The Site of Community Importance, Brezovská stráň, is located within the territory of the municipality of Plášťovce, with a total area of 420.05 hectares. It has been designated for the conservation and improvement of favourable status of habitats and species of European importance. It primarily consists of south-facing slopes and a plateau on the southern edge of the Krupinská planina above the Litava river valley. The majority of the area is covered by thermophilic oak forests, which form habitats of European importance such as Pannonic woods with Quercus petraea and Carpinus betulus, Pannonian woods with Quercus pubescens, Thermophilous Pannonian forests, and Pannonian-Balkanic turkey-sessile oak forests.
Islands of non-forest vegetation make up a mosaic of pioneer vegetation on andesite tuffs, occasionally with rocky sections, and the vegetation of Stipa steppes, representing a habitat of European importance called Sub-pannonic steppic grasslands. Several endangered and rare plant species inhabit these habitats, including the dwarf iris (Iris pumila). The transitions between the forest and steppe vegetation are characterized by open woodland with trees of a broad canopy.
The view of Brezovská stráň
The ideal management of steppe conservation – goat grazing
Character of open woodland pastures
Dusky large blue
Mature or dead trees in open woodland-steppe habitats provide habitat for species like the European stag beetle (Lucanus cervus), the hermid beetle (Osmoderma eremita), and violet click beetle (Limoniscus violaceus). Pastures with open woody vegetation are home to butterfly the scarce fritillary (Euphydryas maturna), large copper (Lycaena dispar), eastern eggar (Eriogaster catax), clouded Apollo (Parnassius mnemosyne), and occasionally dusky large blue (Maculinea nausithous). Among other fauna, a presence of common wall lizard (Lacerta muralis), European green lizard (Lacerta viridis), European snake-eyed skink (Ablepharus kitaibelii), smooth snake (Coronella austriaca), Danube crested newt (Triturus dobrogicus), and Bechstein’s bat (Myotis bechsteinii) has been observed.
The most significant threats to the natural values of this area are abandonment and subsequent overgrowth of pastures, particularly by non-native and invasive species, as well as afforestation of the area.
Typical steppe plant – the dwarf iris
Protected steppe feather grass – Stipa dasyphylla
European stag beetle
European snake-eyed skink