Weißensee and Steinatal

Weißensee and Steinatal IUCN Category IV - Habitat / Species Management Area
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location	Southwest of Bad Sachsa , in the district of Göttingen in Lower Saxony
surface	73 ha
Identifier	NSG BR 046
WDPA ID	82886
Geographical location	51 ° 34 '  N , 10 ° 32'  E Coordinates: 51 ° 34 '8 "  N , 10 ° 31' 47"  E
Sea level	from 260 m to 308 m
Setup date	08/16/1982
administration	NLWKN

The Weißensee and Steinatal is a nature reserve in the small town of Bad Sachsa in Lower Saxony in the district of Göttingen .

The nature reserve with the registration number NSG BR 046 is 73  hectares in size. It is part of the FFH area "Gipskarstgebiet bei Bad Sachsa". To the southwest it connects to the nature reserve " Steingrabental - Mackenröder Wald ". The reserve borders often to the conservation area "resin". The area has been a nature reserve since August 16, 1982. The responsible lower nature conservation authority is the district of Göttingen.

The nature reserve is located southwest of Bad Sachsa in the south of the Harz Nature Park . It is a section of the gypsum karst landscape of the southern Harz with karst morphological and hydrogeological features such as sinkholes , karst springs and stream shrinkages , as well as the valley of the Steina (also Steinaer Bach) from the bridge of the southern Harz stretch to the Nüxei desert.

The Weißensee area is characterized by a basin with several still waters. The eastern area is predominantly made up of a near-natural sedge-beech forest with yew and service tree occurrences as well as a well-developed herbaceous layer , in which the Weissensee, a karst lake with strongly fluctuating water levels, is located. In the north is the Fitzmühle (also known as Pfützmühle), a steep plaster face exposed to the west , from which a cave stream, the Fitzmühlenbach, emerges. A gypsum quarry is located north-east of this steep face outside the nature reserve . In the southern area of ​​the nature reserve there is the Nixsee (also known as Nixteich), a polje with a shrinkage. Part of it is taken by the Nusssee (or nut pond), an artificially dammed, former fish pond into which the Fitzmühlenbach flows from the north. At the time the nature reserve was designated, there were three further fish ponds along this stream, which have since been dismantled and the area renatured. Another special feature of the area are the sinkholes east of Nüxei, in which a wetland has developed. The remaining area is taken up by grassland and arable land .

The Steinatal to the west is characterized by a temporarily dry-falling stream bed with several infiltration points . The Steina stream is accompanied by a natural alluvial forest .

The south Harz karst hiking trail runs in the north on the edge of the nature reserve.

Web links

• Nature reserve "Weißensee and Steinatal" in the database of the Lower Saxony State Office for Water Management, Coastal and Nature Conservation (NLWKN)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Impressions from the nut pond , Karst hiking trail Südharz. Retrieved May 24, 2012.
2. ↑ Map Nüxei , Karst hiking trail Südharz. Retrieved May 24, 2012.