Evaluation of open land habitat types on small areas requiring maintenance based on Saxony-Anhalt’s LRT cadastre
The majority of endangered open habitat types (LRT) listed in Annex I of the Habitats Directive (FFH-RL) depend on extensive agricultural use. These primarily include the various types of dry grasslands dependent on use (e.g. LRT 6210(*), 6240*), lowland hay meadows (LRT 6510), species-rich wet grasslands (e.g., LRT 6410, 6440) and montane mountain meadows (LRT 6230*, 6520) as well as naturally small-scale special sites such as inland salt marshes (LRT 1340*) or heavy metal grasslands (LRT 6130), which are also dependent on maintenance interventions at least periodically. These habitats usually have a high species diversity (flora, fauna), but at the same time also a high proportion of endangered species. The reasons for their endangerment are, on the one hand, intensification of use on more productive sites, but currently, above all, abandonment of use on marginal sites.
For larger contiguous areas with open land LRT, concepts have recently been developed for Saxony-Anhalt that can ensure the long-term preservation of open land. Examples include extensive grazing projects with robust megaherbivores in areas formerly used for military purposes in the Oranienbaumer Heide and in the „Tote Tälern“.
However, endangered open-land habitats and the habitats of rare plant and animal species are often extremely small in size today. In many cases, these are relics of formerly large-scale occurrences that now only exist as isolated fragments or remnant areas (e.g., dry grassland fragments in the middle of scrub growth).
A large proportion of these fragmented/residual areas, which are extremely valuable in terms of nature conservation, are located in Natura 2000 areas. Nevertheless, many of these areas have been lying fallow for several decades or have only recently been taken out of use for socio-economic reasons. Specific site characteristics often make it difficult to manage marginal sites (e.g., terrain relief, high groundwater level, isolated location, lack of initial restoration).
Nevertheless, these small areas often still contain very species-rich remnants of open land habitat types and populations of rare plant and animal species. New solutions regarding use and financing must be developed promptly for these fragmented/residual areas, which are very valuable in terms of nature conservation. Since biodiversity in open land is concentrated in these small areas, solving the “fragmented/residual area problem” is of central importance for the preservation of biodiversity in Saxony-Anhalt.
Project priorities
- Habitat types cadestre (LRT cadestre)
- Problem of splinters/residual areas
- Selection of species-rich areas
Project region
Saxony-Anhalt
Further project details
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In 2015, a preliminary study was conducted to evaluate existing data against the backdrop of the “Problem of splinters/residual areas.” The habitat type cadestre of the state of Saxony-Anhalt (LRT cadestre for short) was used for these evaluations, which took into account 20,683 open land areas with a total area of 34,569 ha during the project period. The majority of these open land areas (87%) are located within FFH areas. These are predominantly very small in size: 87% of the areas have a size of ≤ 3 ha, and 69% were even ≤ 1 ha in size. In particular, the typical dry grassland and nutrient-poor grassland biotope mosaics (a total of twelve different LRTs, especially LRT 6210(*)), but also the grassland LRTs in medium locations (LRT 6510, 6520) are subject to the “Problem of splinters/residual areas” due to the small size of many occurrences. Also noteworthy is LRT 6130 (heavy metal grasslands), which occurs exclusively in very small areas
A query scheme was developed for the selection of species-rich splinters/residual areas based on the LRT cadastre, which takes into account all relevant parameters from the available data (e.g., area size, degree of isolation, number of species, occurrence of endangered plant species) and various possible combinations of these parameters. Based on the available data, it seems sensible to limit the selection of fragmented areas to areas ≤ 3 ha. The currently favored combination of selection parameters results in an area of at least 1,000-2,000 ha with species-rich fragmented/residual areas for Saxony-Anhalt, although it should be noted that the LRT cadastre covered only 30% of the state’s area during the project period. In addition, depending on the priorities set when selecting the selection parameters for fragmented areas, both the size of the total area and that of individual areas may vary.
Based on the experience gained and the figures determined, a large number of topics requiring further investigation need to be addressed in ongoing studies. This applies in particular to the regionalized plausibility check of the available data.
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A comprehensive examination of the topic is planned as part of a follow-up project, for which numerous coordination meetings have already taken place and cooperation agreements have been concluded. Initially, a pool of species-rich fragmented/residual areas will be identified and evaluated in three model regions (districts of Börde, Harz, Wittenberg) on the basis of existing data (e.g., LRT cadastre, management planning) in close cooperation with regional authorities (LAU, UNB) and experts (e.g., Botanical Association of Saxony-Anhalt). In addition, selected maintenance projects are to be initiated and implemented on priority maintenance areas in the model regions. Based on the identified pool of areas and research into the current costs of landscape management and initial establishment measures for the various biotope types, as well as the examination of further financing instruments and partners, solutions for species-rich management areas in Saxony-Anhalt are to be presented. In this way, management is to be ensured in the medium term, at least on selected priority areas.