Biodiversity of fly ash deposits

Fly ash is an unavoidable by-product of coal combustion in power stations, heating plants and many larger factories, and its deposits are thus common part of the Central European landscape. Due to their negative impact on human health and environment, the fly ash deposits became a typical symbol of wastelands, but their biodiversity is almost generally neglected. During our survey of two fly ash deposits in northern Czech Republic we found 227 species of bees and wasp, including 72 species covered by the national red list. Moreover, 4 of these species were though nationally extinct and 13 critically endangered. Many of the recorded species are specialised for continental drift sands, one of the most endangered habitats throughout Europe. Following our results, the purely negative view on the environmental impact of the fly ash deposits should be reconsidered together with initialising of other research of their biodiversity and effective restoration.

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Tropek R., Černá I., Straka J., Čížek O., Konvička M. (2013) Is coal combustion the last chance for vanishing insects of inland drift sand dunes in Europe? Biological Conservation 162: 60-64. DOI: 10.1016/j.biocon.2013.03.027