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N A P A N T
National Park Low Tatras
The National Park Low Tatras was declared in 1978 as a third national park in Slovakia. It came about after 30 years from the declaration of the first national park – The Tatras National Park (TANAP).
The first protectionist opinions to preserve the rare karst landforms expressed already national leaders such as Dionýz Štúr or G. F. Belopotocký at the end of the 18th century.
Waters
The region of the Low Tatras belongs to major sources of the drinking water in Slovakia. All torrents, streams and little rivers stream down to two main courses. The southern slopes are dewatered by Hron, the northern slopes by Váh and Black Váh. (Váh is the name of the river that arises after the confluence of Black and White Váh.) Only a small part of the Low Tatras – the eastern slopes of the mountain Králova hola – is dewatered by Hnilec. A large area of the Low Taras was declared protected water management area.
Also in the Low Tatras several mountain lakes have retained. The largest is Vrbické pleso with the area of 680 m2. The rest of the mountain lakes are small, some of them during the dry season completely disappear.
Flora
People have been interested in the vegetation of the Low Tatras already since long ago. At first they were motivated by the living needs that were related to looking for livehood, later this motivation overgrew into looking for specific spieces that could be used in folk healing.
At that time most of the territory was covered by forest. At lower elevations dominated leaf and mixed forest with the European beech, European silver fir, Norway spruce. In the herbaceous layer prevailed common wood sorrel, early-dog violet, purple rattlesnake root, nine-leaved coral-wort, coral root, dog’s mercury, ramsons (bear’s garlic, wild garlic, ...), common snowdrop. On the slopes covered by debris there grew a relatively large population of sycamore and ash, at lower elevations European (or common) hornbeam. Over higher parts of the mountains got control the spruce. Between the spruce trees grew common male fern, lady fern, (round leaved) daisy, sidebells wintergreen, more rarely stiff clubmoss and creeping lady’s tresses (dwarf rattlesnake plantain). At the highest places of the ridge of the Low Tatras don’t grow any higher trees and bushes, which is caused by the harsh climate. Of the trees there can survive only miniature to the ground pushed willowtrees or small shrublets of red huckleberry. Herbs of grassy appearance prevail, e.g. pyrenean bent, tufted fescue but your attention will be drawn also by the vividly coloured alpine bell, least primrose, ...
The original character of the vegetation has been preserved only at remote, unaccessible or unexploitable places. Here a number of interesting, rare and protected species have kept up until now such as trumpet gentian, edelweiss, auricula primrose (bear’s ear), early pink, bearberry and pasqua flower.
Only in the area of Salatín one can find round leaved saxifrage, shady ragwort and three-leaved cuckoo flower. The slopes covered by debris at the foot of the cliffs are almost without vegetation.
But the vegetation was due to the intervention of the man significantly altered at many places. The cut down forests and the burned out dwarf pine are substituted by fields, meadow and grazing communities. As a result of the gradually vanishing agriculture the meadows are disappearing due to growing and along with this bird’s eye primrose, bog violet, round leaved sundew (common sundew) are becoming increasingly rare.
From the 14th to the 17th century the mountain areas of the Low Tatras hit the Walachian colonization. The dwarf pine overgrowths were cleared out giving rise to clear-cut areas used for seasonal grazing of the farmanimals. As a consequence of the dropping concentration and the soil supersaturation with nitrogen and phosphorus there arose communities with the dominant monk’s rhubarb, stinging nettle and berg distel (kletten distel).
As among the floristic attractions are classed cyclamen fatrense, a form of European cyclamen, larkspur Tatra, pink gloss, saxifrage assiduous, alpine azalea and many other. For vesper Slovak and the moss Tatra ochyrea are the Low Tatras the only place in the world where they can be found.
Fungi
Low Tatras belong to regions with the highest number of registered fungi in Slovakia. At lower elevations and on meadows one can find commonly growing species – boletus [summer cep, penny bun (porcino, cep), boletus sina, blacksmith mushroom], suchohríby - Xerocomus (red cracking bolete, bay bolete), talces (bovine bolete cow, slippery Jack, weeping bolete, velvet bolete), toadstools (fly Amanita, toadstool royal, death cap), various kinds of russulas, dancers, lactaria, tricholomas.
To interesting findings belong winter stalkball, pallid suillus and Satan’s mushroom (devil’s bolete). In the mixed forest is relatively abundant pale chick. In the forests growing in the mountains and at the foothills one can find rare and protected fungi species – imperial cap mushroom, cut off billy, lorchel, dewdrop dapperling, rosy spike. At permanently sloppy places the rare fragile amanita that is one of the 33 most endangered fungi species in Europe can be found, further the protected species violet blue pinkgill and korenovnica škoricovohnedá - phaeocollybia christinae.
Attention deserve certainly also the so called wood-decaying species. These fungi decompose in the wood lignin or cellulose. In this way the so called white rot (when lignin is decomposed) or brown rot (when cellulose is decomposed) is produced. This group of fungi is represented by tinder fungus (hoof fungus, tinder polypore, ice man fungus), white agaric mushroom smuggling, lesklokôrka ihlicnanová – ganoderma carnosum - and artist’s bracket (artist’s conk, flacher lackporling), oyster mushroom and pale oyster, various kinds of polypores or phellinus mushrooms.
Fauna
Of the inverterbrates living in aqueous biotopes one can find here a lot of kinds of molluscs, crustaceans, flies, mayflies and beetles. An endemic species in the Demänovská valley is the halfblind beetle behúnik podzemný – duvalius microphtalmus. A more rare species is the protected bystruška potocná – carabus variolosus. Eye catching are a lot of butterfly species such as swallowtail butterflies, blues, genus ohnivácik, fritillaries or genus ockán. Most rare is the beautifull (mountain) apollo that is at the present time critically endangered. The important Europian species are represented by beetles rosalia longicorn, red flats, schnauzer maple, schnauzer Carpathian, fourstrip schnauzer and mountain beetle.
Fishes
The mountain streams are dominated by trout, the accompanying species represent bullhead and Siberian bullhead and not-originating planted species such as rainbow trout and brook trout. In the streams and rivers at the foothills prevails grayling Thyme and the accompanying species are nase carp, common huchen, European chub and common dace.
Amphibians and reptiles
The most prevalent amphibian in the Low Tatras are common frog, fire salamander, yellow-bellied toad and warty toad. Relatively rare are green toad and European tree frog. Newts are represented by two species – Montandon’s newt and Alpine newt. To the highest elevations ascends common European adder (viper) and viviparous lizard. The intermediate and lower elevations inhabitate bright lizard and slow worm (blind worm). Besides grass snake the rare smooth snake can be found here.
Birds
To important and characteristic nesting species belong black stork, golden eagle, lesser spotted eagle, hazel grouse, wstern capercalaillie, black grouse, of the owls Eurasian eagle-owl, ural owl, pygmy owl. Other birds are common rosefinch, grey-headed woodpecker, black woodpecker, white-backed woodpecker, woodlark, ring ouzel.
In the alpine zone nests alpine accentor, eurasian dotterel and water pipit. After more than 20 years the peregrine falcon belongs again to the nesting species.
Mammals
Of the mammals characteristic are the populations of brown bear, gray wolf and eurasian lynx. Rare is the wildcat. A more pronounced occurrence decrease has taken place in case of polecat who can be found mainly in the vicinity of the farmbuildings within the intravilans of the townships. On the contrary already probably a a permanent member of the Low Tatras fauna is the non-originating racoon dog. Of the big original herbivores red deer, deer forest and wild boar can be found here. The population of the alpine marmot is estimated at 300 – 350 subjects.
In the caves, old workings, forest habitats with the abundance of cavities the bats have their shelters. To the most frequent species belong large mouse-eared bat, lesser horseshoe bat, whiskered bat, Geoffroy’s bat, serotine bat, common pipistrelle, Bechstein’s bat, Natterer’s bat and brown long-eared bat. One of the largest wintering sites of northern bat is the Demänovská ice cave. In the Bystrianska cave winters greater horseshoe bat.
The National park Low Tatras belongs to our national natural heritage that we must protect. If we behave according to the instructions of the management of the National park while hiking or doing some other kind of sport, we will leave this heritage to the following generations.
Workshop material
Lecturer
- RNDr. Mikuláš Hančin (Správa NAPANT, Liptovský Hrádok)
Bibliography
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