Botanical garden will be enriched with dozens of aquatic and wetland plant species

Over the next two years, approximately sixty plant species will be added to the Botanical Garden of the Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, most of them originating from South Moravia. In addition to native species, visitors will also be able to see non-native plants that commonly spread in the Czech countryside, as well as exotic species that do not occur naturally in the region.

“It is becoming a modern trend for botanical gardens to collect endangered or otherwise significant species from their surrounding areas and thereby contribute to their conservation. In addition to endangered and rare species, we also want to include common plants so that visitors and students can see what typical wetland vegetation looks like,” says Jaroslav Rohel, a PhD student in botany and the principal investigator of the Community Fund project.

The project, which is linked to the renovation of the garden’s ponds, aims to establish a genetic resource collection of aquatic and wetland plants, with the origin of every individual plant carefully documented.

“Just as a herbarium specimen without collection locality data is practically worthless, a plant in a botanical garden with an unknown origin has only limited value,” notes Rohel.

However, when researchers know the exact provenance of plants, they can potentially reintroduce them into the wild if natural populations disappear. “It is similar to how zoological gardens manage endangered animal species and later return them to their natural habitats.”

The botanical garden is more than one hundred years old, and many of its plants have been growing there since its establishment. Unfortunately, records of their exact origin are often unavailable.

“Paradoxically, it is not the mature trees but perennial species such as Adonis and pasque flowers that were probably collected by the garden’s founder, Professor Podpěra, himself,” says Magdaléna Chytrá, Head of the Botanical Garden.

Over the past fifteen years, the garden has gradually been replacing plants of unknown origin with specimens collected primarily in South Moravia.

“The renovation of the ponds now provides an opportunity to make a major change specifically within the group of aquatic and wetland species,” adds Chytrá, noting that the team is eager to take advantage of this opportunity.

According to Rohel, plants with clearly documented provenance can also serve students much more effectively, whether for exam preparation, experiments, or other educational purposes.

“Knowing the origin of plant material used in scientific studies and research projects is an international standard,” he adds.

Improved access to the ponds and new educational panels

“The collection is being created entirely from scratch, and there will be more space for the plants because twenty ponds on the opposite side of the large basin will also be restored,” explains Chytrá. Water should no longer flow from one pond to another, helping prevent species from mixing.

The new ponds on the sunlit side of the basin will be designed primarily for floating plants such as duckweeds and pondweeds, which have not previously been represented in the garden’s collection.

Access to the ponds will also be improved, allowing visitors to observe the species at close range.

“We are also considering discontinuing fish keeping, as the fish were largely ornamental. In reality, visitors tend to pay more attention to the fish than to the plants. Fish also enrich the water with nutrients, which is undesirable. Without fish, populations of aquatic insects and other invertebrates could increase,” Chytrá explains.

The collection will also include educational panels providing visitors with information not only about the plants themselves but also about the habitats in which they naturally occur.

Wetland plants will additionally be featured in a new layer of the MaZel GIS application, helping visitors navigate the garden more easily.

“I would like this collection to show people not only the vulnerability of wetland habitats but also to spark their interest and enthusiasm. Even now, many animal species inhabit the waters of the botanical garden, which always makes me happy when I visit. With the expansion and restoration of the ponds, there may soon be even more wildlife for visitors to observe,” Rohel concludes.