June is the right time for sampling our permanent plots in "Moravian Sahara" - the NNR Váté písky. Since 2012, we have observed how the succession proceed on plots where the topsoil was removed to eradicate expansive Calamagrostis epigejos. The results are amazing! Most of the target and endangered species colonized these new sites immediately. The sites still remain open after five years thus serving as unique large-scale refugies for psamophilous species.
In addition to Váté písky, we have permanent plots also in nearby Bzenecká doubrava which burnt five years ago. In agreement with forestry administration, a small part of the burned forest was left for spontaneous development.
We thank Ivana Jongepierová for her help in the field, her hospitality and moral support, and Karel Fajmon for his help in the field and the photos!
On Wednesday, May 17 we transported sheep to the island in the Cep II sand pit. The sheep will again graze experimental plots for restoration of dry grasslands where bird's-foot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus) started to overgrow the psamophytic vegetation. This management is again carried out by our colleague Alča Bartošová and her fluffy "management tools". Their 6-day "holiday" ends on Monday and we greatly thank all the protagonists, this year for the third time. 
On Monday April 24, a one-day excursion to the Kosov quarry near Jihlava took place. This excursion was a part of Ecological restoration course taught by Klára Řehounková. Students had an opportunity to go through the quarry an explore it in detail - from the oldest parts with grown trees and nice forest species in the herb layer, to disturbed open plateaus, floors and shallow water pools.
Karel Prach is in the USA again, this time not for a half of a year, but only for a month. Karel was invited by a leading expert Prof. Lawrence Walker from the University of Nevada. Together, they write a book entitled "Comparative Plant Succession between Terrestrial Biomes of the World". The book will be finished during the first half of the next year and is going to be published in the Cambridge University Press.
This document, International Standards for the Practice of Ecological Restoration – including Principles and Key Concepts, provides standards to guide practitioners, operational personnel, planners, managers, regulators and funding agencies involved in restoring degraded ecosystems anywhere in the world – whether terrestrial, freshwater, coastal or marine. It places ecological restoration into a global context, including its role in conserving biodiversity and improving human wellbeing. Karel Prach is co-editor and you can download this document 
Our former student Lída Vlková succeeded in the 6th edition of a competition of projects for environmental protection "Jihočeská ratolest" with her master thesis. She won in the category of bachelor's and master's theses. In her study, Lída focuses on restoration of extracted peatland Soumarský most in the Šumava National Park which has been seriously damaged by peat extraction. She studied establishment of two species typical for peat bogs - bog cranberry (Vaccinium oxycoccos) and bog-rosemary (Andromeda polifolia). Congratulations Lída!
Mud on our boots has not dried yet - so hot this news is. We have established three flowering strips in the city park Stomovka in collaboration with the Municipality of České Budějovice. We prepared seed mixtures of native grassland species appropriate to moisture and soil conditions in the park. The seed mixtures were supplied by the German company 
Our working group participated in the Conference on Ecological Restoration with several talks and posters. Karel Prach started with a keynote speech and summarized the findings about spontaneous succession. This was followed by talks focused on successional stages emerging in post-mining sites and their importance for nature conservation (Klára Řehounková, Lenka Šebelíková). The possibility of using recreational activities as a low-cost tool for nature conservation in model localities in south Bohemia was presented in a special session chared by Klára Řehounková and Robert Tropek. The research of our group was also represented with two posters - Anna Müllerová addressed vegetation succession in wetland areas in sand pits and Kamila Lencová focused on determining of the potential for colonization of the central European flora in human disturbed sites.
