Ziegenberg (Saxony-Anhalt)

Last updated March 01, 2019

Crest of the Ziegenberge ridge, looking NW along the Struvenberg Ziegenberg1.png — Crest of the Ziegenberge ridge, looking NW along the Struvenberg

The Ziegenberg is a low ridge between the villages of Benzingerode and Heimburg on the northern edge of the Harz Mountains in central Germany. The ridge is a designated nature reserve. The reserve has an area of 88.4 hectares and has a variety of habitats including mesophytic grassland (Halbtrockenrasen), bushes, pine woods and wet meadows. Its highest points are the eponymous Ziegenberg (315.7 metres above NN^[1]) and the Struvenberg (291 m^[1])

Benzingerode human settlement in Germany

Benzingerode has been a village incorporated into the borough of Wernigerode since 1 April 1993. in the district of Harz in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt.

Heimburg Stadtteil of Blankenburg am Harz in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany

Heimburg is a village and a former municipality in the district of Harz, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 January 2010, it is part of the town Blankenburg am Harz.

Grasslands are areas where the vegetation is dominated by grasses (Poaceae); however, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) families can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur naturally on all continents except Antarctica. Grasslands are found in most ecoregions of the Earth. For example, there are five terrestrial ecoregion classifications (subdivisions) of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome (ecosystem), which is one of eight terrestrial ecozones of the Earth's surface.

Geology

As part of the northern uplift zone of the Harz, the Ziegenberg was formed during the Hercynian mountain building phase. As it was uplifted, the horizontal strata of the surrounding area, mainly consisting of muschelkalk, were tilted. The northern part of the Ziegenberg is characterized by silt and marl.

The Muschelkalk is a sequence of sedimentary rock strata in the geology of central and western Europe. It has a Middle Triassic age and forms the middle part of the tripartite Germanic Trias, that give the Triassic its name, lying above the older Buntsandstein and below the younger Keuper. The Muschelkalk consists of a sequence of limestone and dolostone beds.

Silt is granular material of a size between sand and clay, whose mineral origin is quartz and feldspar. Silt may occur as a soil or as sediment mixed in suspension with water and soil in a body of water such as a river. It may also exist as soil deposited at the bottom of a water body, like mudflows from landslides. Silt has a moderate specific area with a typically non-sticky, plastic feel. Silt usually has a floury feel when dry, and a slippery feel when wet. Silt can be visually observed with a hand lens, exhibiting a sparkly appearance. It also can be felt by the tongue as granular when placed on the front teeth.

Marl or marlstone is a calcium carbonate or lime-rich mud or mudstone which contains variable amounts of clays and silt. The dominant carbonate mineral in most marls is calcite, but other carbonate minerals such as aragonite, dolomite, and siderite may be present. Marl was originally an old term loosely applied to a variety of materials, most of which occur as loose, earthy deposits consisting chiefly of an intimate mixture of clay and calcium carbonate, formed under freshwater conditions; specifically an earthy substance containing 35–65% clay and 65–35% carbonate. It also describes a habit of coralline red alga. The term is today often used to describe indurated marine deposits and lacustrine (lake) sediments which more accurately should be named 'marlstone'. Marlstone is an indurated rock of about the same composition as marl, more correctly called an earthy or impure argillaceous limestone. It has a blocky subconchoidal fracture, and is less fissile than shale. The term 'marl' is widely used in English-language geology, while the terms Mergel and Seekreide are used in European references.

Flora

Within the nature reserve are the northernmost communities of Lotharingian or French Flax (Linum leonii).

Amongst the other plants that occur here are the Burnet Saxifrage (Pimpinella saxifraga), Large Self-heal (Prunella grandiflora), Fringed Gentian (Gentianopsis ciliata), Sickle hare's ear (Bupleurum falcatum) and Stemless carline thistle (Carlina acaulis).

Land use and nature reserve

Just before the hill drops away towards Benzingerode, the remains of fortifications belonging to a 10th-century fortress, the Struveburg are visible in the terrain. After the woods had been cleared, the hill ridge was used for centuries as grazing land. Later parts of the area were reforested with Black Pine (Pinus nigra) and quarries established.

The aim of the reserve, created on 1 January 1982,^[2] is "the protection and conservation of arid and semi-arid grassland with their sub-Mediterranean plant communities and diverse insect fauna"^[3] and the conservation of geological features. To this end, the hill is occasionally grazed by sheep and scrub is cleared away. The pine forest of the southern slope is to be turned into an area of forest steppe with sessile oak. Other areas will be left to develop perfectly naturally.

Domestic sheep are quadrupedal, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Like most ruminants, sheep are members of the order Artiodactyla, the even-toed ungulates. Although the name sheep applies to many species in the genus Ovis, in everyday usage it almost always refers to Ovis aries. Numbering a little over one billion, domestic sheep are also the most numerous species of sheep. An adult female sheep is referred to as a ewe, an intact male as a ram or occasionally a tup, a castrated male as a wether, and a younger sheep as a lamb.

A forest steppe is a temperate-climate ecotone and habitat type composed of grassland interspersed with areas of woodland or forest.

The crest of the ridge is partly accessible on two parallel paths. Along the foot of the southern slope runs a dirt track.

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References

1 2 Map services of the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation
↑ Erklärung von zwei Landschaftsteilen zu Naturschutzgebieten und zur Erweiterung von zwei bestehenden Naturschutzgebieten, 3. Tagung des Bezirkstages Magdeburg vom 10 December 1981, Beschluß Nr. 22-3 (VIII)/81 (pdf file, 12 kb)
↑ Landesverwaltungsamt Sachsen-Anhalt: Ziegenberg bei Heimburg.

External links

Ziegenberg bei Heimburg – Information by the Saxony-Anhalt State Administrative Office (Landesverwaltungsamt)

Coordinates: 51°49.73′N10°53.32′E / 51.82883°N 10.88867°E / 51.82883; 10.88867

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[DE_BFN-Karten-1] 1 2 Map services of the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation

[2] Erklärung von zwei Landschaftsteilen zu Naturschutzgebieten und zur Erweiterung von zwei bestehenden Naturschutzgebieten, 3. Tagung des Bezirkstages Magdeburg vom 10 December 1981, Beschluß Nr. 22-3 (VIII)/81 (pdf file, 12 kb)

[3] Landesverwaltungsamt Sachsen-Anhalt: Ziegenberg bei Heimburg.