Hutewald

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hudee oaks as remnants of Hudewäldern in northwest Mecklenburg
Tree outgrowth due to browsing in the former Hutewald at Schaalsee

A Hutewald , also called Hudewald or Hutung (formerly Huth ), is a former (primeval) forest that is also or exclusively used as pasture for livestock - instead of the laborious clearing and creation of grassland . In this form of use, also known as forest pasture , the cattle are driven into the forest to look for their fodder there. Acorns and beechnuts as well as leaves and branches of young trees are particularly nutritious . Depending on the number of grazing animals, this browsing reduces the young growth of the trees and provides the large fruit-bearing trees with more light. Through this predominantly historical forest use, which was common from the beginning of the European Neolithic to beyond the Middle Ages , in the course of time light to almost open, park-like forests up to tree-lined pastures emerged, which were previously collectively referred to as Hutweide . Hutewald and Hutweide are therefore old cultural landscapes and not natural landscapes , as the name of the famous former Hutewald " Urwald Sababurg " in Hesse would suggest.

history

The livestock population is decisive for the development of a hat forest . Today it is assumed that there are 16 to 30 livestock units on 100 hectares, which corresponds to 16 to 30 adult cattle or around 100 to 200 pigs. Is a deciduous forest of this magnitude during the growing season permanently in extensive form grazed arise possible to almost open forests.

In dry, warmer vegetation zones ( tree or shrub savannah ( wet or dry savannah ), Mediterranean scrub forest ), in which the forestation is naturally less dense and also more highly developed, pasture forests similar to the hat forests are partly emerging to this day under similar management methods and tree meadows , where the trees can also take on the function of providing shade.

In Western and Central Europe, forest pasture, like the other traditional forms of forest use, declined with the industrial revolution ; it was largely superseded by modern, regulated forestry . The few hat forests or remains of hat forests and witnesses still preserved in Central Europe are mostly under nature protection today . According to the Red List of Endangered Biotope Types in Germany, hat forests in this country are "threatened with complete destruction".

According to the megaherbivore hypothesis , some areas of Europe's forests resembled hat forests after the Ice Age and before (increased) human use. The idea is based on the assumption that forests in particular on plains, on sandy soils and near rivers were grazed by large wild animals such as aurochs , bison , elk or wild horses at this time . At least in these locations, the Hutewald is probably more like the natural landscape.

Origin of name

The oak forest of Langaa, Jutland , one of the last pasture forests in Denmark , still shows the aspect of a continuously grazed hut forest

The word hat / Hutung derives from the same root word as (livestock) guard down - which is why it is also called hats woods or -weide. Hude is a Low German form, also in the north German location and place names is not only the pure Hude-places (as in the case of Hude (Oldenburg) - with still-existing Hasbruch ) or Steinhude .

The cattle had to be looked after on the open pasture in the confusing terrain of the forest - often by a shepherd on behalf of the cattle owners of the village community, who was rewarded with hat money for this . The shepherds were often children, as is still common in many countries around the world when grazing cattle in entire communities - and at least in the case of alpine farming in the Alpine region , it is still known in Europe to this day. The pasture (or forest) used was either common property or belonged to the (feudal) landlord and, like the arable land, was to be used against taxes. The hat (Hutung, Hute / Hude) was also a term for pasture justice and the right to fattening . The pasture justice developed a detailed regulation. Normally the owner of the hut property was entitled to the mithut . The grazing of different owners or members z. B. a village community was the Koppelhut . The property owner may have used the vanguard privilege .

Becoming and being

"Primeval forest" Sababurg, Reinhardswald - a no longer used hut forest after a hundred years of natural succession

In the Hutewäldern the cattle, not only was domestic pigs and goats , but also domestic cattle and domestic sheep or even domestic horses , grazing in the forest where it differs from the wild herbs of the herb layer - including natural regeneration , so the new trees, and their shoots and buds , and the forest fruits, especially acorns and beechnuts , but also fruits and mushrooms . Herbaceous plants that were not hardy to graze were pushed back, the species composition changed to light-loving ground vegetation, which further improved the pasture.

As a result of the destruction of young tree growth associated with grazing, sparse forests with little undergrowth and large-crowned, old trees emerged as early as the Neolithic Age , but above all through the Middle Ages . These (hat) trees , preserved because of their nutritional function and partly funded, found massive entry into various, today partly "buried" areas of culture , such as ( romantic ) ideas of the medieval or even ancient forest up to the myth of the "German oak" .

In addition to the exploitation and keeping down of the vegetation, often reinforced by the use of litter for the stables, the hat / forest pasture also led to programmed conflicts with the fauna of the forest and its users: competition with the herbivorous game for food and habitat, competition with the “ Robbers ” - the carnivorous game - for the cattle as a substitute for the natural prey and, depending on the case, also competition with the “land (or forest) owners” ( feudal lords ) for the (displaced) huntable game.

Already from the spread of livestock farming in Europe in prehistoric times, but all the more so in antiquity - first in the Mediterranean area , from the greatest expansion of the Roman Empire and even more intensely after the migration of peoples also in northern western and central Europe - the hat was the Grazing the forests, usually the first step in converting the natural (“primordial”) vegetation into cultivated land . Even after the development phases in the Middle Ages, in addition to the coppice forest use , it represented the “classic”, decisive form of forest use of the “little man”, i.e. above all the serf farmers . In the course of the gradual replacement of forest pastures by stable keeping, most of the hut forests were in modern times converted into commercial forests . Nevertheless, some forests, especially in difficult times, were used as pasture until the first half of the 20th century, and certain forests were also laid out in the 19th century in such a way that favorable grazing conditions were created under their trees.

history

The Ivenack oaks are the result of pasture forest use
Oak grove in the Reinhardswald

The guard is an old form of livestock husbandry that was practiced before antiquity. In the Middle Ages it was expanded near the settlements. In the High Middle Ages from the middle of the 12th century, the forest pasture spread widely and differentiated two forms of use. In densely populated Central Germany, hat forests covered large areas between the settlements and fields.

A distinction must be made between forest fattening by pigs on the one hand and seasonal use by cows and horses. The former was heavily regulated and dependent on how much fruit the oak, beech and maple bore in each year. The forest pasture for pigs was of particular economic importance, as it was by far the most important source of animal food for the population. The value of a forest was measured primarily by how many pigs you could drive into it to fatten. The selection of trees with fruits edible for pigs changed the composition of the tree species (oak and beech were promoted, all conifers, linden, maple, etc. were pushed back).

On the other hand, the cows and, after their widespread distribution, also the horses were driven into the woods for about two months every year as part of the three-field economy in early summer. The high Middle Ages, with its population growth and the spread of craft, craft and civil professions, as well as the rise of cities, depended on more efficient land use in the form of crop rotation . The land that was fallow in the respective year could only feed small animals such as goats and sheep, the cows and horses needed pasture. After the first intensive use in spring, these had to rest for eight to ten weeks, the regrowing grass was cut, dried and stored as hay for the winter. The cattle were only able to use the pastures again in autumn. In the meantime it was driven to the forest pasture.

Numerous hat forests emerged at the beginning of the 16th century when mining began again in central Germany. The feudal lords granted extensive economic special rights, called mountain freedoms , to recruit miners. The mountain freedom allowed, among other things, the forest pasture. For this purpose, cooperatives of miners were formed who drove their cattle with shepherds (hats or huts) into the forest for self-sufficiency.

After the devastation of the plague periods and after the Thirty Years' War , the cattle were driven back into the forests, so that a new "Hutewaldzeit" began, which can be verified by pollen analyzes. The end of the hut forests began in the 17th century with the prohibition of unregulated forest uses. Wood became scarce, hat forests were cleared or afforested because of the lack of wood . Agriculture continued to develop, rising prices made more intensive farming more profitable - later, former hat forests were cleared. In the 19th century, the rights of the forest pasture were replaced almost everywhere in Central Europe. The forestry became a state task that private rights did not fit more in the administration because they were long-term plans and usages in the way. In individual cases, grazing or fattening rights still exist today, despite all efforts to replace them. With their use, the traditional appearance of the hat forests mostly disappeared.

In Great Britain, the forest hat was particularly in crown ownership as commons rights (German common land ) a privilege of certain farmers and ranchers, the "commoners".

In the Reinhardswald in northern Hesse , large areas were devastated (destroyed) by excessive pasture at the beginning of the 19th century , so that they were partially deforested. As a result, hat forests were specifically created with oaks, which should ensure the feeding of the cattle and produce wood through their mast. The trees were planted in a union of 12 m × 8 m or 12 m × 6 m. Today there are still around 600 hectares of hats from this period that are under protection.

Today's hat forests

Hutewald "Halloh" in the Kellerwald-Edersee Nature Park
Dehesa in Spain
The oak forest of Langaa ( Græsningsegeskov ), Denmark, is now only grazed for nature conservation purposes.

The area with the largest number of survivors and relics of the old (and younger) Hutewälder is the Reinhardswald in the far north of Hesse . There you can find remnants of hat forest from individual hat trees to several hectares of forest areas in every conceivable stage of succession or dominant form of use up to areas that are still used as pasture today - but can hardly be described as forest ( e.g. Beberbecker Hute or Sababurg Zoo (not to be confused with the Sababurg primeval forest mentioned in the following section )).

Hutewald relicts still exist in the north of neighboring Solling , for example at Nienover Castle or the protected oak woodlands near Lauenberg .

Further south, the Kellerwald region also shows some traces of the Hute in addition to its other interesting forests. Like the actual primeval forests ( areas of the Eder slopes close to the primeval forest ) of the area, however, these are not found in the national park . The "Halloh" is located in the Kellerwald-Edersee nature park, southeast of the national park. As an individual creation of nature, this Hutewald is placed under special protection and legally binding as an area natural monument by the district of Waldeck-Frankenberg .

In the vicinity of the Hellmitzheim district of Iphöfer there is an accessible hut forest.

In the Bentheimer Wald there has been a project to resume historical forest use since 2012. The forest has been used as a hut forest at least since written records in the 14th century. According to estimates, the forest area was originally around 5000 hectares. Now, in order to protect and promote the Hutewald forest, the NLWKN , the Prince of Bentheim's Domain Chamber, the County of Bentheim and the Nordhorn Zoo have resumed it on an area of ​​26 hectares. From April to November, the Nordhorn zoo grazes the project area with Galloway cattle , Dutch country goats and Bentheim sheep .

There are also several significant old Hudewald forests in Emsland, which is adjacent to the county of Bentheim. Above all, the Borkener Paradies (grazed again today) near Meppen should be mentioned, which has been grazed continuously for more than 500 years. The Tinner Loh near Haren (abandoned) as well as the Meppener (partially grazed) and the Haselünner Kuhweide (grazed again) are known nationwide.

In some parts of Europe there are still economically important hat forests, for example in central and southwestern Spain . There they are called dehesas and are mainly used for the production of acorns for the diet of Iberian pigs (traditional acorn fattening ). The typical tree is the holm oak .

Nature conservation & climate protection

Hutewald near Heidenrod-Zorn

The preserved hat forests of Central Europe are mostly under nature protection because of their great importance for a large number of endangered species. Hut forests are particularly important for organisms that require large-volume trees with a high proportion of deadwood : beetles that inhabit deadwood such as the hero buck , grain buck , stag beetle and the hermit are typical . Some butterflies, such as the oak wool butterfly, are also included. A typical bird of the Hutewälder is the middle woodpecker , which looks for its food in the coarse bark in the canopy of old trees.

The " Urwald Sababurg " in the Reinhardswald and also the Hasbruch in the Oldenburger Land are former Hutewälder, which today after more or less undisturbed natural succession as nature protection areas have forests in a near-natural state - with particularly old (but not typical (primeval) trees . In addition to the added value in terms of nature conservation that can arise from the special tree shapes, the higher proportion of light also creates higher biodiversity. Profiteers are z. B. Yellow butterfly , but also the herbaceous layer in general. Hat forests can also be used in a targeted manner to promote oak regeneration. Oaks need soil damage for their regeneration, as large herbivores cause punctually. The preservation and establishment of new hat forests is seen as one of the essential elements of successful nature conservation. Both the times when grazing and the livestock densities and (livestock) species used are relevant for successful nature conservation.

Climate experts consider hat forests to be an important building block in climate protection, as they store up to five times as much CO 2 as treeless pastures. Project Drawdown lists them among the top 10 measures against climate change. According to the project's calculations, around 31 gigatons of CO 2 could be reduced by 2050 .

Other communal pastures

literature

Web links

Wiktionary: Hutung  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations
Commons : Waldweide  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Nicolas Schoof, Rainer Luick: Pastures and Pastoralism . Oxford University Press, November 29, 2018, doi : 10.1093 / obo / 9780199830060-0207 ( oxfordbibliographies.com [accessed April 21, 2019]).
  2. ↑ M. Bunzel-Drüke, C. Böhm, G. Finck, R. Kämmer, E. Luick, E. Reisinger, U. Riecken, J. Riedl, M. Scharf, O. Zimball: “Wilde Weiden - practical guide for year-round grazing in nature conservation and landscape development ”. Working group for biological environmental protection in the Soest district V. (ed.) - Sassendorf-Lohne 2008
  3. ↑ Finck, Peter, Heinze, Stefanie, Raths, Ulrike, Riecken, Uwe, Ssymank, Axel: Red List of Endangered Biotope Types in Germany: third updated version 2017 . BfN, Bonn - Bad Godesberg 2017, ISBN 978-3-7843-4056-2 , p. 637 .
  4. ^ Nicolas Schoof, Rainer Luick: Pastures and Pastoralism . Oxford University Press, November 29, 2018, doi : 10.1093 / obo / 9780199830060-0207 ( oxfordbibliographies.com [accessed April 21, 2019]).
  5. ^ Elisabeth Weinberger: From Waldweide and Dechel - from Pecheln and Pottaschesieden . In: Christian Kruse: Forest Stories - Forest and Hunting in Bavaria 811-2011 . General Directorate of the Bavarian State Archives, 2011, ISBN 978-3-938831-25-0 , pages 85-103, 85 f.
  6. ↑ Elisabeth Weinberger, Edeltraud Weber: Between profit-oriented forest use and sustainable forest management - the state forest administration from the secularization of 1803 to the present. In: Christian Kruse: Forest Stories - Forest and Hunting in Bavaria 811-2011 . General Directorate of the Bavarian State Archives, 2011, ISBN 978-3-938831-25-0 , pages 104–126, 105.
  7. ↑ Homepage of Sababurg Zoo
  8. ^ Hutewald project in Solling-Vogler
  9. ^ Hutewald near Hellmitzheim. (PDF) In: The Life + project 'Forests and forest meadow valleys on the edge of the Steigerwald near Iphofen'. Retrieved December 20, 2018 .
  10. ↑ Information about the Bentheimer Hutewald
  11. ↑ Tobias Böckermann: Hudelandschaften im Emsland - Living contemporary witnesses. In: borkener-paradies.de. Tobias Böckermann, accessed on July 17, 2016 .
  12. ↑ Nicolas Schoof, Rainer Luick, Herbert Nickel, Albert Reif, Marc Förschler, Paul Westrich, Edgar Reisinger: Promoting biodiversity with wild pastures in the "wilderness areas" vision of the National Strategy for Biological Diversity . Ed .: Nature and Landscape. tape 93 , no. 7 . Kohlhammer, 2018, p. 314-322 ( researchgate.net ).
  13. ↑ Anna-Lea Ortmann, Lena Carlson, Mattias Rupp, Florian Frosch, Manuel Schneider, Rainer Luick, Jürgen Huss, Nicolas Schoof: Improving forest conservation through GPS-tracking of cattle and horses in an extensive wood pasture in southwest Germany . 2018, doi : 10.13140 / rg.2.2.34511.12964 ( rgdoi.net [accessed April 21, 2019]).
  14. ↑ Silvopasture. February 7, 2017, accessed December 4, 2019 .