Why?

Why do we do it?

The completely forested Lesni potok catchment extends in the Czech Republic, central Europe. This part of the world was impacted by many kinds of anthropogenic activities throughout the last centuries. Phenomenons such as heavy industry, power generation, agriculture, traffic etc. have strongly influenced the cycling of elements. Many natural processes, such as immission fluxes, weathering, soil formation, distribution of the elements between the solid and liquid phases, their metabolic cycling by the vegetation etc. became significantly affected and changed. The environment became an important issue in the Czech Republic after 1989 and the state of our environment is since that time intensively studied.

This catchment is a part of the small catchment network monitoring directed by Dr. Dana Fottova (Czech Geological Survey). We are thankful to Mrs. Fottova that we can use and present her data on Lesni Potok catchment.

The research is being supported by grant projects of Grant Agency of CR, Grant Agency of the CAS and grants of the Ministry of Environment.

The aim of our monitoring program is before all:

• to obtain reliable data concerning the chemical composition of the main components in the studied system (the catchment, representing a typical model landscape) such as of the bedrock, soil cover, surface- and subsurface water, and the vegetation,
• to evaluate the main fluxes of selected elements, including H+ into- and out of the system (in the bulk precipitation and water discharge), between the individual components (in the throughfall, litterfall, etc.) and to assess their temporal changes,
• to improve the knowledge of the above mentioned natural processes and
• to provide corresponding data for the integrated monitoring system of small catchments in the Czech Republic.