Segiet Forest Reserve - (24.65 hectares), home to 149 plant species, including many rare and protected ones. The natural beech forest here is bordered by a protected, former wydolomite mine - "Blachówka". Segiet - a forest, partial nature reserve, located within the Tarnogórski Hump, on the border of Bytom and Tarnowskie Góry. It was established by order of the Minister of Forestry on April 27, 1953 (Monitor Polski No. A-42 of 1953, item 511). The reserve with an area of 24.29 hectares was established to preserve for scientific, didactic and social reasons a fragment of natural beech forest with admixtures of spruce and fir in the area of former mining pits. The substrate of the reserve area is built mainly by Middle Triassic sediments: limestone, marls and crushed-bearing, diploporous or marly dolomites. In a few places they are covered by Quaternary formations, mainly glacial sands. As early as 1908, efforts were made to establish a reserve on Srebrna Góra, within the forest complex known as Segiecki Forest, which was only successfully completed in 1953.The reserve is located on one of the higher elevations of the western part of the Tarnogórski Hump - Srebrna Góra (347 m above sea level). A well-preserved 150-year-old beech stand with admixtures of sycamore, spruce, pine, rowan, in which beech trees reach a height of 35-40 m, is the result of natural forest succession in areas significantly transformed by human economy. Three forest complexes are represented on the territory of the reserve: acidophilous lowland beech - in the northern part; thermophilous orchid beech - in the southern part, covered with funnels and sinkholes of former shafts; fertile beech, which is probably a degraded, lowland form of fertile Carpathian beech - in the remaining areas. The flora of the reserve consists of (similar data) 15 species of trees, 9 species of shrubs, and 103 species of herbaceous plants and 40 species of bryophytes. Among the herbaceous plants, there are a number of orchidaceous plants: red grenadier, forest gnatcatcher, rust-red or broad-leafed cricket. Unfortunately, in the 1980s the most magnificent of Polish orchids, the common lady's slipper, became extinct here. Many other protected species also grow here, such as golden-headed lily, common columbine, snowdrop snowdrop, beaked toadstool and wolfsbane laurel. On the territory of "Segiet" one can find numerous traces of former silver and lead mining such as funnels, sinkholes. The "Segiet Reserve" is directly adjacent to the "Blachówka" dolomite pit nature documentation station. The old dolomite pit, created at the turn of the 19th/20th century, was protected in 1995 due to its exceptional scientific, didactic, historical and landscape values. The steep walls of the excavation are a habitat for birds (including predators) and plants. Associated with the "Segiet" reserve and the "Blachówka" excavation are the so-called Bytom-Tarnogórski underground, formed as a result of mining operations. Dating back to the 13th century, the adits and shafts of the former silver "mines", which are more than 100 km long, have become the largest wintering site for bats in Upper Silesia. Naturalists have marked as many as 8 species of these mammals in the area.
06.07.2013
