Four-day pre-symposium excursion

The vegetation diversity of South Moravia (16–19 July 2015)

Price € 300
Guides: Milan Chytrý & Jiří Danihelka
This excursion departs from Hotel Voroněž in Brno (symposium venue) at 8:00 a.m. on 16 July and returns to the hotel in the late afternoon of 19 July to join the symposium’s welcome reception. We will visit the contrasting landscapes of South Moravia: (i) the Bohemian Massif, an ancient gently undulating granite-gneiss landscape dissected by deep river valleys, with deciduous forests, bogs, fen meadows, dry heathlands and acidophilous dry grasslands; (ii) a Pannonian region that represents the westernmost occurrence of the Eastern European forest-steppe biome characterised by steppe grasslands, oak woodlands and floodplain meadows; (iii) the Carpathians, represented in South Moravia by gentle hilly landscapes on flysch bedrock, with oak, hornbeam and beech forests and extensive areas of semi-dry hay meadows which are among the most species-rich plant communities in the world.

First day (16 July 2026) – Bohemian-Moravian Highlands

  • Departure from Brno
  • Žďár Hills (Žďárské vrchy): the Dářko Natural Nature Reserve with Padrtiny bog near Radostín, an ombrotrophic mire with the Central European endemic Pinus uncinata subsp. uliginosa (4 km walk)
  • Zelená hora near Žďár nad Sázavou: fens and fen meadows at the Louky u ÄŒerného lesa site and the nearby Baroque–Gothic Pilgrimage Church of St. John of Nepomuk at Zelená hora (UNESCO World Heritage Site) (2.5 km walk)
  • Mohelno Serpentinite Steppe: dry grasslands and pine forests on serpentinite outcrops in a deep valley of the Jihlava river (2.5 km walk)
Vascular plants in the Padrtiny pine bog
Plants of the Dářko National Nature Reserve – mires and grasslands between the Padrtiny bog and the hill Radostínský kopec
Plants of the Louky u Černého lesa Nature Monument
Plants of the Mohelno Serpentinite Steppe – dry grasslands and rock outcrops
Plants of the Mohelno Serpentinite Steppe – forests



Second day (17 July 2025) – Podyjí National Park
  • Havraníky-Znojmo heathlands: acidophilous dry grasslands and dry Calluna heathlands, the Dyje river valley with a range of different types of deciduous forests and the Å obes meander with ancient vineyard (7 km walk)
  • Pustý kopec near Konice: dry grassland on a granite elevation (short walk)
  • Kraví hora hill near Znojmo: dry Calluna heathlands (3.5 km walk)
  • The historical city of Znojmo
Plants of the Havraníky-Znojmo heathlands
Plants of the Å obes meander



Third day (18 July 2025) – Pannonian forest-steppe region
  • Svatý kopeček (“Holy Hill”) in the Pavlov Hills near Mikulov (part of the Dolní Morava UNESCO Biosphere Reserve): Stipa steppe on limestone and a Baroque pilgrimage chapel (2 km walk)
  • The historical town of Mikulov
  • Lednice Chateau Park: a landscape park in the Lednice–Valtice Cultural Landscape (UNESCO World Heritage Site) (3 km walk)
  • Hodonínská Dúbrava Wood near Hodonín: a species-rich oak forest on a sandy plain (5 km walk)
Plants of the Pavlov Hills
Plants of the Lednice Chateau Park
Plants of Hodonínská dúbrava Wood



Fourth day (19 July 2025) – White Carpathians (UNESCO Biosphere Reserve)
  • ÄŒertoryje meadows between Lučina and Malá Vrbka: this site holds the world record in fine-scale species richness (6 km walk)
  • Zahrady pod Hájem site near Velká nad Veličkou: dry grasslands, rare species of arable weeds, traditional fruit orchards (2 km walk)
  • Arrival in Brno
Plants of the Čertoryje and Zahrady pod Hájem meadows
Plants of the Čertoryje and Zahrady pod Hájem meadows – spring fen species
Plants of the Čertoryje and Zahrady pod Hájem meadows – arable weeds