Mechtenberg nature reserve (Gelsenkirchen)

	Mechtenberg (Gelsenkirchen) IUCN Category IV - Habitat / Species Management Area
	Tall herbaceous corridor with wood-herb
location	Gelsenkirchen , North Rhine-Westphalia , Germany
surface	12.88 ha
Identifier	GE-017
WDPA ID	318772
Geographical location	51 ° 29 ' N , 7 ° 6' E Coordinates: 51 ° 28 '59 " N , 7 ° 5' 42" E
Setup date	1997
administration	Lower landscape authority of the city of Gelsenkirchen
particularities	Shared territory

Location of the neighboring nature reserves "Mechtenberg" (E-005 and GE-017)

The nature reserve Mechtenberg in Gelsenkirchen is for the most part in the district Rotthausen on the border with food located nature reserve ; the southwest corner of the area is in the Essen city area. Together with the adjacent Mechtenberg nature reserve in Essen-Kray, it is part of the Mechtenberg landscape park . The two nature reserves are geographically adjacent and have the same name, but they were delimited due to different protection goals. They are listed at the State Office for Nature, Environment and Consumer Protection in North Rhine-Westphalia under the IDs GE-017 (Gelsenkirchen) and E-005 (Essen).

description

The eponymous Mechtenberg is a witness mountain with a wooded hilltop visible from afar in the southwestern part of the neighboring Essen area; it can be seen from the western entrance of the Gelsenkirchen area.

The area is surrounded by fallow land and grassland . In the north the Schwarzbach and in the east the canalised Leither Bach form the regional border, behind which large areas of a recultivated dump with extensive fallow land continue. The Essen nature reserve and arable land adjoin to the south and west . The northern part of the protected area itself consists of an approximately 10 m high old embankment area, the southern, flat part consists of parabrown earth . In the area there are fallow grassland rich in herbaceous plants, an extensively used orchard meadow , various small trees and some near-natural standing water bodies of different sizes.

Due to this extraordinary wealth of structures, the area is also an outstanding natural experience for the human visitor, which can be experienced through several walking paths. The small bodies of water and wetlands that are particularly worthy of protection, however, are hidden behind thick bushes and a willow - succession forest . You cannot be reached without leaving the path.

gallery

Information board on the border of the two NSG
View from the west entrance of the Mechtenberg
Leither Bach (canalised) on the eastern border
Promenade
Orchard meadow
Promenade

Biotopes and species worthy of protection

With its structural wealth, the protected area is a valuable habitat for numerous endangered plant and breeding birds , amphibians and grasshopper species . The species on the Red List in North Rhine-Westphalia include field owl , moorhen , reed warbler , little grebe and common frog . As special protection areas, the wet and the waters "[n] zonation with small and large pronounced apply with their reeds , Seggengürteln , Schwimmblatt- and underwater vegetation."

The area is also of outstanding importance for the biotope network .

Protection goals

The protection goal is named: "Preservation of a particularly structurally rich landscape section in the Gelsenkirchen-Essen-Bochum city triangle with an embankment area with wet grassland, reed beds, small bodies of water and large, open fallow stages as well as a wet area with one larger and several small, near-natural still waters, surrounded by fallow land and bushes and young willow-succession forest, as a habitat for a large number of sometimes endangered plant and animal species, etc. a. for reed and meadow breeders, amphibians and grasshoppers. "

The dangers posed by leisure activities (damage caused by being stepped on, beaten path) should be countered by restrictions, and the network of trails should not be expanded further. Scrub and silting up as a result of undesirable succession should be counteracted by vegetation control.

Individual evidence

^ "Mechtenberg" nature reserve (E-005) in the specialist information system of the State Office for Nature, Environment and Consumer Protection in North Rhine-Westphalia , accessed on March 10, 2017.
↑ ^a ^b ^c nature reserve "Mechtenberg" (GE-017) in the specialist information system of the State Office for Nature, Environment and Consumer Protection North Rhine-Westphalia , accessed on March 10, 2017.

Web links

Commons : Mechtenberg nature reserve - collection of images

Nature reserve "Mechtenberg" (GE-017) in the specialist information system of the State Office for Nature, Environment and Consumer Protection in North Rhine-Westphalia
NSG Mechtenberg (Gelsenkirchen, CDDA code 318772) in the Common Database on Designated Areas of the European Environment Agency
World Database on Protected Areas - Mechtenberg Nature Reserve (Gelsenkirchen) (English)

[1] "Mechtenberg" nature reserve (E-005) in the specialist information system of the State Office for Nature, Environment and Consumer Protection in North Rhine-Westphalia , accessed on March 10, 2017.

[GE-017-2] nature reserve "Mechtenberg" (GE-017) in the specialist information system of the State Office for Nature, Environment and Consumer Protection North Rhine-Westphalia , accessed on March 10, 2017.