Bavarian Academy for
Nature Conservation and Landscape Management

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The ANL’s Research Area Straß – a Natural Experience

In 1988 the area was acquired by the Bavarian Nature Conservation Fund and left to the Bavarian Academy for Nature Conservation and Landscape Management (ANL) for research and educational purposes. Since 1995 a nursing and development plan is implemented on this area. Significant changes caused by those plans are the changes of mowing regimes and the renunciation of any fertilization.

Education

Different types of wetlands with high variations of utilization are the focus of many events. They can be experienced at first hand.

Research

Different mowing types are examined in a monitoring project. Long term developments are observed with fauna and flora. Recommendations for the nature conservation practice are derived from those results.

Research aims are:

• Long term research of different mowing types in various wetlands
• Development of methodical standards for long term investigations in wetlands
• Development of practical guidelines for success control in a regional level

Cooperation partners are: University of Applied Sciences Weihenstephan, Faculty of Landscape Architecture as well as the Research Centre for Agriculture and Forests of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Pozna?.

Natural Experience

From a larva to a mature insect:
The Broad-bodied Chaser (Libellula depressa) is one of our most frequent dragonfly species. It lives mainly in small waters, poor in vegetation. Its flight period is between beginnings of May till the middle of August. The male differs from the yellow female by a blue, waxy abdomen.
Picture on the left: Beginning of the hatching of the Broad-bodied Chaser
Picture in the middle: After it hatched the Broad-bodied Chaser still sits the empty pupae (Exuvia)
Picture on the right: The young Broad-bodied Chaser spreads its wings.

Development

Since 1995 the “normal” use as an intense meadow was changed into a new management, free of fertilizers and exposure of any ditch clearing. By silting up the ditches the humidity of all grounds rose; at the same time the structural variety and biodiversity increased terrifically. Now state-local differences became clearly visible by different plant societies. Out of intense meadows, which were poor in diversity, many extensive wetlands started to establish. Nowadays a lot of them are protected by paragraph 13d Bavarian Nature Conservation Act (Artikel 13d-Flächen; BayNatSchG).

Meadows and use

The different types of vegetation show the different state-local conditions and their specific use. All different mosaic of mowing types is clearly visible by observing the different composition of species and structure in those meadow types.

How to get to Straß

How to get to Straß/Laufen you will find in detail in the map linked below.

By car: In Laufen turn towards Burghausen (B20), after about 2 km in the village Lebenau turn left to Straß and follow the signs.

By Walking: Walk through Biburg and Schnapping until you reach Straß.

Map of Straß

Interactive Map of Straß

Größere Kartenansicht