Watercourses and floodplains

Fascinating biodiversity in a comparatively small area

The quartzite rock of the Hunsrück carries the percolating rainwater through its fissures until it reaches the surface again, e.g. via seepage springs in slope areas. There, different types of wetlands generate, which can develop into streams if there is a strong, continuous flow of water.

Streams – here the Steinaubach – are diverse and dynamic habitats with adapted species communities. Particularly characteristic of such streams is the regular succession of fast-flowing currents and zones with calmer currents. Each zone is characterised by very specific animal and plant species.

Floodplains are natural flooding areas of rivers as well as streams and thus also important water retention areas. Pools generating in the floodplains are also important breeding and development sites as well as food sources for numerous insects, amphibians and birds.

Woody plants at the sliding slope cool the stream with their shade and provide it with nutrients in the form of fallen leaves.
Deadwood provides shelter for fish. Insect larvae also colonise lying logs and branches in streams.
Scours are deeply scoured areas behind obstructions (e.g. dead wood or rocks) where fish can seek shelter and survive periods of very low water levels.
In areas of the stream with calmer currents, aquatic plants grow, which in turn provide habitat for dragonfly larvae and many juvenile fish.
In the diverse gap space of the streambed (e.g. gravel banks), eggs and larvae of river trout develop. Also numerous invertebrate organisms such as crayfish, mussels, worms and insect larvae also live there.

Tips and measures

Preserve riparian woody plants and do not exploit the marginal strips of the water bodies

Do not remove water, especially during dry periods

Watercourses

  • with their floodplains link different habitats as „lifelines of nature“ and are therefore important for the migration and spread of species.
  • enable enormous species richness due to the diversity of the habitat, which is characterised by different currents, water depths, grain sizes of sediments, shading, dead wood, etc.
  • cool adjacent habitats in summer through evaporation.

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