Loam pits are places with surface mining of clay, especially loess deposits (i.e., the accumulations of wind-blown dust). The raw material is used for the production of bricks or ceramics. Brickyards used to be located in areas with large clay deposits. Loam pits are often valuable for nature conservation. They typically contain dry, sunlit slopes and walls with scarce vegetation, often with a wet or flooded clay floor. Many loam pits have been lost due to overgrowth or inappropriate reclamation, leading to the disappearance of habitats of many rare and protected species. Skeletons of large Quaternary vertebrates have been found in loam pits, sometimes in association archaeological findings of prehistoric settlements, e.g., a mammoth skeleton in Svobodné Dvory in 1899 and a woolly rhinoceros skeleton at Blato in 1900.

 

Fungi

Most of the fungi species in loam pits are associated with woody plants. Exceptions are species of Arrhenia, which parasitize on mosses, or some of the ascomycetes. Similarly to sand quarries, woody plants host species of Russula, Lactarius, Tricholoma, Hebeloma, etc. Pulvinula convexella grows in bare soil. Willow trees are associated with the Girdled Knight (Tricholoma cingulatum), poplars with the Girdled Webcap (Cortinarius trivialis) and the Blushing Milkcap (Lactarius controversus), birches with the Variable Brittlegill (Russula versicolor), Pholiota conissans occurs in wet places, and the Scarlet Elfcup (Sarcoscypha austriaca) appears on dead wood in early spring. Other interesting findings in loam pits include Arrhenia retiruga and Clavaria tenuipes.

 

Vegetation

Wet disturbed places host for example the Strawberry Clover (Trifolium fragiferum), the Common Centaury (Centaurium erythraea) or the Lesser Centaury (Centaurium pulchellum). The Bladdewort (Utricularia australis) and the Whorled Water-milfoil (Myriophyllum verticillatum) grow in ponds; banks host Variegated Horsetail (Equisetum variegatum), Branched Horsetail (Equisetum ramosissimum) or the Grey Club-rush (Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani).

 

Animals

Active or newly abandoned loam pits, especially those in warmer areas, provide substitute habitats for many insect species in open areas. Bare areas and recently mined vertical clay walls provide nesting sites for many Hymenoptera, e.g., mud daubers and solitary bees, as well as specialised parasites (for example oil beetles) developing in their nests. A valuable loam pit habitat is located between Úhřetice and Tuněchody in the Pardubice region. In the spring, we can encounter tens to hundreds of oil beetles there (e.g., the Black Oil Beetles Meloe proscarabaeus and oil beetle Meloe scabriusculus). The area also hosts three species of tiger beetles. A species of the thermophilic steppe longhorn beetle Calamobius filum was found there for the first time in East Bohemia.

Dry places with sparse vegetation are inhabited by the Sand Lizard (Lacerta agilis), the Slow Worm (Anguis fragilis), the European Stonechat (Saxicola rubicola) or the Grey Partridge (Perdix perdix). The Sand Martin (Riparia riparia) builds its nesting burrows in vertical clay walls. Amphibians such as the Common Toad (Bufo bufo) or the European Green Toad (Bufotes viridis) breed in the wetlands. The Western Marsh Harrier (Circus aeruginosus) may nest in larger pools with reeds.