been shaped by human activity together with nature; there are 1,591 natural monuments in the Czech Republic (as of 13th July 2021).
– A nature reserve is a smaller area of concentrated natural values with the representation of ecosystems typical and significant for the relevant geographical area; there are 815 nature reserves in the Czech Republic (as of 13th July 2021).
Target feature
defines the focus of a particular area in terms of protection and management; usually this is a species, natural habitat, community or part of non-living nature.
Benefits of nature to people
See the concept of Ecosystem Services above.
Management of protected areas and target features
This concerns the provision of practical management of nature and landscape, i.e., ensuring interventions that enhance the biodiversity of sites that are valuable biologically and in terms of landscape (protected areas) or specific plant or animal species and habitats. It also includes measures to mitigate the impacts of climate change on aquatic, forest, and non-forest ecosystems.
Financial instruments for/financing of nature conservation projects are also part of the management. They represent all available subsidy programmes and other financial sources that support the provision of nature conservation and landscape management in the Czech Republic; for an overview of the main sources see the website Protected Areas Management.
Habitat mapping in the Czech Republic
is the collection of unique data on the state of nature, coordinated and managed by the Nature Conservation Agency (NCA) of the Czech Republic. It results in a periodically updated habitat mapping layer. The processed area-uniform basis shows the vegetation cover on the territory of the whole country and enables a number of statistical analyses. The unit of the habitat mapping layer are habitats defined by the publication Habitat Catalogue of the Czech Republic.
The data obtained comprise one of the sources of the Nature Conservancy Information System (NCIS, website is in Czech), which also includes the Digital Register of the Central List of Nature Conservation (in Czech), providing information on, inter alia, especially protected areas, Natura 2000 sites, monumental trees, etc.
