Variety of nature in Devín could be explained by the fact that the intersection of migration corridors is concerned here. Such corridors are very important in the European context.
Animals migrating from the south to the north had always been passing this place. They used sunny steppe hillsides on the slopes of the Little Carpathians and continued down the Váh River basin. Devín was an important stop on their migration route.
Steppe species could spread along the Danube River. Gravel islands and rocks on the banks of the river have been used as the “islands” where such species can live, for example, in the periods when the surrounding countryside turns from the glacial steppe into a forest. The castle rock is one of such islands; it is used as an asylum for species from the ice ages that can withstand the periods of changes to the surrounding countryside. And when their time comes and the climate and environment become favourable for them, they will be able to populate the surrounding countryside. They will fill the gaps in the ecosystem and fulfil their function.
For example, the Middle Ages also included longer periods – lasting 200 or up to 300 years – which were a bit colder or a bit warmer. In such periods, the species of plants, insects, and animals could migrate just thanks to such “islands” in the countryside.
The same migration of species is occurring right now. For example, European mantis is one of such migrants. It becomes a usual species in the places where its occurrence was very rare just a few decades ago. And, to the contrary, many species are vanishing from or leaving the countryside.
It is their reaction to the unprecedented climate change, the most rapid one experienced by the Earth and caused by the man. That’s why it is so important to protect such biotopes; they support the survival of many species in the rapidly changing environment.
Both the castle rock and Devínska Kobyla are used as asylums, stable islands able to preserve relations and species; the age of which is hundreds of thousands of years.