Thuringian Forest Biosphere Reserve

Location of the Vessertal-Thuringian Forest biosphere reserve

The biosphere reserve Thuringian Forest is a biosphere reserve of UNESCO in Thuringia between cities Suhl , Ilmenau and Schleusingen . It covers an area of 337 km², which is composed mainly of forests and mountain meadows , but also of raised bogs . The area is completely enclosed by the Thuringian Forest Nature Park . As early as 1939, the first areas of today's biosphere reserve were declared a nature reserve. It was declared the first biosphere reserve in Germany in 1979 under the name Vessertal Biosphere Reserve with an area of 1,384 ha . From 2006 to 2016 the area was called the Vessertal-Thuringian Forest Biosphere Reserve . In 2016 it was renamed the "Thuringian Forest Biosphere Reserve" and expanded to its present size.

geography

location

Location and zoning of the biosphere reserve

The Vesser near the source.

The Vessertal-Thuringian Forest biosphere reserve is located in the south-west of Thuringia and covers an area of around 337 km². In the immediate vicinity of the area are Suhl in the west, Ilmenau in the north and Schleusingen in the south. The areas belonging to the biosphere reserve belong to the district of Hildburghausen , the Ilm district and the independent city of Suhl. The villages of Schmiedefeld am Rennsteig , Frauenwald and Vesser are completely within, while Schleusingerneundorf is partly in the area of the biosphere reserve. The biosphere reserve is enclosed by the Thuringian Forest Nature Park . The Rennsteig crosses the area.

The area of the biosphere reserve includes parts of the Thuringian Forest as well as the Thuringian Slate Mountains . The highest peaks are the Große Beerberg (982 m), the Schneekopf (978 m), the Große Finsterberg (944 m), the Fichtenkopf (944 m), the Sachsenstein (915 m) and the Adlersberg (849.9 m). On the north side the ridge falls evenly within the area to 475 m, on the south side to 420 m, the mountains are divided by many valleys.

Land use, soil

Most of the area gives the impression of a closed forest area, which is interrupted by meadows along streams and on plateaus. Forest covers about 88% of the area. Grassland makes up 9% of the area, divided into around 60% meadows and 40% pasture land . On 0.7% of the area there are mostly artificially created still waters, such as the two dams Erletor and Schönbrunn and many ponds. The excess precipitation in the high areas feeds some small-scale raised bogs and numerous streams. Only 1.3% of the area of the biosphere reserve is covered by settlements and roads.

The predominant soil types are brown earths and podsolized brown earths. There are tendrils on steep upper slopes, gley soils in floodplains , otherwise mainly nutrient-poor soils. Bog soils have formed in the ridge area .

climate

In the area of the Vessertal-Thuringian Forest biosphere reserve, there is an Atlantic-style, moderately cool, humid, snow-rich low mountain range. Depending on the altitude, the annual mean temperature is between 4 and 7 ° C, with a temperature decrease of around 0.5 ° C for every 100 m rise in altitude. The annual rainfall ranges from around 800 mm at a height of 400 m to 1200 mm in the peaks.

Zoning and habitats

The Knöpfelstaler pond in Zone II area "Marktal und Morast"

The biosphere reserve was divided into three zones. Zone I (core zone) includes the areas "Vessertal-Nahetal-Stelzenwiesengrund" with 458.28 hectares, "Upper course of the fork valleys" with 53.59 hectares, " Marktal und Morast " with 194.77 hectares, "Schneekopfmoor am Teufelskreis" 40.53 hectares, “Beerbergmoor” with 33.97 hectares, “Schüßlersgrund-Rote Klippen” with 50.61 hectares, “Jüchnitzgrund” with 159 hectares, and “Am Zwang” with 52.96 hectares. To zone II (development and maintenance zone; buffer zone) include all areas of the total of 17 nature reserves within the biosphere reserve that are not designated as core zones. The remaining area of the biosphere reserve is designated as Zone III (transition zone, zone of the harmonious cultural landscape) and is protected by the status of a landscape protection area.

The natural to near-natural habitats in the biosphere reserve include sour-ground mountain spruce forests of the montane and high-montane level , sour-ground beech (fir) forests in the specific formations of the crystalline mountains, block and rock forest communities, low-mountain high-altitude moors, dystrophic spruce forest moors, sour forest spring moors , acidic spruce brook forests, crystalline rock and block corridors with their specific lichen and moss communities, silicate spring corridors, soft water streams and bank corridors of the crystalline mountains. Habitats in the biosphere reserve that reflect extensive use are mountain meadows and acidic grasslands on silicate and ground or valley meadows in the crystalline mountains .

Flora and vegetation

Globeflowers ( Trollius europaeus ) in the Vessertal.

Meadow with meadow knotweed ( Persicaria bistorta )

So far, 1245 plant species have been identified within the biosphere reserve, including 697 vascular spores (Pteridophyta) and seed plants (Spermatophyta), 431 mosses , 118 diatoms (Bacillariophyta), 54 fungi (Fungi) and the bristle red alga ( Lemanea fluviatilis ) a red alga (Rhodoplantilis) ). The species that are also listed on the Red List of the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation include in particular the rosemary heather ( Andromeda polifolia ), the swamp sedum ( Sedum villosum ), the elder orchid ( Dactylorhiza sambucina ) and the green tongue ( Coeloglossum viride) ). The occurrence of the meadow flax leaf ( Thesium pyrenaicum ) and the elder orchid are described as "outstanding" .

The plant communities in the biosphere reserve include the forest grove beech forest (Luzulo-Fagetum), the forest cranesbill and golden oat meadow (Geranio sylvatici-Trisetetum flavescentis), the milkweed spring meadow (Chrysosplenietum oppositifolii), the Rohrglanzemgrichtas oppositifolii -Phalaridetum arundinaceae), the angular sedge-alder-ash forest (Carici remotae-Fraxinetum), the calf-headed butterbur corridor (Chaerophyllo hirsuti-Petasitetum hybridi), the grove-alder-brook forest (Tuna nemori-Alnetum) Sphagnetum magellanici) and the bilberry-spruce-bog forest (Vaccinio uliginosi-Piceetum exelsae).

fauna

According to current knowledge, the fauna of the biosphere reserve comprises 2291 invertebrate species and 231 vertebrate species. The largest group among the invertebrates are insects (Insecta) with 2048 species, followed by spiders (Araneae) with 153 and snails (Gastropoda) with 73 species. The vertebrate species include 141 birds (Aves), 48 mammals (Mammalia), 23 fish and round- mouthed animals (Pisces et Cyclostamata), 13 amphibians (Amphibia) and six reptiles (Reptilia).

As "outstanding" Artvorkommen be that of the black grouse ( Lyrurus tetrix - even Tetrao tetrix ), the short head Hummel ( Bombus wurfleini ), the black stork ( Ciconia nigra ), the corncrake ( Crex crex ), the brook lamprey ( Lamperta planeri ) and the West bullhead ( Cottus gobio ). The entire area of the biosphere reserve is designated as a European bird sanctuary due to its ornithological importance and is part of the Natura 2000 network . There is particular interest in maintaining the black grouse and black stork populations. In addition to these possess Kingfisher ( Alcedo atthis ), osprey ( Pandion haliaetus ), gray-headed woodpecker ( Picus canus ), Middle Spotted Woodpecker ( Dendrocopos medius ), red-backed shrike ( Lanius collurio ), boreal owl ( Aegolius funereus ), Red Kite ( Milvus milvus ), Black Woodpecker ( Dryocopus martius ) , Pygmy owl ( Glaucidium passerinum ), eagle owl ( Bubo bubo ), corncrake ( Crex crex ), peregrine falcon ( Falco peregrinus ), honey buzzard ( Pernis apivorus ) and pygmy flycatcher ( Ficedula parva ) with special protection measures habitats to be preserved within the bird sanctuary.

history

In 1988 a biologist took photos of different plant species in the biosphere reserve

As early as 1937, Professor Ernst Kaiser , professor of geography at the Erfurt Pedagogical Academy and school councilor in the Suhl district , suggested in his work "The mountain forest in the upper Vessertal" that part of the Vessertal should be designated as a nature reserve. When the ordinance was published in the official gazette of the Prussian government in Erfurt on September 23, 1939, an area of 1,384 hectares was declared a nature reserve. In a publication published by Kaiser in 1940, he thanks the Rector Karl Mundt from Suhl for his services in designating the area as a nature reserve. A "natural forest cell" has existed since 1959, which as a total reserve represents the forerunner of today's core zone of the biosphere reserve. The size was initially 27 hectares.

In 1979 the Vessertal nature reserve, with a size of 1,384 hectares (40 hectares of which is the core zone), as well as the Steckby-Lödderitzer forest nature reserve, were recognized as the first German UNESCO biosphere reserves. A first expansion of the area, especially in a westerly and northwestern direction, took place in 1986, so that the size then comprised 7,464 hectares with 100 hectares of core zone. A second expansion to a total size of 17,000 hectares and a core zone of 279 hectares took place in 1990. On October 21, 2001, the core zones of the areas “Vessertal” and “Marktal und Morast” were enlarged to 234 hectares and 135 hectares, respectively, so that the total share of core zones in Biosphere reserve increased to 2.6% with 449 ha.

With the amendment of the Biosphere Reserve Ordinance of March 30, 2006, the biosphere reserve was officially named "Vessertal-Thuringian Forest Biosphere Reserve" in accordance with the UNESCO recognition certificate. In order to meet the UNESCO guidelines on biosphere reserves adopted in 1995, which stipulate a minimum size of over 30,000 hectares, the area of the biosphere reserve was expanded to 33,700 hectares in 2016. It was also renamed the "Thuringian Forest Biosphere Reserve". This change was confirmed by UNESCO in 2018.

The current size is 1043.7 ha (3.1%) for Zone I, 7,931.7 ha (23.6%) for Zone II and 24,696.8 ha (73.3%) for Zone III.

use

forestry

A forestry management will take place only outside the core zone (Zone I). As a state forest, the forest within the biosphere reserve is largely used by the Thuringian State Forest Administration, private forest is only rarely available.

An overuse of the forest that began in the Middle Ages , which was mainly caused by charcoal burning , forest pasture , mining , settlement development and resin and pine soot extraction , was replaced in the 18th century by regulated forestry that indirectly favored spruce forests. Even today, over 60% of the forest area of the biosphere reserve is pure spruce stands, although the spruce forest only made up 21% of the area's natural vegetation. Forests dominated by beeches make up 21% of the forest area; their natural share would be 38%. Mixed mountain forests of spruce, beech and fir trees, which made up 40% of the natural vegetation, are only represented by 12.5% today.

Efforts have been made since 1978 to convert the forest to near-natural stands, and since 1993 the Thuringian Forest Administration has committed itself to applying the principles of near-natural forest management in the management of the state forest. In addition, protection forests are designated by the forest administration for the pursuit of the protection goal . To increase the proportion of deciduous wood mixture, deciduous trees have been pre-cultivated in older spruce stands since 1993 ; between 1994 and 2001, 485 hectares of mixed forest could be created. Also since 1993, no management by the clear-cutting method has been used within the biosphere reserve .

Agriculture

The first agricultural use of the areas of today's biosphere reserve began in the Middle Ages with the clearing of the forest for arable and meadow areas, parts of the forest were also used as forest pasture. The parcels used for agriculture were mostly small. By loosening the closed forests, they favored the creation of a diverse landscape with mountain meadows and pastures. The use of fields and forest pastures were discontinued around 1960, and since then only grassland areas have been cultivated. Agriculture was not of great economic importance here, but only served for self-sufficiency. In order to preserve the landscape, funding programs support the otherwise unprofitable use of green spaces in the biosphere reserve. Suckler cows are kept on 90% of the pastures , the meadows are mostly mowed only once a year .

tourism

In the GDR , the Thuringian Forest was one of the most popular holiday regions, so that, with state support, a total of around 80,000 beds were available in the entire Thuringian Forest. After a sharp decline of up to 50% in the 1990s, the tourism industry was able to recover slightly. The aim is to promote gentle tourism within the biosphere reserve . Areas of all zones are used, and hiking and ski hiking trails are also marked in the core zone.

In 2000, 65,386 overnight stays by 19,139 individual guests were recorded within the biosphere reserve. The town of Frauenwald was named a “model place for the environment and tourism” by the Thuringian Ministry of Economics. This award made it possible to provide funds for the renovation of the "Haus des Gastes". This facility is also used as an information and education center for the biosphere reserve.

A visitor monitoring project, which ran from May 1, 2005 to April 30, 2006, showed that around 84,000 overnight guests from the area and around 162,400 day visitors visit the biosphere reserve every year. The most popular destinations are the Kickelhahn near Ilmenau, the Schneekopf near Gehlberg, the Rennsteig , and the Stutenhausstraße near Vesser. Peak visitor numbers can be observed especially on public holidays such as Ascension and Whitsun , at events such as the Rennsteiglauf or the Adlersbergfest and during the Whitsun, Christmas and winter holidays. During the summer holidays, the number of visitors is rather average.

literature

Thuringian Ministry of Agriculture, Nature Conservation and the Environment: Report on the review of the UNESCO biosphere reserve "Vessertal - Thuringian Forest" ( Memento from November 22, 2011 in the Internet Archive ). August 2003 (as of October 2001; PDF; 6.47 MB).
Johannes Treß: New framework concept for “Vessertal-Thuringian Forest”. (PDF; 241 kB). In: UNESCO today - magazine of the German UNESCO Commission. 54th year, edition 2/2007.