Sand Grassland Restoration Area Dahme-Heideseen

Source sandrasen.de/projekt
Within Europe, dry, calcareous sand grasslands have a predominant distribution in Brandenburg. As part of the LIFE-Nature project "Sandrasen im Dahme-Seengebiet", mainly sites of calcareous sandstone lawns shall be maintained or restored in 20 Natura 2000 areas in the Dahme Lake District south-east of Berlin from 2013 to 2019. Around 1.8 million euros are being used to finance this from the European Union's LIFE program to Brandenburg.The habitat type lime-rich sand-dry lawns includes gappy, short-grassed, dry grasslands on more or less lime-rich sandy soils. They are characterized by a large variety of animals and plants. The determining soil substrates are sands and sandy loams. These were deposited during the ice age within the large glacial valleys or valley sand areas. In addition, "sand landscapes" are also found on the slopes of numerous glacial gullies.

On the sandy, dry railway embankment there is a rare habitat: sand grass. Traction pulled by steam locomotives determined the landscapes for a century. Probably the basic ashes of the steam locomotives and frequent fires along the railway line are responsible for the well-preserved base-rich dry grasslands. Here grow the Blue-Schillergras (Koeleria glauca), the Sandstrohblume (Helichrysum arenarium) and the Sand-Thyme (Thymus serpyllum). They are true survivors who cope with extreme conditions.East of the railway embankment, the Nature Protection Fund Brandenburg is active with the LIFE project "Sandrasen im Dahme-Seengebiet". The areas were characterized until the 1950s only by individual pines. In the 1960s, like many nutrient-poor areas, they were reforested. In 2015, the dense pine trees were felled and then the topsoil was removed. Where once stood a dense pine forest, there are now again wide open areas. This created optimal conditions for the reintroduction of the rare dry grasslands. Now you can see how the sand specialists recapture this habitat. Further information is available on the information board on site.

Sandy lawns have been preserved in this area, especially at the transitions between the open, agriculturally used lowlands and the dry forest areas.