Belziger landscape meadows
The Belziger landscape meadows form an extensive, flat and now almost forest-free lowland landscape in the south-west of Brandenburg . They lie completely within the Baruther glacial valley . The settlement-free area of around 7,600 hectares is part of the Hoher Fläming Nature Park and has been designated as a nature reserve since July 1, 2005 with a portion of around 4,500 hectares . The protection serves to maintain and restore a flow moor, which is rare in Brandenburg, with a network of near-natural streams around the Plane river . In addition to promoting the flora and fauna specific to the biotope, one focus of the measures is the further development of one of the last German refuges for the great bustard . The region is of historical importance insofar as the border between the Electorate or Kingdom of Saxony and the Kingdom of Prussia ran right through the meadows until 1815 .
After the Oberspreewald , the meadows named after the town of Bad Belzig occupy the second largest area of the geographic lowlands in the Baruther glacial valley, followed by the Fiener Bruch , which extends northwest into Saxony-Anhalt , and the Flemmingwiesen east of the Luckenwalde valley .
Geographical overview and geology
Demarcation
The landscape meadows have a distinctive, clear border both in the northeast and in the southwest. To the north-east of the landscape meadows is the Zauche plateau , which in its southern part has an extensive dry sand surface . The 86 meter high Rough Mountains limit the Sander to the north and are terminal moraines of the youngest, the Vistula Ice Age . To the southwest of the landscape meadows rise the heights of the Fläming, reaching over 100 meters above sea level .
The natural boundary is blurred to the northwest and southeast, as the Baruther glacial valley continues there. The valley narrowness of the glacial valley near the city of Brück is usually given as the southeastern boundary. The north-western border of the Belziger landscape meadows can be drawn somewhat arbitrarily with the federal road 102 between the Bad Belziger district of Ragösen and Golzow , while the much smaller nature reserve of the same name already finds its north-western limit on a line between the Flämingdorf Lütte and the Zaucheort Cammer.
The eponymous town of Bad Belzig lies with its core about three kilometers southwest of the lowland, and extends with its village Hagelberg to the eponymous Hagelberg , the highest with 200 meters instead of the Flaming and one of the highest elevations of the North German Plain . The valley in the upper reaches of the Belziger / Fredersdorfer Bach connects the Bad Belzig old town with the landscape meadows.
Emergence
While the Hohe Fläming is still part of the old moraine landscape of the Saale Ice Age , the lowlands within the glacial valley are already part of the young moraine region of the Vistula Ice Age, the inland ice of which reached its maximum extent to the south in the valley. The runoff path of the melt water originated around 21,000 years ago and left behind the Baruther glacial valley, a valley floor around three to five kilometers wide on average, which, after the glacial current shifted northwards (to the Berlin glacial valley ), fell dry in the meantime. Like all glacial valleys, the Belzig landscape meadows also consist of mighty meltwater sands underground. The meltwater eroded heavily in some places on the northern slope of the Fläming and cut out steps of up to 60 meters.
Around 7,000 to 9,000 years ago the groundwater level rose and large areas of the Belzig landscape meadows were mossed. It formed peat . It is not clear whether the streams flowed in their own river bed at this time or whether they infiltrated the moor, as is usual with a flow moor. What is certain, however, is that swamp and wet forests formed over the whole area with the bog . They mostly consisted of alder , ash , oak and hornbeam .
Today's landscape
The table-level, moored lowland location with a height between 40 and 44 meters above sea level is crossed by a multitude of dead straight melioration ditches by several streams such as the Hellbach (in the middle course: Temnitz ), the Baitzer Bach and the Belziger / Fredersdorfer Bach, which give their water to the main river Plane and thus feed the Havel . Dominate in the summer to the species-rich stream banks and grave edges sedges and tall herbs .
Only remnants of the formerly existing swamp forests have been preserved. As the name " Landschaftswiesen" suggests, the area is mainly used as grassland today. The image of the grassland is shaped by different types of meadows and arable land . A few wet depressions, some of which carry water into the summer, embedded valley sand areas and small-scale dune complexes on the edge complete the site. Mainly in the peripheral areas, isolated willow bushes , remains of alder quarries and pine forests complete the picture of the Belzig landscape meadows. The overall rather monotonous, monotonous area offers scenic charms to friends of quiet, wide landscapes and lovers of ornithology .
Hydrography and climatic data
In addition to the extensive drainage system of the 1970s, the many streams that arise in the Hohe Fläming and flow through the meadows at high speed are characteristic of the current hydrological situation of the landscape meadows. In the Dippmannsdorf Paradise natural monument alone, 32 springs seep from the Fläminghang. The water network has a total length of 169 kilometers, 19% of which is accounted for by natural flowing waters, i.e. around 30 kilometers.
As part of the hydrographic measures, the nature conservation ordinance provides for the near-natural development or restoration of the streams and the removal of the remaining dams. Targeted water regulation with the highest possible dewatering is of decisive importance for the implementation of protection and development measures for flora and fauna. For example, the field thistle ( Cirsium arvense ), which is spurned by cattle and overgrows meadows , is to be pushed back. The hydrological measures are carried out today by the nature conservation station in Baitz in close cooperation with the farmers and the water and soil association .
In the humid and often fog-shrouded lowlands, unlike in Fläming, there is a continental-toned climate with an annual mean temperature of 8.6 ° C and an average annual maximum of 33.3 ° C. The mean annual precipitation is 541 mm, which is significantly less (around 100 mm) than on Fläming, which is only a few kilometers away. The sun shines around 1,700 hours a year on average.
The mighty, heat-storing meltwater sands of the glacial valley and the extensive sandy areas of the Fläming provide excellent thermals for gliding with the updrafts of the initially flat, then hilly landscape , as reflected by some "large" flights over 1,000 kilometers from the nearby Lüsse airfield . In 2008 the world championships in gliding will take place here.
Locations and railway lines
While there are no settlements and no roads within the meadows, there are, apart from the city of Brück, the following villages on the edge of the landscape meadows : the Bad Belziger districts of Schwanebeck , Fredersdorf , Lütte , Dippmannsdorf and Ragösen and the villages of Baitz , Trebitz and Gömnigk, which are incorporated into Brück . To the north of the landscape meadows are the Planebruch districts of Freienthal, Damelang and Cammer. The community of Golzow is located at the northwesternmost tip . Many of these villages and towns have historic stone churches or architecturally interesting church buildings such as Schinkel's normal church in Lütte, Stüler's unusual half-timbered church in Dippmannsdorf or the octagonal Golzow church. Manor houses such as in Fredersdorf and various water mills are also culturally significant . The village of Schwanebeck was given the title of health resort as early as 1715 by a source of iron and one mixed with sulfur .
On the southern edge of the meadows, the R1 European Cycle Route that runs past offers good insights into the terrain. In particular, the car-free section between Baitz and Trebitz, which runs at an elevated position on the slopes of Fuchsberg (64 meters) and Räuberbergen (68 meters), opens up a broad overview of the flat landscape. The disused route of the single-track Brandenburg city railway runs along the western edge , which between 1904 and 1962 connected Treuenbrietzen via Bad Belzig and Rathenow with Neustadt (Dosse) . Until 2003, the section between Bad Belzig and Brandenburg an der Havel was still in operation, the trains of which also stopped at stations in the villages of Fredersdorf, Lütte and Dippmannsdorf. Shortly before Ragösen, the railway line swings north and runs parallel to federal highway 102 to Golzow.
history
Early settlement on the outskirts and a monastery mill
According to Norbert Eschholz, the Fläming and Zaucheforste as well as the dry areas around the meadows were inhabited by humans in all historical times . Archaeological finds prove that the area was actually quite densely populated from the end of the Bronze Age to the Iron Age (7th - 6th centuries BC) [...] . It is not known when the current landscape meadows were first cleared. In 1251 the influential and wealthy received Lehnin the mill Gömnigk ( Molendinum Gomenik ) on Plane flow to the meadows with the associated waters between Rottstock and Trebitz (Trebegotz) extended to the southern edge of the meadow, by Count Bederich of Belzig to the present.
The Cistercian monks from Zauche in the Mark region expanded their sphere of influence into the competing Magdeburg region , i.e. Saxon region, and thus specifically supported the development of the country and the settlement policy of the Ascanian margraves . It was not until a hundred years earlier, in 1157, that the Ascanian Albrecht the Bear had finally wrested the core areas of the Mark from the Slavs who settled here after the Semnones and launched the Mark Brandenburg . The following calls for settlement to the eponymous and predominantly Dutch Flemings (Fläming) were given by both the Ascanians and the Magdeburg Archbishop Wichmann . To secure the young areas, the Belzig Eisenhardt Castle was built in the 12th century .
For donation to the monks, who, according to Theodor Fontane with the cross in his left hand, with ax and spade in his right hand, teaching and Ackerbauend, forming and sanctifying the culture brought into the marrow, leading the Regestenverzeichnis the monastery Lehnin under 6 August 1251 the entry: Donation Graf Bederichs v. Belzig: a mill near Rottstock on the Plane river with all the waters up to the village of Trebegotz . The first clearings in the meadow area take place at this time.
Hay from the glacial valley
Since they could not win hay either on the dry Fläming slopes or in the narrow periglacial dry valleys , the typical Fleming hustle and bustle , the Belzig farmers had to take the three kilometer long way through the Bachtal into the lowlands in order to get moist and flat ground to plant Reaching meadows. Today's meadow area was almost completely covered by swamp forests around 1780 . It was not until the beginning of the 19th century that the Fläming farmers began to use new knowledge in hydraulic engineering to gain more meadows.
In 1900, the rector of Belzig, Paul Quade, described the difficult hay harvesting process: Between Lütte and Brück there are landscape meadows on the tarpaulin, from which the residents of Fläming often have to fetch their hay for miles. At the time of the first mowing and the grummet, a lively life develops in the villages on the road to the meadows. Heavily packed hay wagons pull through from the afternoon to the evening. Many stop at the inn, and animals and people take a rest from the hard day's work and refresh themselves with a cool drink. The extraction of hay is usually made very difficult for the farmer by nature. Often he cannot mow because the meadows are under water. If the cut is successful, heavy downpours will again interfere with bringing in the hay. In some places it can only be carried out by oxen, in others even people have to carry it out. It must be driven home wet and dried there first. (Quade p. 443 / Explanation: Grummet = second and further grass cuttings)
Legally planning stubble farmers
The villages around the meadows lived to a large extent from the abundance of wood in the Fläming and Zauch forests. Frederick the Great , for example, had the village of Freienthal ( free of taxes and duties) laid out as a colonist village in 1754 with the order for the families to extract timber from the surrounding official Zauche forests. The fact that many villagers froze to death 12 years later in the harsh winter of 1762/1763 despite the nearby forests, the colony director Groschop atone for four years imprisonment in the Spandau citadel because he had not provided the settlers with sufficient wood.
Occasionally the Zauche farmers were forced to buy wood from the Fläming farmers on the other side of the meadows. That was not easy for them, as they liked to mock the Flämingians as stubble Saxons (supposedly the Saxons only shaved once a week). Until the Congress of Vienna the border between passed by the Belziger Landschaftswiesen Kingdom of Saxony and Brandenburg , only with the formation of the homonymous province Brandenburg in 1815 as a core area of Prussia came to Fläming Brandenburg. As so-called New Prussians or Must Prussians , the Flämingians defended themselves for a long time with passive resistance against this unwelcome measure.
Electoral Saxon post mile pillars in Bad Belzig and Brück are eloquent stone witnesses of this time, when the farmers on both sides of the landscape meadows fought hostile skirmishes . Allegations of theft from the Zauche to the “Rechtsplanische Stoppelbauern” were the order of the day for a while, but this did not prevent the Saxon farmers from selling the wood to the Prussian villages that they had stolen from the state Flaming Forests. (Feustel, p. 164f.)
After the unification under the Brandenburg eagle , the farmers carried out the first extensive clearing of the dense swamp forests and the construction of the first small-scale canal system for drainage. In doing so, they created the basis for the extensive, close-knit melioration measures of the 1970s and for the development of the Belziger landscape meadows as they are today as a protected area.
Nature Conservation Ordinance
The ordinance available online for the Belziger Landschaftswiesen nature reserve of May 24, 2005, which came into force on July 1, 2005, regulates the protection and maintenance measures in detail for the 4,435 hectare area, which is one of the most important meadow breeding areas in Brandenburg. The areas are among districts of municipalities Bad Belzig, bridge and Planebruch. The ordinance integrates the landscape meadows into the overall development of a biotope network with the Nuthe-Nieplitz lowland , the Fiener Bruch , the middle Havel and the Havelländischer Luch .
Conservation as interest management
Central importance is attached to the balancing management of the different interests, which are represented on different levels and therefore cannot always be conveyed (see chapter "Meadows and landscape maintenance"). The Brandenburg Ministry of the Environment was able to resolve some of the conflicting goals by dividing the area. With 2,461 hectares, slightly more than half of the total area is available for agricultural use and is again divided into three zones with different usage restrictions:
- Zone 1: around 962 hectares
- Zone 2: around 132 hectares
- Zone 3: around 1,367 hectares
As part of interest management, the conclusion of contractual nature conservation (maintenance contracts between authorities and farmers) and compliance with it play a decisive role.
Protection purpose
The nature conservation ordinance lists the fauna and flora to be protected and the necessary maintenance measures in detail. As an example of the character of the around 15-page ordinance, an excerpt from § 3 (protective purpose) is given below after the introduction, which also lists the migratory and resting birds that will not be discussed further here. The following paragraph 2 describes the integration of the regulation into higher-level measures using the example of streams and tall herbaceous areas.
Under § 3 protection purpose it says among other things:
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(1) The protection purpose of the nature reserve, which includes a section of the Baruther glacial valley that is characteristic of the state of Brandenburg
- 1. the preservation, development and restoration of the area as a habitat for wild plant communities, especially nutrient-poor, species-rich wet meadows, smooth oat meadows, large sedge and reed bogs, dry sandy grassland on inland dunes and lichen and pine forests,
- [...]
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(2) The protection status serves the maintenance and development
- [...]
- 1.b.) as a migration, resting and wintering area for migratory bird species that regularly occur in the area, for example bittern (Botaurus stellaris), duck species such as pintail (Anas acuta), shoveler (Anas clypeata), teal (Anas crecca), wigeon (Anas penelope) and teal duck (Anas querquedula), Nordic geese such as white-fronted goose (Anser albifrons) and bean goose (Anser fabalis), whooper swan (Cygnus cygnus), osprey (Pandion haliaetus), crane (Grus grus), limicoles such as double snipe ( Gallinago media), godwit (Limosa limosa) and ruff (Philomachus pugnax);
- 2. the areas of Community importance "Belziger Bach", "Baitzer Bach", "Plane" and "Plane Supplement" (Section 2a Paragraph 1 No. 8 of the Brandenburg Nature Conservation Act) with their occurrences of
- a. Rivers of the planar level with vegetation of the Ranunculion fluitantis and the Callitricho-Batrachion as well as of moist tall herbaceous corridors as biotopes of Community interest ("natural habitat types" within the meaning of Annex I of Directive 92/43 / EEC), [...] .
In addition to the measures to protect the flow moor, a central component of the ordinance is the protection and maintenance measures of the meadows and the promotion of the breeding areas and the food supply for the great bustards and meadow breeders. The following chapters deal with these central aspects in detail, while the other fauna and flora worthy of protection are described in concluding overviews.
The grassland
The formerly extensive swamp forests now only take up a minimal proportion of the area, the total forest proportion is 0.1%. In addition to the bodies of water, the grassland with 65% of the area determines the image of the Belzig landscape meadows. The extensive amelioration measures of the 1970s had reduced the proportion of grassland in favor of arable land and the remaining grassland had also been largely transferred to grass-rich, weed-poor seed grassland to increase the green mass yields. It was not until 1991 that the Baitz nature conservation station had been able to regulate the water, the plowing of grassland and the maintenance measures that had already started in these years led to the recovery of the meadow plants that had disappeared over a large area and to the gradual transformation of the species-poor grassland into fresh, wet and reed meadows.
Increasing tendency: woolly honeygrass ( Holcus lanatus )
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A splash of color on the creeper-panicle grassland : flowering of the creeping buttercup ( Ranunculus repens )
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In midsummer, pronounced blooming aspect on turf-smith-couch grassland : blood loosestrife ( Lythrum salicaria )
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Nodular saxifrage ( Saxifraga granulata )
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Meadow types
One focus of the Nature Conservation Ordinance is the maintenance and development of nutrient-poor, species-rich wet meadows , smooth oat meadows and dry sandy grass areas on the inland dunes. The following descriptions of meadows are based in part on an inventory that Ute Dopichay carried out in the Belziger landscape meadows at the end of the 1990s. For the classification of the meadows see also the plant sociological units according to Oberdorfer and the classifications of the extensive grassland .
Honey grass meadows ( Holcetum lanati )
This meadow made of woolly honey grass ( Holcus lanatus ) that is up to one meter high is dominant in different wet to alternately moist bog or moorland locations. With small areas with an increasing tendency, honeygrass is also represented on all other meadows.
Reed grass stocks ( Phalaris arundicanea stocks)
The meadows made up of various species from the group of reed plants are largely established in the 1970s. On nutrient-rich and at times flooded, very boggy areas, there are extensive stands, which on long-flooded areas with a significant increase in the flooding plume ( Glyceria fluitans ), sometimes over large areas, change into flood turf.
Meadow foxtail stocks ( Alopecurus pratensis stocks)
The meadow foxtail is a perennial upper grass from the sweet grass family and occurs on various meadow species in the alternately wet to alternately moist bog or moorland locations. There are more pronounced stocks on the meadows. In some locations the grass develops so dominantly that it is described as an independent form of the meadow foxtail stands .
Lawn-Schmielen-Queckengrasland ( Deschampsia cespitosa-Agropyron repens -Gesellschaft)
This meadow community on alternately wet to alternately moist bog or moorland locations is composed with changing dominance of different narrow grasses and the pioneer plant of all soils, the sweet grass common couch grass . As with all meadows - there are no meadows in their "pure culture" - further grasses complement the moderately growing plant community in the study area.
Clown meadows ( Ranunculo-Deschampsietum )
The grass clown meadows consist predominantly of narrow grasses and are at home on moderately drained eutrophic floodplain bogs, which are mostly flooded in spring (Dopichay p. 68). Like all wet meadows, they are among the endangered and protected biotopes in Brandenburg. Since they are mostly scorned by cattle, their economic value is low. Characteristic is the undergrass layer built up in summer from the dense clumps of the turf with a rather sparse topgrass layer from the inflorescences. Meadow Foxtail or the false ears of Meadow Timothygrass ( Phleum pratense ) complement the Schmielen area-wide.
Creeping buttercup panicle grassland ( Ranunculus repens-Poa pratensis -Gesellschaft)
This society on fresh to moderately humid locations consists mainly of the meadow bluegrass ( Poa pratensis ) and the creeping buttercup ( Ranunculus repens ) that grow close to the ground . Among the meadows with little flowering aspect, this meadow stands out with two to three centimeters large and shiny golden yellow flowers of the creeper and represents one of the few more extensive spring flowering areas in the Belziger landscape meadows.
Smooth oat meadow fragment societies ( Arrhenatherion fragment societies)
The meadows made of robust oat grass ( Arrhenatherum elatius ) have extensive populations of fresh to dry mineral sites throughout the area. In the Fredersdorfer Flur, the oat is largely dominated by the meadow foxtail ( Alopecurus pratensis ) up to 1.50 meters high with its creeping runners, so that they are also described here as an expression of Alopecurus pratensis . For agriculture, both grasses are valuable components in forage cultivation and therefore form welcome meadow communities.
Dry sand lawns
The small-scale dry sand lawns or sand-poor lawn communities remain largely limited to the dune areas and play no role as an area-determining factor or agriculturally. However, as a special ecological niche biotope, the poorly growing areas made up of various grasses and low-growing sand specialists are of great importance for flora and fauna.
Further meadow flora and marginal flora
Blooming aspect on the landscape meadows
In addition to the blooming aspects already mentioned, the purple-red inflorescences of the purple loosestrife ( Lythrum salicaria ) enliven the picture over a large area, especially on the grass-smeared mercurial grassland in midsummer. A high number and variety of flowers ("blooming aspect") increases the occurrence of insects and spiders and thus the nutritional basis of many meadow breeders (compare also flower meadow ). Further large-scale flowering aspects are provided on almost all Belzig landscape meadows in spring by the blossoms of the meadow marguerite ( Leucanthemum vulgare ), which is endangered in Brandenburg, and the yarrow ( Achillea millefolium ) in midsummer . As in almost all meadows in Europe, the yellow flowers of the dandelion ( Taraxacum officinale ) attract insects from April to October. Due to the early appearance of the flowers, the dandelion is an important bee pasture , which serves the development of the bee colonies in spring.
The white clover ( Trifolium repens ) has seen significant increases, but the flower fields of the red clover ( Trifolium pratense ) and Swedish clover ( Trifolium hybridum ) are also expanding - an expansion that nature conservationists and farmers alike welcome, since the increase in this flowering legume is not only serves the meadow breeders, but also improves the forage quality of the meadow. Occasionally the pink petals of the cuckoo's light carnation ( Lychnis flos-cuculi ) form shining seas of color. The five-fold, white flowers of the granular saxifrage ( Saxifraga granulatar ), also heather carnations ( Dianthus deltoides ) and, even if there are still a few, splendor carnations ( Dianthus superbus ), which are particularly protected under the Federal Nature Conservation Act and have been observed again in the area, contribute to the flowering aspect again Biotope enrichment.
Riparian zones and woods
In total, the meadows, pastures and arable land, together with the remaining forest and dune areas, are home to around 245 plant species, 22 of which are on Brandenburg's Red List of Endangered Species . The edges and banks of the ditches and streams show the greatest biodiversity . There are still small areas with the marsh marigold ( Caltha palustris ). The conservationists hope that the population of this moisture-loving plant, which is rare in Brandenburg, will increase with the development of some cane grass stocks to flood turf.
Other notable inhabitants of the riparian zones are, in addition to the sedges, the meadow gold star ( Gagea pratensis ), lesser celandine ( Ranunculus ficaria ), as well as tall perennials such as meadow chervil ( Anthriscus sylvestris ), cabbage thistle ( Cirsium oleraceum ), swamp thistle ( Cirsium palustre ) or even Meadow elephant ( Inula britannica ), swan flower ( Butomus umbellatus ) or the endangered snake knotweed ( Persicaria bistorta ), which is popularly known as a toothbrush because of its distinctive flower shape .
For the mesotrophic locations with waterlogged soils, the nature conservationists aim to develop into typical plant communities such as sedge swamps and marsh grass meadows ( Molinion caeruleae ) with a species-rich arthropod fauna (arthropods such as insects, crabs , spiders, mites ) in accordance with the nature conservation ordinance . In the edge regions are Braid Pine forests ( Cladonio-pinetum ), site specific to the stream banks, autochthonous trees like alder and pastures and at selected points of willows and shrub shrubs be promoted.
Meadow and landscape maintenance
"In order to maintain and improve the open meadow landscape dominated by species-poor, vigorous wet meadows, extensive , spatially and temporally staggered management adapted to different locations must be guaranteed." (Dopichay p. 64) The special requirements require further location-related differentiation of the measures in grassland of the protected area for the great bustard.
Near-natural agriculture: field mosaic
The arable land is based on the medieval multi-field economy with alternating strips of grain, peas, lupins, rape, clover and potatoes. The resulting mosaic of rotational and permanent fallow land offers the great bustard the ecologically necessary breeding and feeding areas. The measures are further differentiated by the three zones with different restrictions on use , which the Nature Conservation Ordinance provides.
In order to secure initial maintenance measures, the state of Brandenburg and the Förderverein Großtrappenschutz eV bought around 850 hectares of meadow area in the 1990s, which were incorporated into the NSG. The areas are handed over exclusively to agricultural operations that adhere to the requirements of nature conservation (contractual nature conservation ) and operate extensive land use . In the core areas, this includes avoiding chemicals and fertilizers , maintaining the optimal water levels in the bog, no plowing of grassland and no reseeding , no dragging and rolling of the meadows from April to September. The mowing frequency and cutting technique of the meadows and pastures is carried out at fixed times using electronic game rescuers, whose high-frequency sounds drive the animals to leave the area. Additional mechanical game rescuers comb through the next adjacent mowing area with each pass like a large rake.
Mowing and conflicting goals
Management and mowing the meadows and pastures are essential to the species richness to obtain. If a species-appropriate cut is not made, the succession in wet meadows leads to the formation of tall herbaceous meadows, later bushes and a return to the former swamp forests. Regular mowing is also essential in the Belziger landscape meadows in order to reduce the growth or to drain mineral sites in meadow areas dominated by cane grass ( Phalaris arundinacea ) and meadow foxtail and thus endangered (Dopichay, p. 70).
Without further cutting after grazing, the further spread of the field thistle ( Cirsium arvense ) could not be prevented, which already occurs over a large area and makes every meadow or hay pasture unusable in large quantities. The cattle eat tastier grasses and avoid tall perennials, which promotes the reproduction of the daisy family, also known as "field weeds" . The degradation of species richness through dominant vegetation of these plants reduces the food supply for the meadow breeders to be protected. On the other hand, plants such as the scarlet thistle, which can be up to 1.20 meters high, offer a particularly suitable habitat for insects of all kinds and are also very attractive to spiders and butterflies . Reed grass is also a preferred habitat for insects and spiders and should be mowed at most every three to five years, taking into account their development cycles of several years.
The maintenance measures in the landscape meadows try to do justice to these conflicting objectives with a suitable mowing frequency and a relocation of the tall perennials to the edge zones. For agriculture, at most, three cuts per season make economic sense, which on the one hand helps the meadow breeders who are endangered with every - no matter how careful - mowing, but represents the lower limit required to maintain the meadows themselves. The necessary use of the heavy agricultural equipment with tractors in turn compacts the soil in a way that is detrimental to the meadows. Careful, wide-tire, but expensive motor vehicles would be uneconomical in relation to the wages. At this level, the maintenance measures must balance ecological and economic conflicts of interest.
With the mosaic of rotational and permanent fallow land, the zonal subdivisions and the accompanying contracts in nature conservation, nature conservation on the Belziger landscape meadows thus represents the management of conflicting interests on a wide variety of, sometimes overlapping levels, which are once again achieved through the integration into the European bird sanctuary be differentiated. The core area of the nature reserve, however, has a single, clear goal: to protect and promote the great bustard.
European bird sanctuary
As SPA = Special Protection Area, the Belziger Landschaftswiesen belong to the European bird sanctuary Unteres Rhinluch, Dreetzer See, Havelländisches Luch and Belziger Landschaftsweise in the Natura 2000 protected area system . Counts at the beginning of the 21st century showed a total of around 160 bird species, including 110 meadow breeders. 30 of these birds are on Germany's Red List of Endangered Species .
A considerable part of the area serves the special protection of the great bustard and is only accessible in the peripheral areas without a guide. To observe the bustards and many other rare birds, the nature conservation authority has built an observation tower near Freienthal a few meters west of the tarpaulin. In the Baitz district of Brück there is the nature conservation station of the meadows, to which the Baitz bird sanctuary is affiliated. The station has aviaries in the garden for the care of injured birds of prey and maintains a non-public observation station (no observation tower) for bustards deep in the landscape meadows. The bird protection station sees its central task in the development and implementation of the great bustard species protection program in the Belziger landscape meadows area. (Meckelmann / Eschholz)
Great Bustard
The population of the great bustard had shrunk to around 150 nationwide by 2003, of which around 30 were in the Belzig landscape meadows, which had been populated by bustards from the steppes of Eastern Europe around 1800. The population here had developed so well that the farmers wrote several petitions to be allowed to shoot the great bustards, which were reserved for the nobility for hunting. The industrialization of agriculture and in particular the mechanical mowing led to a drastic decrease in the population by killing the brooding hens on the clutch and destroying the nests.
The intensive protective measures of the breeding areas with extensive land use and adapted management concepts almost doubled the population from 55 to 100 in the three Brandenburg / Saxony-Anhalt bustard protection areas (in addition to the landscape meadows in the Fiener Bruch and Havelländische Luch ) between 1955 and 2005 guided. According to information from Norbert Eschholz, head of the state bird sanctuary in Baitz, the number in the Belzig landscape meadows was 37 birds in March 2006, and the trend is still increasing. However, these numbers can currently only be achieved with the aid of artificial incubation .
Corn Crake
At the beginning of the 21st century, the corncrake ( Crex crex ; also meadow rail ), a bird threatened with extinction in some Central European countries and threatened worldwide, returned to the Belziger landscape meadows. After the mechanical mowing of the lowland area had completely displaced the bird, it has now found its survival, densely vegetated cover islands and a sufficient supply of food in the glacial valley. Care and protection measures for this very rare type of railing have been one of the priorities of the Baitz Nature Conservation Station since then.
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Extinct: black grouse
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Natterjack toad ( Bufo calamita )
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Polecat ( Mustela putorius )
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River otter ( lutra lutra )
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More bird species
The snipe bird snipe ( Gallinago gallinago ) is more likely to be seen in the wet meadows .
Next occur: curlew ( Numenius arquata ), Sedge Warbler ( Acrocephalus schoenobaenus ), kingfisher ( Alcedo attis ), nightjar ( Caprimulgus europaeus ), Ringed Plover ( Charadrius dubius ), Corn Bunting ( Emberiza calandra ), Great Gray Shrike ( Lanius excubitor ), golden plover ( Pluvialis apricaria ), wood sandpiper ( Tringa glareola ), wood sandpiper ( Tringa ochropus ), hoopoe ( Upupa epops ) and lapwing ( Vanellus vanellus ), the males of which perform acrobatic flight maneuvers with side-tilting dive flights during courtship flight in spring. It tosses itself back and forth in the air, shouting loudly, and spins vertically to the ground.
In the winter months, waders and thousands of Nordic geese join them on the rest, some of which are named in the extract from the nature reserve ordinance reproduced above. Black grouse ( Lyrurus tetrix ), short- eared owl ( Asio flammeus ), hen harrier ( Circus cyaneus ) and redshank ( Tringa totanus ) are extinct from the former inhabitants of the Belzig landscape meadows . In contrast, thanks to a resettlement program for the little owl ( Athene noctua ) , which became extinct in the 1970s, new breeding records could be provided. The monotonous metallic “zi zi zi rideriderit” of the gray bunting ( Emberiza calandra; Miliaria calandra ) can be heard more often.
Aquatic fauna, mammals and insects
Combined with the continental-toned climate, the different biotopes and zones of the Belzig landscape meadows - beyond the bird world - produce a diverse fauna. The following presentation is essentially limited to the occurrence of the "specially protected" or "strictly protected" species according to the relevant guidelines.
Fish and round mouths
Due to the nutrient-poor water with high flow speed, there are species in the streams that are rather unusual for flowing waters in the flatlands. A total of 19 different fish species have been identified, 13 of which are on Brandenburg's Red List. The "strictly protected" species include the gudgeon ( Gobio gobio ) from the carp family , also the "fatty" brook loach ( Noemacheilus barbatulus ) with its high nutritional value ("schmerl" Middle High German = fatty ) and the nine-spined stickleback ( Pungitius pungitius ) or dwarf stickleback, which finds its preferred small bodies of water here.
Native are also in the meadow waters weatherfish ( Misgurnus fossilis ) and the predatory advanced age Asp ( Aspius aspius ). Another predatory freshwater fish lives in the river Plane, the brown trout ( Salmo trutta forma fario ). Like the trout, the “endangered” and only stationary round mouth ( Cyclostomata ) in Germany , the brook lamprey ( Lampetra planeri ), loves clear brooks. The hatched and still eyeless larvae ("Querder") bury themselves in the sand for three to four years and only the mouth protruding into the water can be seen at this stage.
Crabs and toads
Occasionally, the largest crab native to European waters is digging its caves in the embankments of the tarpaulin. The up to 20 cm large crayfish or European crayfish ( Astacus astacus ) reaches an age between 15 and 20 years. Of the 50 to 400 eggs that the female carries under the beaten abdomen for up to 26 weeks, at most 10–20% develop into crabs thanks to the predators and other enemies. Various invertebrate representatives complement the stream fauna .
From the genus of the real toads , the natterjack toad ( Bufo calamita ), a frog , which is specially protected according to the Federal Species Protection Ordinance (BArtSchV), occurs in the nature reserve . The specific biotope network of the Belzig landscape meadows with small inland dunes and wet areas also meets the habitat needs of the common spadefoot toad ( Pelobates fuscus ), which is also a frog and is "particularly protected". The adult toads are largely ground-dwelling land animals that only need moist habitats during the spawning season. In the sandy-loamy soil of the glacial valley, the animals dig up to 60 cm deep caves using their heel hump "shovels" on their hind feet.
Mammals and insects
The hunt for the red fox ( Vulpes vulpes ) was to represent Jochen Bellebaum because of its threat to grassland birds already in the 1990s with high bounties encouraged. Nevertheless, as mentioned above, the populations in the landscape meadows are still so high that the fox is still a major threat to the bustards and continues to be hunted in the nature reserve. The raccoon dog ( Nyctereutes procyonoides ) was also hunted occasionally in the countryside meadows. On the other hand, weasel ( Mustela nivalis ) and polecat ( Mustela putorius ) fall under the protection status "Strictly protected" . The also strictly protected otter ( Lutra lutra ) can still be found very rarely and the settlement of the beaver ( Castor fiber ) is one of the development goals of the nature conservation ordinance. Deer ( Capreolus capreolus ) as well as mice ( Mus ) and other small mammals complete the class of Mammalia .
Of the other species-rich fauna, three “strictly protected” insects stand out in the Belzig landscape meadows , the field cricket ( Gryllus campestris ) and the two dragonflies, the banded demoiselle ( Calopteryx splendens ) and the common wedge damsel ( Gomphus vulgatissimus ). The dragonfly Clubtail heard with their wing span 6-7 centimeters of the first vial of the spring and inserted to the curtain, at Belziger / Fredersdorfer and Baitzer Bach areas 10 to 20 meters length.
Natural phenomenon: mass sleeping place for Marsh Harriers
With the integration in the biotope network of the Havel-Nuthe-Nieplitz areas, in the European bird sanctuary, in the north-west and east adjoining lowlands in the Baruther glacial valley and in the Hoher Fläming nature park, the Belzig landscape meadows form a widely interwoven natural landscape that is already promising developments today and has renaturation. The planned Baruther Urstromtal nature park , which is to be built up the valley east of Luckenwalde, will further help ensure that significant events such as the one in summer 1999 in the cultural and natural area of Fläming / Havelland become the norm. For the first time in the recent natural history of the landscape meadows, there was an outstanding mass sleeping place for marsh harriers and marsh harriers . According to a report by Torsten Ryslavy showed counts 108 pipe ( Circus aeruginosus ) and 18 Montagu's Harrier ( Circus pygargus ) - a remarkable magnitude for Europe specially protected and in Germany endangered birds of prey.
Scenery near Baitz, in the background on the left the Hohe Fläming
swell
Subject-specific essays on the landscape meadows
- Jochen Bellebaum: Fox and raccoon dog in Brandenburg's wetlands - results from the 1990s. In: Nature conservation and landscape maintenance in Brandenburg. Vol. 11, Issue 2, 2002, pp. 200-204.
- Ute Dopichay: Description of the condition of the former intensive grassland in the Belziger landscape meadows with information on maintenance measures. In: Nature conservation and landscape maintenance in Brandenburg. Vol. 8, No. 2, 1999, pp. 64-72.
- Norbert Eschholz: Great Bustards (Otis: TARDA L, 1758) in the Belziger landscape meadows. In: Nature conservation and landscape maintenance in Brandenburg. Vol. 5, Issue 1, 1996, pp. 37-40. Quotation on settlement p. 37.
- H. Meckelmann, Norbert Eschholz: Ten Years of the Baitz Nature Conservation Station. In: Nature conservation and landscape maintenance in Brandenburg. Vol. 9, Issue 3, 2000, p. 114.
- Torsten Ryslavy: Outstanding mass sleeping place for Marsh Harriers in the European Bird Sanctuary (SPA) Belziger Landscape Meadows in 1999. In: Nature conservation and landscape maintenance in Brandenburg. Vol. 9, No. 4, 2000, pp. 136-139.
- Bärbel Litzbarski: The European Bird Sanctuary (SPA) Belziger Landschaftswiesen. In: Nature conservation and landscape maintenance in Brandenburg. Vol. 7, No. 3, 1998, pp. 182-184. (contains an inventory table)
Other literature used
- Jan Feustel: Between watermills and swamp forests, a travel and adventure guide to the Baruther glacial valley. Hendrik Bäßler Verlag, Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-930388-11-1 , see pages 163ff
- Theodor Fontane : Walks through the Mark Brandenburg . Part 3: Havelland. 1st edition. 1873. (Quotation from the edition Nymphenburger Verlagshandlung, Munich 1971, ISBN 3-485-00293-3 , quotation Mönche Lehnin p. 38)
- L. Lippstreu, N. Hermsdorf, A. Sonntag: Geological overview map of the state of Brandenburg 1: 300,000. Potsdam 1997. (Explanatory part on the back)
- Carsten Rasmus, Bettina Klaehne: Adventure guide for nature parks in Brandenburg: excursions on foot and by bike through nature parks, biosphere reserves and the Lower Oder Valley National Park. KlaRas-Verlag, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-933135-05-2 , p. 50f.
- Paul Quade: The Belzig Office. In: Pestalozzi Association of the Province of Brandenburg (ed.): The Province of Brandenburg in words and pictures. Published by Julius Klinkhardt, Berlin 1900, pp. 437–444, quoted on p. 443.
- Stephan Warnatsch: History of the Lehnin Monastery 1180–1542. (= Studies on the history, art and culture of the Cistercians, Volume 12.1). Lukas Verlag, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-931836-45-2 , p. 245. (Also: Berlin, Freie Universität, dissertation, 1999)
- ... (also), register directory. ... Volume 12.2 ... ISBN 3-931836-46-0 Quote: Entry No. 101, 1251, August 6
Sources in web links
- Ordinance on the “Belziger Landschaftswiesen” nature reserve of May 24, 2005 with sketch map
- High Fläming Nature Park
- The Brandenburg tramp. ( Memento of August 27, 2006 in the web archive archive.today ) Source for Mathias Freude's quotation on the population of the Great Bustard
- Friends of Great Bustard Protection
- Friends of the Baruther Urstromtal Nature Park
Other sources
- Telephone information from Norbert Eschholz, head of the state bird sanctuary in Baitz, March 29, 2006.
Unused further literature and web links
literature
- Johannes H. Schröder, A. Heinke (Hrsg.): Geoscientific Collections in Berlin and Brandenburg - Invitations to Look . (= Guide to the geology of Berlin and Brandenburg. No. 8). Verlag Prog. JH Schröder TU Berlin, 2002, ISBN 3-928651-10-2 .
- Odette Dumke: Ecological studies on the occurrence of the great bustard (Otis Tarda L.) in the Belziger landscape meadows. unpublished diploma thesis. University of Dresden, Faculty of Construction, Water and Forestry, 1994.
Web links
- State of Brandenburg on nature reserve, Great Bustard ( Memento from February 10, 2013 in the web archive archive.today ) June 14, 2005.
- Great Bustard on: naturfoto-online.de
Bagower Bruch | Baeketal | Belziger landscape meadows | Bullenberger Bach / Klein Briesener Bach | Döberitzer Heide | Flaming beech | Forst Zinna Jüterbog-Keilberg | Glindower Alps | Havelländisches Luch | Ketziner Havel Islands | Little Plessower See | Klein Marzehns | Krahner Busch | Krielower See | Lehniner Mittelheide and headwaters of the Emster | Lienewitz-Caputher lake and wetland chain | Marzahner Fenn and Dünenheide | Moss fen | Nuthe-Nieplitz lowland | Planetal | Pritzerber Laake | Rabenstein | Rietzer See | Spring | Lower Havel South | Verlorenwasserbach upper course | Advertising heather | Wolfbreak | Zarth
Coordinates: 52 ° 13 ' N , 12 ° 40' E