Mühlberg nature reserve
The Mühlberg nature reserve is an approx. 1 hectare Pannonian dry grassland north of Goggendorf in the municipality of Sitzendorf an der Schmida in the Hollabrunn district in Lower Austria . Because of the occurrence of very rare species, the loess slope is of national importance.
description
The nature reserve is located on a steep, south-west exposed slope of the Mühlberg and is covered by a grove sage-furrow-fescue-dry grassland. The furrow fescue ( Festuca rupicola ) is the dominant species . Rarities include rare and endangered species such as the stemless tragacanth ( Astragalus exscapus ), the field man's shield ( Androsace maxima ), the Adriatic belt tongue ( Himantoglossum adriaticum ), the cinderella ( Phlomis tuberosa ) and the villi flax ( Linum hirsutum ), the through-wax rabbit's ear ( Bupleurum rotundifolium ) and the prostrate broom ( Cytisus procumbens ). Loosely dry grasslands of this type used to be widespread in the Pannonian region of Lower Austria and shape the landscape. However, due to changes in management and intensification of agriculture, they were largely destroyed in the second half of the 20th century and are now only a few remains. As a result, numerous character species of this habitat are now considered endangered or threatened with extinction. Due to the rarity of this habitat type and the rare species that occur, the nature reserve is of great importance as a biogenetic reservoir.
In the vicinity of the nature reserve there is an occurrence of the very rare small resede ( Reseda phyteuma ) as well as a natural monument with an occurrence of the also very rare European hornbill ( Krascheninnikovia ceratoides ).
protection
The dry grass was first walked on in 1914 as part of an excursion and subsequently found its way into scientific literature. As early as April 21, 1914, the Association for the Preservation of Monuments and Heritage Protection in Lower Austria submitted an application for protection "to the high regional committee of the Archduchy of Austria ud Enns", in which the nature conservation value of the area was described precisely and in detail. It was suggested that the Lower Austrian Provincial Museum should buy the property and manage it as a “showpiece of the Provincial Museum in the open air”. After the application was rejected succinctly on October 4, 1914, the association changed to the "laudable Imperial and Royal District Authority Oberhollabrunn" to prevent the war-related order of the fallow parcel. This request was granted and the natural gem was temporarily saved. The official protection does not take place until September 23, 1943.
The nature reserve is now located in the Natura 2000 area "Western Weinviertel". Pannonian steppes and dry grasslands apply to the Fauna-Flora-Habitat Directive of the EU as priority habitats and subject to special protection. As part of a LIFE project, extensive care and management measures were implemented between 2004 and 2008. This included the large-scale removal of invasive woody plants and small-scale, differentiated maintenance in order to enhance the dry grassland and promote the protected species. There is a fundamental risk from fertilizer and pesticide drift from the surrounding intensive cultivation as well as from invasive trees, v. a. Black locust .
photos
View of the Mühlberg from the southwest.
Open loess sites represent a valuable habitat for specialized animal and plant species.
Southern part with wormwood vegetation.
Ground tragacanth ( Astragalus exscapus ), critically endangered in Austria.
Small Resede ( Reseda phyteuma ), endangered in Austria.
Austria tragacanth ( Astragalus austriacus ), endangered in Austria.
The Pontic wormwood ( Artemisia pontica ) likes to grow over loess and is endangered in Austria.
Ruthenian ball thistle ( Echinops ritro subsp. Ruthenicus ), endangered in Austria.
Fallow gold lacquer ( Erysimum repandum ), endangered in Austria.
Sword elephant ( Inula ensifolia ), endangered in Austria.
Common hedgehog ( Lappula squarrosa ), endangered in Austria.
Thuringia Lavatere ( Lavatera thuringiaca ), endangered in Austria.
Austria flax ( Linum austriacum ), endangered in Austria.
Horse chair ( Seseli hippomarathrum ), endangered in Austria.
literature
- Heinz Wiesbauer: Diversity in the wasteland, protection and care of Pannonian steppe and dry grasslands as part of a LIFE-Nature project. St. Pölten 2009, ISBN 978-3-901542-30-5 , p. 21 [1] (PDF; 4.57 MB)
- Heinz Wiesbauer (Ed.): The steppe is alive, rocky steppes and dry grasslands in Lower Austria. St. Pölten 2008, ISBN 978-3-901542-28-2 , pp. 69f [2] (PDF; 775 kB)
- Gustav Wendelberger: From the beginnings of nature conservation in Lower Austria: The early leasehold areas of the zoological-botanical society, a review in the European year of nature conservation 1970. In: Negotiation of the zoological-botanical society in Vienna. Volume 110/111 (1971/1972), pp. 129ff [3] (PDF; 1.24 MB)
- Manfred A. Fischer: A touch of the Orient - Pannonian vegetation and flora. In: Nature in the heart of Central Europe. 2002, ISBN 3-85214-776-X , p. 83.
- Wolfgang Holzner et al .: Austrian dry grass catalog. “Steppes”, “heaths”, dry meadows, poor meadows: existence, endangerment, possibilities of their conservation. In: Green series of the Federal Ministry for Health and Environmental Protection , Volume 6, Vienna 1986, ISBN 3-900-649-065 , Object ÖK 22/38
- Province of Lower Austria: Ordinance on nature reserves. May 26, 2009, [4]
- Information board on site.
Web links
Coordinates: 48 ° 37 ′ 29.7 ″ N , 15 ° 56 ′ 21 ″ E