Meißner nature reserve
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Meißner nature reserve
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 Hausener hats |
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| location | Werra-Meissner district , Hesse | |
| surface | 9.322 km² | |
| Identifier | 1636007 | |
| WDPA ID | 6969 | |
| Natura 2000 ID |
(FFH) DE-4705-301 (SPA) DE-4725-306 (FFH) DE-4705-301 (SPA) |
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| FFH area | 2043 ha | |
| Bird sanctuary | 3,720.78 hectares | |
| Geographical location | 51 ° 13 ' N , 9 ° 52' E | |
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| Setup date | NSG 1989 (1970) FFH area 2008 |
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The nature reserve “Meißner” puts the steep slopes and parts of the high plateau of the Hohe Meißner , an approximately 750 meter high mountain range in the Werra-Meißner district in northern Hesse, under protection. The area is part of the Natura 2000 protected area “Meißner und Meißnervorland” (No. 4725-306) and the European bird sanctuary “Meißner” (No. 4725-401). Parts of the nature reserve form a natural forest reserve . With an area of 930.82 hectares , the NSG is one of the largest nature reserves in Hesse and the largest forest nature reserve in the state. In addition, around 150 hectares of species-rich mountain meadows and a hillside spring moor are also protected.
The nature reserve does not include the entire mountain range. It surrounds the predominantly unprotected high plateau in a ring shape, which is largely covered by spruce forests. The Bransrode basalt quarry and the former “Kalbe” open-cast mine are also not part of the protected area. On the Meißner there are also two additional, spatially separated nature reserves, the “ Bühlchen bei Weißenbach ” and “ Source area of the White Gelster ” nature reserves.
location
Due to its prominent location, which clearly towers above the surrounding mountain ranges, the Hohe Meißner forms its own natural spatial unit within the Fulda-Werra mountainous region . The summit of the Hohe Meißner forms an almost flat high plateau, which is bordered in all directions by steep slopes. The plateau is formed by a large basalt cover , about 100 to 150 meters thick , which, due to its greater hardness, was carved out of the softer Tertiary and Mesozoic sediments during the uplift of the area . The natural edge of the plateau within the protected area forms cliffs, some of which consist of columnar basalt, such as the sea stones and extensive boulder seas that have remained naturally free from forests since the Ice Age.
Politically, the protected area is partly in the districts of various surrounding communities: Dudenrode (district of Bad Sooden-Allendorf ), Weißenbach and Laudenbach (districts of Großalmerode ), Hausen und Küchen (districts of Hessisch Lichtenau ), Frankenhain and Frankershausen (districts of the municipality of Berkatal ) , Germerode and Vockerode (districts of the municipality of Meißner ). The Meißner plateau is accessed by the 3241 state road between Velmeden and Vockerode, which also crosses the NSG itself.
geology
The igneous rock of the Meißner is characterized petrographically as coarse-grained olivine - dolerite , which takes up most of the summit. A small part south of the Kassel hilltop consists of a similarly composed, but finer-grained, dense olivine basalt , which is also used to build the calf hilltop, which is now isolated by mining . The plateau lacks glass-rich olivine basalt, it is only exposed on the isolated basalt rocks of the Kitzkammer above the village of Hausen, which is built up from an approximately 80-meter-thick basalt dike. Basalt tuff can be found very occasionally at the transmitter station . The dense olivine basalt is mined in the Bransrode quarry, where it is covered by olivindolerite, which is cleared and dumped here as unusable. The basalt ceiling is flat on the surface, but its base area is of different heights, which is explained by the filling of tertiary hollows. The Meissner was not a volcano, the basaltic lava had penetrated here as a near-surface intrusion into the surrounding rock layers without reaching the surface. There is no evidence of a production slot. The basalt has probably risen in one or more crevices, possibly in the fawn chamber. It is controversial whether the Kalbe massif forms an independent intrusive body or belongs to the rest of the Meissen basalt. The block seas and block streams made of basalt rock were probably formed in the Ice Age. In terms of location, they are special because tree growth was never possible on the coarse rubble, and because cold air currents within the rubble create very cold local climates, locations of rare glacial relics . More finer block streams carry ravine and hillside mixed forests .
The base of the basalt massif is built on the east and south side of the mountain from sandstones of the red sandstone , on the west side there is limestone of the shell limestone in the slope area in the NSG . Between this Triassic base and the basalt cover there is a whole area of unconsolidated tertiary sediment consisting of clays and sands (probably from the Miocene ), in which brown coal seams are stored, on which mining was carried out for centuries. On the surface, the tertiary layers can only be locally made out on the south side. The remaining open pit of the Kalbe opencast mine, which was closed in 1974, was filled by an approximately 2-hectare lake and was omitted from the designation of the nature reserve. Unexploited lignite stocks, the exploitation of which had been considered in the 1970s, prevented the designation of the protected area for many years.
Woods
The nature reserve is predominantly taken up by semi-natural deciduous forests that can be assigned to different forest communities .
In terms of area, the beech forests dominate the forests of the nature reserve . The woodruff beech forest (Galio odorati-Fagetum) predominates on the basaltic soils, which grows on soils with a medium base supply. The second most common type of forest is the grove beech forest (Luzulo-Fagetum), which is noticeably poorer in species and grows in acidic locations, in addition to the red sandstone soils of the eastern slopes, also on superficially drained basalt soils. The forest barley-beech forest (Hordelymo-Fagetum) is found on limestone and rich basalt soils. A special feature of the Meißner, however, are the ravine and hillside mixed forests, which are more rich in tree species, on more finely- rich block rubble locations. In the tree layer dominate sycamore ( Acer pseudoplatanus ), common ash ( Fraxinus excelsior ), elm ( Ulmus glabra ) and leaved lime ( Tilia platypbyllos ). The alpine currant ( Ribes alpinum ) is widespread in the shrub layer . The rich herb layer is similar to that of the limestone beech forests, but is also rich in ferns. Brown's shield fern ( Polystichum braunii ), which has its only Hessian location here, is a specialty of the Meissner 's dump forests . The Hessisch Lichtenau Forest Office has initiated a special species protection program to preserve this species.
Unforested habitats
The women's shirt and other bog formations
The women's shirt moor, which is around one hectare in size, is located on the plateau west of the Kalbe opencast mine.To protect it, a protected area island, isolated from the rest of the NSG by the mining areas, has been designated on the plateau, which is surrounded by spruce forests (not worthy of protection). It is a hillside spring moor, partly with the character of a flat or intermediate moor, so it is not a raised moor. Alder forest , sedge reeds and , to a lesser extent, blankets of peat moss grow on the moor, most often Sphagnum recurvum , more rarely also the (moor-typical) Sphagnum magellanicum . Other rare plant species are vaginal cottongrass ( Eriophorum vaginatum ) and purple riding grass ( Calamagrostis purpurea ). The peat is up to two meters thick. The field name "Weiberhemd" is interpreted as derived from the shape (narrow at the top, then tapering towards the bottom) (possibly accentuated by a white blanket of snow), but it was possibly transferred from another, nearby meadow to the moor (see above in a land map from 1846). The moor used to belong to the Frankershausen hatchery and was left out when they were reforested.
A second small moor, the "Seewiese", is located on the southern slope of the Meißner directly below the sea stones. The silted up pond is only 0.35 hectares in size. The almost seven meter thick silted peat was examined by pollen analysis.
The "Butterwiese" is an approximately two hectare spring moor near the transmission masts, immediately south of the main road. It was left out when the dome was reforested due to its botanical importance, but the creeping willow ( Salix repens ) that existed here at that time has now disappeared despite this measure. The vaginal cottongrass forms extensive stands on the boggy area.
The Frau Holle pond
The Frau-Holle-Teich is a naturally formed still water on the eastern slope of the Meißner, which has formed in a hollow form created by basalt rubble landslides, which is sealed by clayey sediments. According to investigations in the 1930s, the pond has a maximum water depth of around 2.60 meters and shows hardly any signs of siltation. It is fed by the water from a neighboring spring, in 1936 an inlet ditch was dug from the neighboring Ziegenbach to support the water flow. The pond is surrounded by a reed bed of broad-leaved and narrow-leaved cattails ( Typha latifolia and angustifolia ), forest ledges ( Scirpus sylvaticus ), narrow-leaved cotton grass ( Eriophorum angustifolium ) and beaked sedge ( Carex rostrata ).
Hausener Hute, Viehhaushute and Struthwiese
The areas that are close together are on the west side, above the village of Hausen, the Hausener Hute directly below the transmission masts. The areas that used to be grazed by the villagers' livestock as hats or commons are now preserved through conservation measures. The vegetation of the hut meadows is very species-rich and includes numerous plant species that are very rare in the region. It is a mosaic of bristle grass lawns , dwarf shrub heaths , wet meadows and Kleinseggenriedern and species-rich mountain meadows (mountain and fat meadows of the type of gold oat meadow, association Polygono-Trisetion), which in summer due to the purple flower color of the montane (only common in mountainous) herb type forest Cranesbill ( Geranium sylvaticum ) attract attention. On the hats, among other things, the carnation ( Dianthus superbus ) occurs, with globe flower ( Trollius europaeus ), Nordic bedstraw ( Galium boreale ) other species common in montane. Dog violets ( Viola canina ), arnica ( Arnica montana ) and other rare species of nutrient-poor locations are characteristic species of the grass grass. The red flowering forest lice herb ( Pedicularis sylvatica ) occurs in the wet and boggy areas .
Block heaps
The basalt block heaps are mainly found on the east and south sides of the Meißner. They consist of more or less rounded blocks from a few decimeters to about a meter in diameter. The rubble heaps are dormant today, but in the central areas they are hostile to the forest due to their lack of fine soil and therefore form natural clearings in the forest. Botanists of the 18th century found species such as white silver arum ( Dryas octopetala ) and moss bells ( Linnaea borealis ), which are now only found in the Alps or the Scandinavian tundra, they have apparently survived here since the Ice Age. Today, however, they are extinct in the area, for which, among other reasons, the excessive collecting passion of botanists such as Conrad Moench himself was responsible. To this day, bear moss species such as the pine bear moss ( Huperzia selago ) and various lichen species, including the arctic-alpine Andreaea rupestris , Gymnomitrium obtusum and Anastrophyllum saxicola, can be found here . The Carpathian birch ( Betula pubescens subsp. Carpatica ) is one of the first tree species to penetrate the log heaps from the edge .
History of the reserve
Distinctive individual structures such as the Frau-Holle-Teich, the women's shirt, the sea stones and the calf were already placed under protection by administrative order in 1921. After the introduction of the Reich Nature Conservation Act in 1935, instead of a nature reserve, only these small areas were protected as natural monuments. Due to the threat posed by open-cast lignite mining, conservationists applied for a nature reserve for the Meißner in 1951. However, this was not realized until 1970, initially on an area of 720 hectares. The nature reserve as it is today was designated in 1989.
The Meißner natural forest reserve was established on the eastern slope as early as 1988 and lies entirely within the NSG. It consists of a total reserve, without forest interventions, and two naturally managed comparison areas, each 47 hectares in size.
The 2043 hectare Natura 2000 area (also called Flora-Fauna-Habitat or FFH area), number DE 4725-306, Meißner and Meißner Vorland, was approved with the ordinance on the Natura 2000 areas in Hesse (law and ordinance sheet for the State of Hesse - Part I -No. 4, from January 16, 2008) as legally binding. A management plan has been drawn up for the area together with the bird sanctuary (VSG), number DE 4725-401, Meißner (which includes additional areas). This also regulates the maintenance and management of the areas of the nature reserve, the largest part of which lies entirely within these protected areas. A separate maintenance and development plan for the nature reserve no longer exists.
swell
- Lothar and Sieglinde Nitsche, Marcus Schmidt: Protect - experience - maintain nature reserves in Hesse; Volume 3: Werra-Meißner-Kreis and Kreis Hersfeld-Rotenburg, Cognitio-Verlag, Niedenstein 2005, ISBN 978-3-932583-13-1 . NSG Meißner on pp. 139–143.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Hans Hentschel (1978): The basalt of Meißner. The Exposure, Special Volume 28: 208-228.
- ↑ A. Finkenwirth (1978): The brown coal on the Meißner. The Exposure, Special Volume 28: 229-236.
- ^ Matthias Roeper: Searching and finding - the way of the district until November 1989. In: Chronicle of the Werra-Meißner district on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the district's foundation. published by the district committee of the Werra-Meißner district, Eschwege 2014. Online edition, BVB-Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, 2017
- ↑ a b c Cord Peppler-Lisbach, Thomas van Elsen (2002): Extensive grassland and arable communities on the Hohe Meißner and in the eastern Meißner foreland (Northern Hesse) (excursion B). Tuexenia 22: 83-105.
- ↑ a b c Northwest German Forest Research Institute (NW-FVA) and Landesbetrieb Hessen-Forst (publisher): Portrait of Hessian natural forest reserves: Meißner. Göttingen, August 2013, 39 pages. download
- ↑ a b Hartmut Stalling (1983): Investigations on the post-glacial vegetation history of the Meißner (Northern Hesse). Flora 174: 357-376.
- ↑ Dirk Bönsel, Petra Schmidt, Christel Wedra: Botanical walks: Hessen (Botanical walks in German countries 5). Urania, Leipzig / Jena / Berlin, 1986. ISBN 3 332 00558 8 . Tour 5: Hoher Meissner.
- ↑ Marcus Schmidt (2012): The pioneering phase of state nature conservation in Northern Hesse (1900-1927) - laying the foundation stone for the network of protected areas. Yearbook Nature Conservation in Hessen 14 (2011/2012): 58-66.
- ↑ Natura 2000 ordinance on the Kassel regional council, area 4725-306 Meißner and Meißner Vorland
Web links
Bilstein im Höllental | Blue dome | Boyneburg and Schickeberg near Breitau | Bühlchen near Weißenbach | Dreiherrenstein-Eschenberg-Kreutzerberg | Ebenhöhe-Liebenberg | Eichenberg near Frieda | Ermschwerder Heegen | Wet meadows near Lüderbach | Frankenloch near Heldra | Freudenthal near Witzenhausen | Graburg | Harthberg | Hessian Switzerland at Meinhard | Hohekopf near Großalmerode | Meissner | Iberg near Markershausen | Jestädter Weinberg | Limestone cliffs south of the Iberg | Lean lime lawn near Roßbach | Kielforst near Herleshausen | Kiesteich near Frieda | Pond under the Aue ball | Kreideberg near Ellerode | Nativity and eyeholes | Mönchesrieth near Grebendorf | Upper Niestetal | Plesse - Konstein | Headwaters of the White Gelster | Reichenbacher Kalkberge | Rhöneberg near Marzhausen | Steinbachtal and Hirschhagener ponds | Tiefenbachwiesen near Rommerode | Trimberg near Reichensachsen | Weißbachtal near Reichenbach | Werra old arm near Schwebda | Werraaltarm and Werraaue near Albungen