Nature parks and nature reserves In the northwestern part of Lüneburg Heath is the
Lüneburg Heath Nature Park which covers an area of . At its heart, around the
Wilseder Berg, is the
Lüneburg Heath Nature Reserve (
Naturschutzgebiet or NSG) founded as long ago as 1921 with of land which is roughly 58% woods and 20% heathland. Other nature parks in the Lüneburg Heath region are the
Südheide Nature Park and
Elbufer-Drawehn Nature Park. Right in the north of the area is the
Harburg Hills Nature Park. The Lüneburg Heath NSG, together with the open heathland of the huge
Munster Nord and Süd training areas and the
Bergen-Hohne Training Area, is the largest single area of heathland in
Central Europe. And within the former province (
Regierungsbezirk) of Lüneburg there are no less than 212 individual
nature reserves (as at 31 December 2006).
Formation of the heath landscape After the end of the
Weichselian Ice Age (115,000 to 10,000 years ago) the first woods appeared in the area that now forms Lüneburg Heath which, following the natural
ecological succession and encouraged by a gradual improvement in the climate, progressed from
birch and
pine forest through
hazel woods to light woods of
sessile oaks. The heath and its surrounding area belong to those regions of the
North German Plain in which the hunter culture of the
Mesolithic era was superseded quite early on by
Neolithic farmers. By about 3000 BC, during the Neolithic, large open areas appeared on the lightly undulating, sandy stretches of
geest on Lüneburg Heath. This was a result of the intensive grazing of the sessile oak woods and the associated destruction of successive new stands of trees. These open areas became dominated by the
common heather (
Calluna vulgaris), a largely grazing-resistant species of plant. Nevertheless, oak and beech woods succeeded time and again in establishing themselves wherever man left areas of heath untended. Over a long period of time the region of Lüneburg Heath alternated between periods when the heathlands spread and dominated the scene and times when it was largely covered with forest and only small areas of heath existed. Finally, after the
migration period, the wooded areas of the region increased considerably. n'' (moorland sheep) 1904 Not until after 1000 AD does the
pollen analysis show a continuous reduction in the woodlands and a considerable increase in
heather. This was brought about by a change from nomadic farming to settled farming with permanent settlements. The typical heath farming economy emerged: due to the poor soils the few available nutrients from a large area were concentrated on relatively small fields, from which grain, in particular, could be produced. This was achieved by the regular removal of the turf (a method known as
Plaggen), which was used as hay for the pens of the moorland sheep, the
Heidschnucken. This was then enriched with the manure and urine of the sheep – and spread over the fields as fertiliser. By cutting the turf the regenerative capacity of the soils was exhausted. The regular removal of the top layer of soil contributed to the spreading of heathland. As heather decomposes, the
pH value of the soil falls drastically, as far as the iron buffer-region at pH 3, which initiates the process of
podsolisation. Soil life is severely damaged, which results in a hard layer of earth underneath the root zone on the heath at a depth of about . The iron and humus particles released by the topsoil precipitate onto this impervious
hardpan. The
subsoil thus separates itself from the topsoil. The nutrients are largely washed out of the topsoil which leads to leaching and causes the typical grey-white coloration of the paths on the heath. The oft-expressed view in the literature that the heath arose in the
Middle Ages as a result of the demand for wood by the Lüneburg
salt pans is incorrect. The Lüneburg salt ponds certainly needed firewood for the production of
salt, but they did not appear until around 1000 AD, by which time the heath had already been around for 4,000 years. The amount required, even in the heyday of production, could have been continuously supplied by an area of woodland about 50 km2 in area, yet the heath covers over 7000 km2. In any case the wood certainly did not come from the heath, but via the waterways, especially from
Mecklenburg up the Elbe and from the area of the
Schaalsee. Transportation overland would have been far too expensive (apart from the
River Ilmenau which was navigable at the time, no rivers flow from the main areas of heathland to Lüneburg), as can be seen not only from some of the delivery notes which still survive, but also from the fact that there are still large woods around Lüneburg itself, such as the
Göhrde. Finally heathland has frequently developed in areas where there are no salt pans, such as the sheep-grazing regions on the coasts of Norway to Portugal and in Scotland and Ireland. The heath is not therefore a
natural landscape, but a
cultural landscape created by the intervention of man. In order to prevent its semi-open heathland from being repopulated by trees, especially
pines and, to a lesser extent,
silver birches, which would cause the loss of this millennia-old environment and its many inhabitants, including often very rare animal and plant species, sheep are allowed to graze it regularly; these are almost exclusively the local German moorland sheep, the
Heidschnucke.
Plant population/Phytocenosis In the 20th century, numerous conservation measures were implemented on Lüneburg Heath; as a result, it is one of the best researched regions of central Europe.
Heathland Sand heaths form about 20% of the Lüneburg Heath Nature Reserve and may be broken down into further sub-divisions, the most important being: ;Ordinary sand heath (
Typische Sandheide, Genisto-Callunetum) • In addition to the
common heather (
Calluna vulgaris) only a few taller plants occur here, none of which can be classed as characteristic species. Amongst them are the
wavy hair-grass (
Deschampsia flexuosa) and
common juniper (
Juniperus communis). Ordinary sand heath is the most widespread of the heathland types. Its proportion has increased in recent decades at the expense of other heath habitats. This reduction in the variety of heathland types may be due to increasing nitrogen levels from the air, the increase in plant litter (
Rohhumusauflagen) and the natural ageing of the heathland. ;Lichen-rich sand heath (
Flechtenreiche Sandheide, Genisto-Callunetum cladonietosum) • The lichen-rich sand heaths can be told apart from the other types of heathland by the presence of various
cup lichens (
Cladonia),
ciliated fringewort (
Ptilidium ciliare) and
juniper haircap (
Polytrichum juniperinum). They occur frequently on dry, south-facing slopes. This type of heath is found west of Niederhaverbeck and near Sundermühlen. ;Clay heath (
Lehmheide, Genisto-callunetum danthonietusum) • This can be identified by the presence of
heath grass (
Danthonia decumbens),
pill sedge (
Carex pilulifera),
mat grass (
Nardus stricta),
fine-leaved sheep's-fescue (
Festuca filiformis),
mouse-ear hawkweed (
Hieracium pilosella) and
field wood-rush (
Luzula campestris). Clay heaths have become very rare within the Lüneburg Heath. They are found on the
Wilseder Berg and south of Niederhaverbeck. ;Blueberry sand heath (
Heidelbeer-Sandheide, Genisto-Callunetum, Vaccinium myrtillus Rasse) •
Blueberries (
Vaccinium myrtillus) are the signature species of this type of heath and, more rarely,
cranberries (
Vaccinium vitis-idaea). Blueberry heath is the second most common type of vegetation on the heathlands and occurs especially on northern slopes, the edges of woods and thick juniper hedges. This type of heath is particularly characteristic of the northern slopes of the
Wilseder Berg, as well as the Steingrund and Totengrund. In those places, cranberries have even ousted the
common heather (
Calluna vulgaris) in places. ;Wet sand heath (
Feuchte Sandheide, Genisto-Callunetum, Molinia-Variante) • Wet sand heath is the ideal habitat for
purple moor grass (
Molinia caerulea),
cross-leaved heath (
Erica tetralix) and
scirpus (
Scirpus cespitosus). It occurs in places close to the water table and in the transition zone around bogs. Its primary locations are areas north of Wilsede and near the Hörpel Ponds (
Hörpeler Teichen). Image:Lüneburger Heide 057.jpg|Lichen-rich sand heath north of Niederhaverbeck Image:Lüneburger Heide 132.jpg|Clay heath south of Niederhaverbeck Image:WilsederBergNordhang retouched.jpg|Blueberry sand heath on the northern slope of the
Wilseder Berg Image:Lüneburger Heide 131.jpg|Wet sand heath near the
Pietzmoor Woods ) near Wilsede The greater part (about 58%) of the Lüneburg Heath Nature Reserve consists of woods, primarily
pine forests, which were planted in the second half of the 19th century on former heathland and drifting sand. In some cases the dunes simply became naturally overgrown, again with pines. There are only a very few old stands of
sessile oaks, which stem from the logging industry during the time of the
Kingdom of Hanover. In many parts of the nature reserve there are so-called
Stühbüsche (a form of coppice), trees that were coppiced by repeatedly being cut short. In the meantime they have grown wild again and have a characteristic and unusual appearance with their multiple trunks. Near
Wilsede there is the remnant of a
Hutewald, a wood pasture with giant, multi-stemmed
beech trees.
Bogs The largest bog on Lüneburg Heath is the
Pietzmoor, which lies east of
Schneverdingen. It was drained however and peat was cut there until the 1960s. The Nature Park Association carried out work in the 1980s to try to turn it back to its natural waterlogged state. For example, some of the drainage ditches were filled which led to a considerable rise in the water levels of the former peat cuts. However typical bog vegetation has not yet re-established itself.
Animals Many species of animal live on Lüneburg Heath, particularly birds that are at home in the wide, open landscape, some of which are seriously threatened by the intensive-farming techniques in other areas. These include the:
black grouse (
Tetrao tetrix), the
nightjar (
Caprimulgus europaeus), the
woodlark (
Lullula arborea), the
great grey shrike (
Lanius excubitor), the
red-backed shrike (
Lanius collurio), the
northern wheatear (
Oenanthe oenanthe), the
wryneck (
Jynx torquilla), the
European green woodpecker (
Picus viridis), the
stonechat (
Saxicola torquata), the
Eurasian curlew (
Numenius arquata), the
common quail (
Coturnix coturnix) and the
black stork (
Ciconia nigra). In the Lüneburg Heath, the population of the very rare black grouse is rising continually. In 2007, 78 were counted, 13 more than in the previous year. Since 2003, the number of grouse has doubled. Wolves, although once extinct in the area, have returned to the Lüneburg Heath. Numerous species including
European bison,
moose and
brown bear which once inhabited the region may be seen in the
Lüneburg Heath Wildlife Park alongside more exotic animals like
snow leopards and
Arctic wolves. == Culture and history ==