Werraaltarm and Werraaue near Albungen

Werraaltarm and Werraaue near Albungen IUCN Category IV - Habitat / Species Management Area
Game at the Werra Altarm
location	Albungen in the Werra-Meißner district in Hesse
surface	26.02 hectares
WDPA ID	166252
Natura 2000 ID	4725-302 FFH no. 4725-302
Geographical location	51 ° 13 '  N , 9 ° 59'  E Coordinates: 51 ° 13 '14 "  N , 9 ° 59' 10"  E
Sea level	at 150  m
Setup date	1989/1995
particularities	Special protection as a nature reserve , part of a Natura 2000 area and part of the “Auenverbund Werra” nature reserve .

Werraaltarm and Werraaue bei Albungen is the name of a 26 hectare nature reserve in the Werra-Meißner district in northern Hesse . It is located at the south-western end of the Eschweg district of Albungen in an isolated area that is bordered by federal highway 27 to the west and a railway embankment to the east.

The oxbow lake , a former river bend that was separated from the Werra by a river straightening in connection with the construction of a railway line, as well as the Albunger See with the area north of the lake on which an alluvial forest has developed are protected. The protected area is home to rare and endangered plant and animal species and is an important resting, feeding and breeding area for numerous bird species.

In terms of natural space, the Albunger Werra Valley is a sub-unit of the Lower Werraland and belongs to the Upper Hessian Uplands .

The nature reserve is not accessible by hiking trails.

history

The construction of the railway line from Bebra to Göttingen in the 1870s gave rise to the old arm of the Werra. In order to be able to drive with the smallest possible inclines and declines, the landscape of the route was partially adapted. For example, the bed of the Werra was relocated during the construction work in order to avoid the construction of two bridges over the river bend by straightening it. At the time of the construction of the Bebra-Friedland Railway, as it was called earlier, ships still drove from the seaports on the Weser and Werra to Wanfried. The fear at the time was that navigation would no longer have been possible with the bridges.

The area of ​​the oxbow lake, which was first designated as a nature reserve in 1989, was merged in 1995 with the regeneration area "Albunger Aue" enclosed by the oxbow lake to form a nature reserve. The protected area covers an area of ​​26.02 hectares, has the national number 636020 and the WDPA code 166252 in the world database of protected areas .

With the "Jestädter Weinberg" nature reserve to the east, the Albunger Aue forms the fauna-flora-habitat area "Jestädter Weinberg / Werraaltarm und -aue bei Albungen". The area boundaries and conservation objectives were set in 2008. In the Natura 2000 protected area system , which is networked in Europe , the FFH area has the number 4725-302 and a size of 86.21 hectares.

The Werraaltarm and Werraaue nature reserve near Albungen is also part of the Auenverbund Werra landscape protection area (WDPA ID 378407), which is around 4,024 hectares in the Werra-Meißner district and in the Hersfeld-Rotenburg district . The purpose of the protection is to preserve and secure the Werra as a river landscape typical of Hessen.

Habitats

The old arm of the Werra and the lake, which was created on a former gravel quarry, form the core area of ​​the protected area. As near-natural standing water bodies, they are assigned to habitat type 3150 according to the Habitats Directive .

According to the report on the state of preservation within the area, which was drawn up as part of the reporting obligation to the EU Commission on behalf of the Upper Nature Conservation Authority of the Kassel Regional Council, the still waters have lush aquatic vegetation . The basic data collection published in 2003 and 2004 attributes the plants to the submerged spawn herb communities . In the Albunger Baggersee there are mainly large, dense stands of the rough horn leaf . Other species are rarely found. The Hornblatt Society is adapted to very nutrient-rich locations. The humus layer of the lake, which is over a meter thick , was formed by the dead spawning herbs.

The aquatic vegetation in the oxbow lake is more species-rich. As a floristic and vegetation specialty, a mass population of candelabrum alga (Chara hispida) was found in the southern part of the Albung oxbow lake . Chandelier algae are adapted to extreme growth conditions and grow on the bottom of bodies of water with very clean and nutrient-poor fresh water. These conditions are presumably given in the oxbow lake. In addition to the variety of different forms of aquatic plants, there are also silting zones with larger reed beds, as well as riparian trees rich in old and dead wood with overhanging branches, which are of great importance for birds and dragonflies.

Adjacent to the oxbow lake, a stream bank forest with alders , ash trees and willows has developed, which is assigned to habitat type 91E0 "Alder- ash floodplain forests and softwood floodplain forests". From the EU perspective, it is one of the priority habitats that are particularly threatened and for which there is a special responsibility for their conservation. Lack of dynamic processes shows the floodplain forest transitions to breakage and swamp forests , which are characteristic for verlandende pond.

A deciduous forest suitable for the location has developed on the Albunger Kiessee and on the adjacent area to the north. In addition, there are shallow water zones and gravel banks free of vegetation. Reeds have also emerged, which provide a habitat for a species-rich bird world.

literature

• BIOPLAN Marburg: Basic data acquisition for FFH area No. 4725-302 "Jestädter Weinberg / Werraaltarm and -aue near Albungen". Prepared on behalf of the Kassel Regional Council. Status: November 2003, 1st amendment August 2004.
• Lothar and Sieglinde Nitsche, Marcus Schmidt: Nature reserves in Hessen , Volume 3, cognitio Verlag, Niedenstein 2005, ISBN 3-932583-13-2 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Classification of natural areas according to Otto Klausing in the Hessen Environmental Atlas at atlas.umwelt.hessen.de; accessed on July 3, 2018.
2. ↑ “Bebra-Friedländer Bahn” on Werra-Meissner-Bahnen.de; accessed on July 3, 2018.
3. ↑ Edgar Brill: “From the Fulda to the Leine; Tracks through Werraland ”. In “Das Werraland”, issue 3 from September 2016. P. 57 f.
4. ^ Ordinance on the nature reserve "Werraaltarm and Werraaue bei Albungen" of April 24, 1995 in the State Gazette for the State of Hesse No. 23/1995.
5. ↑ "Werraaltarm and Werraaue bei Albungen" in the world database for protected areas; accessed on July 3, 2018.
6. ↑ Ordinance on the Natura 2000 areas in Hesse in the Law and Ordinance Gazette for the State of Hesse, Part I, No. 4, of March 7, 2008.
7. ↑ "Profile of the FFH area" on the website of the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN); accessed on July 3, 2018.
8. ↑ "Auenverbund Werra" in the world database for protected areas; accessed on July 3, 2018.
9. ^ Ordinance on the "Auenverbund Werra" landscape protection area of ​​April 10, 2001; accessed on July 4, 2018.
10. ↑ List of habitats occurring in Germany in Appendix I of the Fauna Flora Habitat Directive; accessed on July 3, 2018.
11. ↑ Basic data collection for FFH area No. 4725-302 "Jestädter Weinberg / Werraaltarm and -aue bei Albungen"; accessed on July 4, 2018.