The aim of our project is to study the relationships between geological aspects (humidity, texture, penetrability) and biodiversity of selected Arthropods groups (spiders, planthoppers and leafhoppers) in the sandpit near Planá nad Lužnicí (South Bohemian Region), the Czech Republic.

On the locality, we will mark several areas that will differ in the soil type and stage of succession. In each area we will measure humidity, texture and penetrability of the soil. We will carry out a faunistic survey focused on spiders, planthoppers and leafhoppers. We expect that we will find invertebrate species which could subsequently be used as bioindicators of corresponding habitats. The soil parameters can also influence invertebrate assemblages in interaction with the plants growing in the locality. Thus, we will examine the diversity and cover-abundances of vascular plants as well. We will subsequently analyse the data obtained and find out what relationships there are between geodiversity and biodiversity. Our main focus will be the relationships between the soil parameters, stages of succession and the presence of psammophilous species. Our results could be used to predict which ecosystems are likely to be spontaneously established on different soil types. Another outcome of the study will be a faunistic and floristic research that hasn’t been conducted on the locality so far (to our knowledge). We will also create a brochure focused on the sandpit´s geological phenomena.