Willow beech
Weidbuchen are reservations that emerged in its present form because the young trees early on a pasture or in a wood pasture growing and grazing animals, especially cows and goats, doggedly were - so they leaves and branches were eroded. They then no longer had a main shoot and grew bushy.
Emergence
“The life story of a willow beech consists primarily of a tough fight for survival. In addition to grass and herbs, cattle also eat leaves and young shoots from trees and bushes. "
When a young beech is eaten by a grazing animal at the age of a few years, a " cow bush " is created. The plant sprouts to the sides just above the ground. Eating off and driving out again is often repeated over many years. When the plants are one meter high, they can be up to 50 years old. After decades or even centuries, some shoots in the middle become so high that the animals can no longer reach them. Then the appearance of the willow beech is achieved. In addition to browsing, the young plants also suffer from the animals' kick, wind and snow.
Manifestation
The hornbeams look particularly beautiful when they are free in the landscape. They are 250 years old in pasture fields in some parts of southern Germany. They were created through extensive pasture use in past centuries. In the meantime, dairy cattle are mainly kept in stables . Therefore the development of bitten young beeches (cow bush) is endangered. In order to preserve the landscape with the rugged trunks of the willow beech, home associations are now striving for their existence.
Pasture fields
In the southern Black Forest , there are 10,000 hectares Weidfelder. However, they are being pushed back by intensive agricultural use.
“[They are] complex structures of diverse communities. As a rule, they are very rich in structure and species. Different plant communities are often interlinked in a small space. Interspersed in the pastures are wet biotopes , rocks and stone rattles , woody plants and individual trees such as the stately willow beech. "
Swiss dandelions , Scheuchzer's bellflower , gold cinquefoil and yellow gentian can be found in the pasture fields. Because of the prevailing grass, these plant communities are called grass grass . Also silver thistle , wing broom and dog violets occur. Among the birds are zippammer , common raven , peregrine falcon , water pipit , lemon girlitz and ring owl . The wart-biter , a type of locust that was used in the past to "pinch off" warts , is also represented in the community of the pasture fields.
The predominant cattle breed in the pasture field vegetation are the backwoods cattle . To preserve the breed, the Förderverein Hinterwäldervieh eV was founded in 1987.
"Most farmers do extensive grazing as a sideline and require a lot of commitment and idealism."
Agricultural businesses are increasingly exposed to falling producer prices. They have to expand and smaller businesses are left behind. The best way to protect the pasture fields is to maintain grazing - ideally with the cattle that live here. That is why home associations advocate for them. The pasture fields in the southern Black Forest are not only important for agriculture, but also for nature conservation and tourism.
Willow beech in the southern Black Forest
With the support of the Southern Black Forest Nature Park, the trees in the Wiesental and around the two mountains Schauinsland and Belchen (Black Forest) were recorded. The fear that there would only be a few examples of these bizarre beauties has not been confirmed.
"1,600 places were found where weeping beeches grow: as a" cow bush ", as an emerging young tree, as an impressive, mighty tree or as a collapsing old man."
Willow beech (a special feature of the common beech ), as a form of extensive grazing in the southern Black Forest, not only has a high tourist value, it also provides a habitat for sometimes rare mosses, lichens, birds and insects. That is why they have to be professionally maintained if they are to continue to exist in the future.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Dagmar Betting ao: Preserve the beech, encourage young growth, a care recommendation. ( Memento of the original from April 3, 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. Leaflet.
literature
- Dagmar Betting among other things: Preserve the beech, encourage young growth, a care recommendation. Leaflet ed. from the Freiburg Regional Council ( online version (PDF) )
- Angelika Schwabe-Braun: A plant-sociological model study as a basis for nature conservation and planning. Weidfeld vegetation in the Black Forest: history of use - societies and their complexes - evaluation for nature conservation. (= Urbs et Regio. 18). Kassel 1980, ISBN 3-88122-056-9 .
Web links
- Weidbuchen - Proud sign of nature (in the Southern Black Forest Nature Park)
- Working group "Nature and Landscape" of the Southern Black Forest Nature Park: Weidfelder - Weidbuchen - Waldervieh, A hike from the past into the future, 2011
- Willow beech hikes in the southern Black Forest Compilation of several hikes past the willow beech in the southern Black Forest (between 5 and 11 kilometers long)
- The willow beech: "Badischer Bonsai" and impressive tree shape
- Hinterwälder ... the primeval from the Black Forest, Förderverein Hinterwälder eV