Dominova skalka, or what grows on serpentinite
Serpentinite rocks are an inhospitable soil-forming substrate for plants because serpentinite is nutrient-poor and also weathers with difficulty. The soil formed by its weathering contains a high percentage of heavy metals, which, in high concentrations, cause the inhibition of plant growth.
Serpentinite contains very little calcium, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium; therefore, serpentinite soils are extremely nutrient-poor for plants. Conversely, they have a high concentration of magnesium and certain heavy metals (e.g., nickel, chromium, and cobalt), which occur only in trace amounts elsewhere. The entire vegetation thus has a rather distinct character, referred to as the „serpentinite phenomenon“. The serpentinite substrate is so specific for plants that the adaptation of certain species no longer allows them to grow on other soil types. And over the course of millennia, some of them have evolved into separate species. One of them is the crowfoot chickweed (Cerastium alsinifolium), the greatest rarity of the Mnichov serpentinites. It grows only on the local serpentinites and cannot be found anywhere else in the world – such species are designated as endemics. The chickweed likes to grow on the rocky terraces of serpentinite outcrops, but it forms its largest populations in springs and damp clearings within serpentinite forests. Two local rock ferns are also specialized to serpentinite – the serpentine spleenwort (Asplenium adulterinum) and the alternate-leaved spleenwort (Asplenium cuneifolium). Serpentinite rocks are also home to very distinctive communities of lichens. The most faithful companions of serpentinite outcrops are two rare rocky microlichens – Pannaria conoplea and Porpidia nadvornikiana.
Dominova skalka Nature Monument
The Dominova skalka Nature Monument was declared in 1989. It was named after the Czech botanist Karel Domin, who explored the flora of the Slavkovský les (Slavkov Forest) at the beginning of the 20th century.
As recently as the 1950s, the entire area had a non-forested character, and most of the locality was covered by heathland with scattered pines. In the second half of the 20th century, woody plants gradually expanded, and today’s serpentinite pine forest was formed. Thanks to conservation management interventions, only the main serpentinite outcrop in the northeastern part of the area preserved its non-forested character, which was still covered by heathland at the end of the 20th century. However, this also gradually disappeared as a result of excessive grazing by overpopulated forest game, which destroys the shrubby vegetation. The most serious problem is the winter grazing of the non-native Sika deer, due to which the former dominant species of the local heathlands – the winter heath (Erica carnea) – has almost vanished from Dominova skalka.
The former heathlands have been partially replaced by short-grass turf communities. They grow mainly on shallow soils and are home to some thermophilic (warm-loving) species whose occurrence at this altitude (757 m) is remarkable. The most significant of them are the black-spotted grasshopper (Stenobothrus nigromaculatus) and the smooth snake (Coronella austriaca).
A botanical interest of the area is the clearly visible hybridization of the rare endemic crowfoot chickweed (Cerastium alsinifolium) with the common field mouse-ear chickweed (Cerastium arvense). While the crowfoot chickweed grows on rocky terraces, trampled places on shallow soils are home to the field mouse-ear chickweed. The majority of the local chickweeds are then formed by hybrids between these parent species, and they mostly grow at the base of the rock outcrops.
In the 1950s, when the local area was part of the Prameny Military Training Area, a military camp used to stand on the meadow south of Dominova skalka. The trenches located across the road also date from the same period.
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