Na cvičišti Natural Monument: Mapping Protected Landscapes in the South Moravian Region

The history of Na cvičišti is closely tied to its long use as a military training ground, known locally as Cvičiště B, which began in the 1950s. During the Cold War era, military activity kept the landscape open, disturbed, and unsuitable for ordinary agricultural intensification or reforestation.

Over decades, this ongoing disturbance shaped an unusual habitat mosaic. Tracked vehicles, foot traffic, and recurrent clearances prevented woody plants from dominating and instead preserved a shifting patchwork of dry grassland, bare ground, ruderal vegetation, and scattered shrubs. Although the original military purpose was unrelated to nature conservation, the ecological side effect was a landscape of high value for species that depend on open, dry, sun-exposed conditions.

When military use of the territory ended, the area was recognized as a conservation priority. In 2016 it was officially declared a přírodní památka, and it was also integrated into the Natura 2000 network, placing its protection within both Czech and European frameworks.

Na cvičišti occupies part of the warm, low-lying Moravian countryside northeast of Mikulov, in a region with strong Pannonian climatic influence. The terrain is gently undulating and lies well below any true mountain or alpine character, instead belonging to the rolling agricultural and vineyard landscapes of southern Moravia.

What sets the site apart is not dramatic relief but the texture of its surface. The ground is broken into a fine mosaic of dry, sun-exposed open areas, patches of low grassy vegetation, stony or bare substrates, shrub clusters, and fragments of woody regrowth. There are no major rivers, cliffs, or large water bodies within the protected area; instead, the landscape's value lies in its openness and microhabitat variability.

Surrounding land use is dominated by agriculture and the vineyards typical of the Mikulov region. Within that context, the protected site stands out as a deliberately preserved island of dry, semi-natural habitat where the ground remains visible, the soil is largely intact, and the vegetation stays short and patchy rather than closed into forest.

Ecologically, Na cvičišti is defined by the interaction of dry grassland, steppic, ruderal, and early-successional communities. Broad-leaved dry grasslands, steppic glades, and ruderal vegetation form the core vegetation cover, with scattered shrubs and small woody stands adding structural variation rather than dominating the site.

The plant communities are unusually species-rich for such a small area. More than 300 plant species have been recorded, including characteristic grasses such as Brachypodium pinnatum and Dactylis glomerata, alongside steppic and dry-grassland specialists like Adonis vernalis, Stipa pennata, Thesium dollineri, and Inula ensifolia. The combination of grasses, herbs, and low-growing steppic flora gives the site a distinctly southern, open-country character.

A defining feature of the site is that this vegetation mosaic is dynamic. Early-successional stages and disturbed patches coexist with older dry-grassland stands, creating a constantly shifting pattern of microhabitats. That dynamism, originally driven by military activity and now maintained by management, is what allows so many specialized species to coexist in a relatively small area.

Wildlife at Na cvičišti reflects the open, dry, mosaic structure of the habitat. The site supports a particularly notable butterfly fauna: 66 species of day-flying butterflies have been recorded, and more than a third of them are protected. Species of conservation interest include Polyommatus daphnis and Thymelicus sylvestris, alongside a range of saproxylic and thermophilic insects such as the jewel beetle Anthaxia podolica and the ground beetle Calosoma sycophanta. The rare moth Eriogaster catax and oil beetles of the genus Meloe have also been documented.

The mosaic of open grassland and shrubby patches is equally important for birds. Species such as the corn bunting (Emberiza calandra) and the barred warbler (Sylvia nisoria) regularly breed here, both being associated with open or semi-open landscapes rather than closed forest. Their presence is itself an indicator of the habitat quality being maintained.

Taken together, the insect and bird communities make the site disproportionately valuable for its size. The combination of rare butterflies, saproxylic beetles, specialized moths, and ground-nesting birds tied to shrubby mosaics is characteristic of high-quality dry-grassland landscapes and is one of the main reasons the area is protected.

Conservation at Na cvičišti centers on safeguarding the specific mosaic of dry grasslands, steppic vegetation, and early-successional habitats that support the site's rare flora and fauna. The area is designated as a přírodní památka, a Czech natural monument classification that focuses on protecting particular natural features such as habitat mosaics and species-rich communities.

Its inclusion in the Natura 2000 network places the site within a wider European conservation framework, recognizing that its dry, sun-exposed habitat mosaic and its assemblages of butterflies, plants, and birds are of significance beyond the Czech Republic. Natura 2000 status also implies that the habitats and species for which the site is listed must be maintained in favorable condition.

The broader conservation value of the site is tightly linked to historical disturbance. Without continued management, the open, dry character would gradually be lost to shrub encroachment and reforestation, which would in turn erase the habitat conditions on which the rare species depend. Maintaining openness and habitat diversity is therefore the core conservation challenge, and active management is implicit in the site's protected designation.

Na cvičišti does not center on a strong cultural or ethnographic narrative. The site's identity is shaped primarily by its ecological history rather than by human settlement or traditional land use. Even so, the name itself reflects a specifically military-cultural past: the area is called Cvičiště, meaning training ground, after decades of use by the armed forces from the 1950s onward.

The surrounding region around Mikulov is well known in Czech culture for its wine-making tradition, historic architecture, and Pannonian-influenced landscape character. The protected site sits within that broader regional context but is valued for its natural qualities rather than for any built or traditional cultural features. There is no notable indigenous or community-based stewardship narrative attached to the site, so a deeper cultural interpretation would not be well grounded in the available sources.

The site's most distinctive highlight is that its ecological richness is the direct legacy of long-term military disturbance, which prevented forest closure and maintained an open mosaic of dry grassland and early-successional stages. This unusual origin story makes Na cvičišti an example of how disturbance-driven landscapes can become conservation assets when managed appropriately.

Equally notable is the site's biological concentration: more than 300 recorded plant species and 66 butterfly species, including a high proportion of protected taxa, packed into a protected area of roughly 55 hectares. The presence of steppic specialists such as Stipa pennata and Adonis vernalis, alongside protected birds like Sylvia nisoria and Emberiza calandra, makes the site a compact but exceptionally representative example of South Moravian dry-grassland biodiversity.

As a protected natural monument rather than a developed visitor destination, Na cvičišti is best appreciated through its seasonal character rather than through specific tourist seasons. Late spring and early summer generally bring the most expressive display of the dry grasslands and steppic flora, when grasses and characteristic herbs such as Adonis vernalis and Inula ensifolia are in active growth.

Summer is also the most productive period for observing butterflies and other insects, which are a major part of the site's conservation value. Early mornings and warm, settled weather tend to bring out the greatest variety of butterfly activity. Outside the growing season, the site retains its open, mosaic character but loses much of its visible flowering and insect interest, making late spring through mid-summer the most rewarding window for a visitor interested in the area's natural features.