“Our team consisted of specialists in butterflies and moths, beetles of the Tenebrionidae and Carabidae families, and the dipteran family Asaliidae. During our stay, we made many new discoveries in various regions of Mongolia, such as the first finding of the Neptis sapho butterfly in Central Aimag. Until now, it was only known from the border with the Russian Federation. We also discovered a previously unknown species of butterfly of the genus Erebia in the Chentej Mountains in Mongolia. We will gradually process and identify these and other findings in the laboratory,” explained Vladimír Hula from the Institute of Forest Ecology.

In addition to the diversity of invertebrates, primarily insects, in protected areas and open landscapes, the team also studied the condition of large-scale protected areas. The researchers focused on the impact of grazing on butterfly communities. Grazing is one of the most significant factors affecting Mongolian biodiversity. “Since 1990, livestock numbers have almost tripled, and the impacts of grazing are now evident everywhere. Mongolia is largely an arid country, but in recent decades there has been further massive aridization, i.e., drying of the landscape, including the mountains. Mongolian herders begin grazing in the lowlands in the spring months and gradually move to the mountains. With the number of animals here and the frequent shortage of water, there is enormous pressure on mountain grassland ecosystems,” explained one of the expedition participants.

The pressure of livestock combined with climate change, which in Mongolia manifests itself in more frequent extreme winters with severe frosts, torrential rains followed by floods, or, conversely, long droughts, has catastrophic effects on nature.

“This year, there was a severe drought throughout Mongolia. As a result, national parks have been devastated. Many alpine meadows were practically devoid of flowering plants. This is a very serious problem, not only for butterflies. We observed this trend everywhere that was accessible by motor vehicle. The further away from the road, the more diverse and better preserved the vegetation was. So if we wanted to find interesting discoveries, we had to cover long distances with elevation gains of over a thousand meters in some places. Paradoxically, the most interesting mountain locations we visited in Mongolia this year were outside of legislative protection,” Hula pointed out.

Scientists from the Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology use the Baigali app from the Mongolian Biodiversity Future Fund, co-founded by the German development agency Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and organizations working on biodiversity in Mongolia, to map biodiversity: “The goal is to monitor, if possible, the entire territory of Mongolia. To this end, we can make good use of so-called citizen science, where lay people, observers, and enthusiasts participate in scientific research by uploading their observations to the app. However, for citizen science to function effectively, it is necessary to collaborate with experts who are themselves mappers, but also experts in identifying the species that lay people upload to the app. In terms of species mapping, our team has been among the most active contributors to Baigali in Mongolia over the past six months. However, this is without the complete data from our specializations, which we can only provide after processing in laboratories. So far, we have only processed the fauna of diurnal butterflies, for which we have added over six hundred data points on distribution to the app,” said Vladimír Hula, describing the success.

The exploration of Mongolian nature and cooperation with colleagues across disciplines and countries continues. Under the leadership of MENDELU, deeper cooperation with GIZ is emerging in the form of workshops for both students and rangers in protected areas throughout Mongolia. These activities build on MENDELU’s long-term work in Mongolia, focused on environmental research, related education, and support for sustainable forest management.

Baigali app

This is a mobile app focused on ecology, environmental protection, and sustainable development, with an emphasis on Central Asia and Mongolia. The name Baigali comes from the Mongolian word байгали, which means nature.

Several organizations participated in mapping biodiversity in Mongolia: Ing. Vladimír Hula, Ph.D. and doc. Ing. Luboš Purchart, Ph.D. from LDF MENDELU, Ing. Radek Hejda from AOPK ČR, Mgr. Tomáš Kadlec, Ph.D. from ČZU, Prof. RNDr. Karel Šimek, CSc. from the Biological Center of the Czech Academy of Sciences, and Ing. Petr Vicherek from ENVIProjekt s.r.o.

The program of experts from MENDELU and other organizations took place at the end of June and beginning of July as part of the CABINETS activity funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic. The event was held in cooperation between MENDELU, GIZ (STREAM+ project) and the Mongolian Biodiversity Future Fund, which secured permits for the research team to enter strictly protected areas and export entomological material.