The little jellyfish from Hergershausen

	The little jellyfish from Hergershausen IUCN Category IV - Habitat / Species Management Area
	Nature reserve "Die Kleine Qualle von Hergershausen" (2020)
location	southwest of Hergershausen , Darmstadt-Dieburg district , Hesse
surface	27.00 ha
Identifier	1432009
WDPA ID	162741
Geographical location	49 ° 56 ' N , 8 ° 53' E Coordinates: 49 ° 55 '52 " N , 8 ° 53' 1" E
Setup date	December 13, 1984

The small jellyfish of Hergershausen is a nature reserve in the district of Hergershausen in the Darmstadt-Dieburg district , southern Hesse . The protected area was designated by ordinance of December 13, 1984.

location

The wetland "The small jellyfish of Hergershausen" is located in the natural area of the Lower Maine Plain - Gersprenz lowlands . The nature reserve is located about 1.5 kilometers southwest of Hergershausen and one kilometer northeast of Münster . It has an area of 27.00 hectares.

Protection purpose

By placing it under protection, a remaining area of the low- lying meadows that used to occur in this area is to be preserved with great ecological importance. It is to be secured as a habitat and feeding area for numerous bird species, including species that are endangered in their population such as the curlew .

The Hergershausen meadows

"The small jellyfish" was the first protected area in the Hergershausen meadows in 1984. The river basin of the Gersprenz was increasingly degraded to an arable steppe by canalization in 1940, drainage and ditch deepening in the 1950s, as well as lowering of the groundwater through drinking water extraction. In 1970 there were 170 hectares of meadow space, in 1984 the 27 hectares in the area of the small jellyfish were the last remaining meadows between Hergershausen and Münster. This was the last breeding ground for the curlew in the district. Other breeding birds on the Red List include the corn corn , lapwing , snipe , meadow pipit , yellow wagtail , whinchat and gray bunting . In addition, numerous bird species come to the area for foraging and migrants.

In 1998, to the south, the nature reserve " On the sand between Hergershausen and Altheim " was designated. In the meantime, the Gersprenz has been renatured in the Hergershausen meadows area. Since 2008, as amended in 2016, these two nature reserves have been embedded in the larger Natura2000 areas “Untere Gersprenz” (FFH area 6019-303) and “Untere Gersprenzaue” (EU bird protection area 6119-401), Hergershausen sub-area.

Meadows in the NSG "Die kleine Qualle" (2020)
Meadows in the NSG "Die kleine Qualle" (2020)
View from the inland dune in the NSG "Auf dem Sand" onto the meadows of the NSG "Die kleine Qualle" (2020)
Evening in the Hergershausen meadows, flying gray geese (2011)