Arable terrace
As agricultural terraces stair-like arranged on slopes arable land are referred to, which by the interaction of hangparallelem talseitiger plowing and soil erosion caused. They consist of flat terrace areas with agricultural use and steeply sloping terrace slopes or terraces. Field terraces are a relic of a bygone subdivision of fields and, as a historical cultural landscape element, shape the landscape.
Characteristic
The height of the terrain levels varies. European arable terraces still preserved from the High Middle Ages , which have been under forest since the desolation period of the late Middle Ages , usually only reach heights of a few decimeters. Heels of up to two meters are achieved on loess in Germany and up to nine meters in China.
Emergence
In Europe, since the Middle Ages , arable terraces have been created to expand arable land on slopes. Natural conditions and anthropogenic factors favored the development of arable terraces. In the case of agricultural use of steep slopes, the fields were laid out parallel to the slope. The soil material was accumulated on the underside of the land that was used as a result of the cultivation of the soil, particularly by plowing parallel to the slope in one direction. This resulted in steps in the terrain so that the individual fields are clearly distinguishable from each other and form terraces that are slightly less inclined than the slope was before. This effect is reinforced by the fact that the terrain is almost level immediately above the steps, so that material washed off by natural denudation is also accumulated there.
Even deliberately laid out terraces are called arable terraces. On inclined slopes, these served in particular to protect against soil erosion and improve workability.
distribution
A prerequisite for the creation or creation of arable terraces is arable use with a slope of 9 to 12 percent.
Regional distribution in Bavaria
In large areas of the hilly and mountainous country, especially on loess sites, arable terraces are widespread as a historical cultural landscape element and shape the landscape. In addition, they occur on grassland locations, for example in the foothills of the Alps, and represent relics of the historical form of land use. These locations illustrate the change in agriculture from arable farming to pure grassland and dairy farming from the middle of the 19th century. Field terraces are also common in south-facing locations.
Distribution in Switzerland
In Switzerland, this cultural asset is particularly widespread in the mountain areas of the Romanesque cultural tradition, such as in the Lower Engadine . The arable terraces in Ramosch are a striking example .
Asia
The rice terraces in Southeast Asia and China have a long history and have been declared a World Heritage Site due to their uniqueness and authenticity. In the Philippines they are also called the eighth wonder of the world or the stairway to heaven . In China, the term ladders to heaven is used for the Hani rice terraces.
Banaue Terraces (Philippines)
The famous, 2000 year old terraces of Banaue in the north of the Philippines, on the island of Luzon, are located at an altitude of 1000 to 2000 meters. The Banaue rice terraces belong to a group of different rice fields in the region. These include the terraces of Batad, Bangaan, Mayoyao, Hapao and Kiangan, these rice terraces were classified as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1995 , along with Banaue .
Honghe Hani rice terraces (China)
In the south of the Chinese province of Yunnan are the 1300 year old rice terraces of Yuanyang (Honghe Hani rice terraces ), which are one of the largest rice terraces in the world with an area of 16.603 hectares and were included in the list of world heritage objects by UNESCO in 2013.
Todays situation
The creation of arable terraces took a very long time. Many generations worked on the system. This is an expression of the historical dimension of this formative cultural landscape element.
A machine management of the locations is often not possible due to the small size and difficult development. As a result, they are now used as green and pasture land or have been reforested over time.
In the recent past, the land levels were often leveled in the course of land consolidation in order to obtain larger plots. Preserved terrain levels, which can be recognized in the landscape as strips of wood, with the associated field terraces are worth preserving from the point of view of nature conservation and monument preservation.
Web links
- Cultural landscape from the perspective of monument preservation in the landscape plan of the city of Frankfurt
- History Association Melsungen: Field terraces as a reference to desertification ( Memento from September 29, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (accessed on August 7, 2013)
literature
- Hansjörg Küster : History of the landscape in Central Europe . CH Beck, Munich, 1999. ISBN 3-406-45357-0
Individual evidence
- ↑ Glossary of cultural landscape elements. University of Applied Sciences Erfurt, Faculty of Landscape Architecture, Horticulture and Forestry, accessed on November 5, 2017 .
- ↑ a b c d Historical cultural landscape elements in Bavaria. In: Bavarian State Office for the Environment (Hrsg.): Heimatpflege in Bayern. Series of publications by the Bavarian State Association for Homeland Care . 1st edition. tape 4 , 2013, ISBN 978-3-931754-54-9 , pp. 38 f .
- ↑ Judith Reusser, Rebecca Moser: Ackerterrassen - a forgotten cultural asset Booklet to the inventory of the arable terraces in the canton of Thurgau. (PDF) (No longer available online.) Office for Spatial Planning, Canton Thurgau, December 2010, archived from the original on November 7, 2017 ; Retrieved November 5, 2017 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Robert Hetkämper: Philippines: rice terraces - world cultural heritage in danger. ARD, February 27, 2017, accessed November 5, 2017 .
- ↑ Karin Steinbach Tarnutzer: A puzzle made of water and rice. Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ), November 11, 2016, accessed on November 5, 2017 .
- ↑ Kathrin Spoerr : The rice terraces deserve the title of a wonder of the world. Welt, March 3, 2014, accessed November 5, 2017 .
- ↑ On the "stairs to heaven". Süddeutsche Zeitung, April 24, 2017, accessed on November 5, 2017 .
- ^ Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras. UNESCO, accessed November 5, 2017 .
- ↑ Cultural Landscape of Honghe Hani Rice Terraces. UNESCO, accessed November 5, 2017 .
