Spitzerberg
| Spitzerberg | ||
|---|---|---|
 The Spitzerberg from the north from the Hexenberg |
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| height | 302 m above sea level A. | |
| location | Lower Austria | |
| Mountains | Hundsheim Mountains , Little Carpathians | |
| Dominance | 2.1 km → Bauernlüsse | |
| Notch height | 60 m ↓ west of Edelstal | |
| Coordinates | 48 ° 5 '57 " N , 16 ° 57' 1" E | |
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The Spitzerberg is a 302 m high elevation in eastern Lower Austria ( Bruck an der Leitha district ) on the border with Slovakia . It belongs to the Hundsheimer Mountains and thus to the foothills of the Little Carpathians . Large areas of the Spitzerberg are protected by nature conservation law.
use
The name Spitzerberg became known throughout Austria thanks to the Spitzerberg airfield with its flight school at the foot of the mountain .
To the east of the airfield, a motocross area was built with a 1700 m long route, which also extends to the slopes of the Spitzerberg.
Wine is grown on the southern slope of the Spitzerberg, including the “ Blaufränkisch ” variety . Other farming and hunting are also practiced there. There is also the recreational use. Several marked trails lead through the protected areas.
Ecological importance
The area of the Spitzerberg is characterized by fringing, dry grass and semi-dry grass communities, rock steppes and dry forests. On the steep slopes there are limestones and dolomites capable of karstification, which form extremely arid locations in the dry Pannonian climate due to the lack of or only a small amount of humus.
On the unforested parts there is a species-rich steppe vegetation, which represents the habitats for a specially adapted fauna. The habitats for flora and fauna on the Spitzerberg are among the most valuable special locations in Austria.
From 2004 to 2008, the Spitzerberg was part of the LIFE project "Pannonian steppe and dry grasslands", which is 60 percent funded by the EU , in the course of which woody plants were removed from the steppe and dry grassland areas on the Spitzerberg and grazing monitoring was carried out.
fauna and Flora
In addition to typical prairie grasses such as the delicate feather grass ( Stipa eriocaulis ) are here plant species such as steppes spurge ( Euphorbia seguieriana ), Austrian black salsify ( Scorzonera austriaca ), stone crushing Felsennelkenanger ( Petrorhagia saxifraga ), dwarf iris ( Iris pumila ), Rock Buckthorn ( Rhamnus saxatilis ), Hungarian Yarrow ( Achillea pannonica ), panicles knapweed ( Centaurea stoebe ) Esparsetten tragacanth ( Astragalus onobrychis ), lady's bedstraw ( Galium verum ), blood cranesbill ( Geranium sanguineum ) Diptam ( Dictamnus albus ), Pannonischer Milky star ( Ornithogalum pannonicum ), spring hunger flowers ( Draba verna ) or spring Adonis florets ( Adonis vernalis ) can be found.
Austrian black salsify ( Scorzonera austriaca )
Saxifrage rock carnation ( Petrorhagia saxifraga )
Dwarf Iris ( Iris pumila )
Spring Hungerflower ( Draba verna )
Esparsette tragacanth ( Astragalus onobrychis )
Real bedstraw ( Galium verum )
Blood-red cranesbill ( Geranium sanguineum )
Spring Adonis ( Adonis vernalis )
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The fauna is by matched specialists and rare species such as the Eastern Green lizard ( Lacerta viridis viridis ), the bird Spider ( Eresus kollari syn. Eresus cinnaberinus ), the mountain witch ( Chazara briseis ), the black Apollo ( Parnassius mnemosyne ), the setina roscida ( Setina roscida ), the Eastern owlfly ( Libelloides macaronius ), the Saga pedo ( Saga pedo ), the poppy mason bee ( Hoplitis papaveris syn. Osmia papaveris ), the stone bee ( Lithurgus chrysurus ), the point shield jewel beetle ( ptosima flavoguttata syn. ptosima undecimmaculata undecimamculata ) or the European ground squirrel ( Spermophilus citellus ).
Eastern green lizard ( Lacerta viridis viridis )
Red tube spider ( Eresus kollari )
Mountain witch ( Chazara briseis )
Black Apollo ( Parnassius mnemosyne )
Butterfly-like ( Libelloides macaronius )
Great sawhopper ( Saga pedo )
Pointed jewel beetle ( Ptosima flavoguttata )
European ground squirrel ( Spermophilus citellus )
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Protected areas
In 1981 parts of the Spitzerberg were declared a nature reserve. As of 2014, the plots No. 525/1, 525/2, 526/1, 526/4, 526/5, 526/6, 526/7, 526/8 and 696 in the cadastral municipality of Prellenkirchen and the plots No. 613, 614, 615, 2784, 2785 and 2803 in the cadastral municipality Hundsheim the nature reserve "Spitzerberg". It covers an area of 227.40 hectares.
In 1989 the nature reserve was declared a Biogenetic Reserve by the Council of Europe .
The Spitzerberg is part of the Natura 2000 area “Hundsheimer Berge” (AT1214000). The Natura 2000 area extends slightly beyond the nature reserve area in the west and in parts in the south. Parts of the airfield and the motocross area are also in the Natura 2000 protected area.
Interventions and endangerment
The “Hundsheimer Berge”, to which the Spitzerberg belongs, are among the few remaining areas in which the Pannonian fauna and flora can be found in Austria. The anthropogenic influence from visitors, agriculture and hunting is very great and affects the development of nature conservation.
The airfield at the foot of the Spitzerberg has been operated on a grass runway for decades. The grass areas are also the habitat of a large occurrence of the European ground squirrel ( Spermophilus citellus ), which must be strictly protected . In order to preserve its habitat, the area was designated as a Natura 2000 area.
In 2010 it became known that the airport operator intends to build an asphalt runway 730 meters long and 18 meters wide instead of the existing grass runway. In a decision of January 5, 2011, the authority determined that the project did not require an obligation to carry out an environmental impact assessment.
Since the project area is located in the Natura 2000 protected area, however, a nature impact assessment must be carried out in accordance with Article 6 of the Fauna-Flora-Habitat Directive (“Habitats Directive” for short). The office of the Lower Austrian provincial government writes about the affected area: "The occurrence of the ground squirrel ( Spermophilus citellus ) at the foot of the Spitzerberg, which is one of the largest in the country, should also be emphasized ."
Thus, the construction of an asphalt runway would have to be rated as a significant impairment of the habitat of the species of Community importance and the project would fail (Article 6 Habitats Directive). In addition, the ground squirrel is listed in Appendix IV of the Habitats Directive, which is why any damage to or destruction of the breeding sites or resting places of the species is prohibited (Article 12 of the Habitats Directive). The asphalt runway has not yet been built (as of June 2013).
The monitoring of the ground squirrel in Lower Austria from 2012 showed that the ground squirrel population there, which was one of the few to show a positive development in the previous year, shrank by 94 percent in the course of 2010.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Article "Blaufränkisch right above" (PDF, 714 kB) in Salzburger Nachrichten of May 23, 2009, accessed on December 26, 2009
- ↑ a b c d Office of the Lower Austrian State Government (ed.): Nature reserve "Spitzerberg" - maintenance within the framework of the LIFE-Nature project "Pannonian steppe and dry grasslands", project period 2004-2008, folder, 10 p. ( Memento des Originals from September 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. [PDF]
- ↑ Wiesbauer, H. (2008): Diversity in the wasteland - protection and care of Pannonian steppe and dry grasslands as part of a LIFE-Nature project, 36 p. ( Memento of the original from December 8, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was used automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. [PDF]
- ↑ Lower Austrian provincial government: Ordinance on nature reserves ( Memento of the original from July 14, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , § 2 para. 36 in the version of the 32nd amendment of June 23, 2014 [PDF]
- ↑ a b Energy and Environment Agency Lower Austria (2014): Spitzerberg nature reserve - steppe on the border , accessed on July 16, 2014 [HTML]
- ↑ Klaffl, I., Oberleitner, I. & Tiefenbach, M. (1999): Biogenetic Reserves and Biosphere Reserves in Austria, Federal Environment Agency, Report R-161, 238 pp.
- ↑ a b Lower Austrian Provincial Government: Ordinance on the European Protected Areas ( Memento of the original of July 25, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , § 31 in the version of the 5th amendment of March 18, 2011 [PDF]
- ↑ a b Enzinger, K. & Gross, M. (2012): Netzwerk Ziesel - Results of Zieselmonitoring 2011, Naturschutzbund Niederösterreich, 35 p. ( Memento of the original from July 25, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. [PDF]
- ↑ Office of the Lower Austrian Provincial Government (2011): Decision on the determination procedure according to § 3 Paragraph 7 Environmental Impact Assessment Act 2000, RU4-U-543 / 001-2010, January 5, 2011, 6 pp.
