Heerweger Moor and source areas of the Ritterhuder Beeke

Heerweger Moor and source areas of the Ritterhuder Beeke IUCN Category IV - Habitat / Species Management Area
Nature reserve "Heerweger Moor and source area of ​​the Ritterhuder Beeke"
location	West of Ritterhude and southeast of Lesumstotel
surface	80 ha
Identifier	NSG LÜ 188
WDPA ID	163575
Geographical location	53 ° 12 '  N , 8 ° 44'  E Coordinates: 53 ° 11 '33 "  N , 8 ° 44' 20"  E
Sea level	from 13 m to 31 m
Setup date	05/29/1991
administration	NLWKN

The Heerweger Moor and source areas of the Ritterhude Beeke is a nature reserve in the districts of Lesumstotel and Ritterhude of the municipality of Ritterhude, district of Osterholz , Lower Saxony.

Nature reserve

With an ordinance of April 26, 1991, the former Lüneburg district government placed this 80  hectare area under protection. The area to the west of the village of Ritterhude and southeast of Lesumstotel belongs to the natural spatial region of Wesermünder Geest and bears the statistical code NSG LÜ 188.

According to the district government of Lüneburg, protection was placed “for the preservation and development of the special character of a ground moraine landscape with soils strongly influenced by groundwater in the lowlands as part of the Osterholz-Scharmbeck loam geest with its characteristic biotope types and plant and animal species”.

nature

The nature reserve includes, among other things, four spring arms of the Ritterhuder Beeke . That is why it is dissected in its outline. Since the streams cut into the subsoil and modeled the terrain, the soil and water conditions change on a small scale. Due to the soil conditions with layers of loam and clay , the rainwater emerges from the surroundings in the valley slopes as seepage springs. As a result, a layer of peat with a thickness of up to one meter has formed in the floodplain.

In the last century the area was partially cultivated for agriculture and today about half of it was used for agriculture through grazing. The landscape is richly structured by hedges and bushes.

Flora and fauna

In the nature reserve there are a number of plant species that have been adapted to moist site conditions, such as B. the broad-leaved orchid , the marsh marigold and the alternate milkwort . Also worth mentioning are the occurrences of knotweed and fever clover .

Notable bird species that occur here are z. B. Partridge , Sparrowhawk , Kingfisher and Green Woodpecker . Gray herons use the area for foraging. Amphibian species such as common toad , common frog and pond newt find spawning grounds in the waters of the area . Insects such as butterflies and grasshoppers are also given a suitable habitat, e.g. B. occurs the endangered marsh insect .

Other protected areas, care

The nature reserve LÜ 161 " Obere Ihleniederung " is located nearby . The Osterholz Biological Station is involved in looking after the nature reserve .

Web links

Commons : Heerweger Moor and source areas of the Ritterhuder Beeke  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Nature reserve "Heerweger Moor and source areas of the Ritterhuder Beeke" in the database of the Lower Saxony State Office for Water Management, Coastal and Nature Conservation (NLWKN)
• Nature reserve "Heerweger Moor and source areas of the Ritterhuder Beeke" , brochure of the Lüneburg district government, 1998 (PDF file, 2.5 MB)

Footnotes

1. ↑ ^{a b c} information brochure of the former Lüneburg district government, 1998
2. ↑ cf. Section 2 (1) of the Ordinance on the Nature Reserve of April 26, 1991