Nature reserve Auf dem Knapp

Barley field with cornflower in the NSG

Northeast area of the NSG

The nature reserve Auf dem Knapp with a size of 22.96 hectares is located northeast of Medelon in the urban area of Medebach . It was designated as a nature reserve (NSG) by the Hochsauerlandkreis in 2003 with the Medebach landscape plan. The NSG is part of the European bird sanctuary Medebacher Bucht (DE-4717-401).

Area description

The NSG is a very structurally rich area on two flat mountain ridges with an intermediate basin with grassland and fields. In the grassland there are poor pastures and meadows. The fields are extensive fields on soils rich in skeletons. There is also a forest area, black thorn bushes and gorse heaths in the area.

In the west of the NSG there is a steep slope to the Heimeckebach, overgrown with beech and oak coppices. The mountain slope is shallow gravel and interspersed with small rocks. The oaks on the slope are crippled. Open rubble rock corridors with sparse vegetation occur in small areas on the mountainside. The oak forest is mostly light and bushy. The oak trunks are densely overgrown with lichen. The root necks of the oaks are partly heavily mossed.

On the southern ridge there is an extensive extensive pasture in the transition to the broom heather with thorn bushes, some fruit trees and beeches with several shoots. Small rocky rocky areas come to light locally. To the east and south there are arable land, fat pastures and a partially poor meadow.

The valley of the Heimecke also belongs to the NSG here. The Heimecketal is occupied by intensively used fat pastures. On the southern edge there is a small, partly well waterlogged wasteland. The stream has been straightened, but shows a natural development. The western, up to eight meters high, valley embankment is occupied by an old strip of wood made up of predominantly bird cherries and oaks. To the north of an extensive pasture rich in broom is a hollow in the terrain followed by an ascent to the northern ridge. The area is made up of a mosaic of skeleton-rich extensive fields with low-growing barley , only up to about 30 cm high, with a very rich wild herb flora with cornflower , snapdragon , striped clover and broad-leaved hollow tooth . In addition, there are normally cultivated arable land, intensive meadows and species-rich poor meadow and poor pasture. The terrain is made up of several embankments and a wall with z. T. Broom and wasteland vegetation structured.

The red-backed shrike and gray shrike breed in the area .

The landscape plan explains the NSG: "With its poor pastures and meadows, the skeleton-rich extensive fields and the gravel-rocky slope areas, the area is a valuable biotope for plant and animal species in extensively used cultivated landscapes."

Protection purpose

The NSG designated for the maintenance of a richly structured cultural landscape complex of oak and beech coppice forest, broom bushes, lean grassland and extensive fields with a representative biotope inventory within the bird sanctuary Medebacher Bucht. The NSG also serves to sustainably secure habitats that are particularly worthy of protection. As with all nature reserves in Germany, the protection designation indicated that the area was declared a nature reserve “because of the rarity, special character and beauty of the area”.