Western European broadleaf forests
Temperate mixed forests covering the mountain slopes in Vosges du Nord Bioreserve in Alsace, France.
Ecoregion PA0445
Ecology
Realm	Palearctic
Biome	temperate broadleaf and mixed forests
Borders	List Central European mixed forests Pannonian mixed forests Alps conifer and mixed forests Northeast Spain and Southern France Mediterranean forests Pyrenees conifer and mixed forests European Atlantic mixed forests
Geography
Area	492,357 km2 (190,100 sq mi)
Countries	List Poland Czech Republic Austria Germany Switzerland France Luxembourg Belgium Netherlands
Coordinates	49°09′14″N 8°52′31″E / 49.153870°N 8.875401°E / 49.153870; 8.875401
Conservation
Conservation status	Critical/Endangered

The Western European broadleaf forests is an ecoregion in Western Europe, and parts of the Alps. It comprises temperate broadleaf and mixed forests, that cover large areas of France, Germany and the Czech Republic and more moderately sized parts of Poland, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium and South Limburg (Netherlands). Luxembourg is also part of this ecoregion.

Geography

The Western European broadleaf forests ecoregion covers an area of 492,357 km² (190,100 sq mi), including the Massif Central, Central German Uplands, Jura Mountains, Bavarian Plateau, and Bohemian Massif.

This area has been inhabited for thousands of years and holds several large cities such as Lyon, Nancy and Munich. Most of the countryside has been cleared for agricultural land, cultivated with cereals (corn, wheat, oats), and to a smaller extent grapes. The ecoregion hosts a good variety of animal species, birds in particular, but most large mammals are in decline.

Forests

The forest habitats of the ecoregion comprise mainly lowland and alti-montane mixed beech forests. There is also some natural beech woods, and the region also includes small parts of sub-Mediterranean forest habitats.

• 
  Broadleaf forests (Teutoburger Forest, Germany)
• 
  Conifer in the montane parts
• 
  Inside the conifer forests (Black Forest, Germany)
• 
  European beech is abundant in many submontane parts
• 
  Mountain streams, rocky ground, and deciduous trees in a mix with conifer
• 
  Autumn
• 
  Many valleys have been cleared for villages and agriculture

Fauna

• 
  Wolf
• 
  Lynx
• 
  Wild boar
• 
  Stag
• 
  Fire salamander
• 
  Anthill

Status and conservation

Most of the original forest of the ecoregion has been cleared in the last 200 years, but a few larger patches remain, typically in non-arable montane areas that are part of national parks or protections. The woodlands of the ecoregion is generally second-growth and heavily fragmented.

National parks and larger nature protections in the ecoregion includes:

Eifel National Park

Winter. Palatinate Forest Nature Park.

Canopy walkways in Bavarian Forest National Park

Elbe Sandstone Mountains

Thal Nature Park

Waterfalls and gorges in Jura Mountains Regional Natural Park

Luxembourg maintains the Upper Sûre Natural Park, but this park covers mostly the Upper Sûre Lake, an artificial dam created in 1959, and no land area of significance. The lake is an important bird area. Luxembourg also holds part of the cross-border German-Luxembourg Nature Park in addition to several smaller nature reservations. Here eco-typical patches of forest are growing.

Austria does not have any protections in this ecoregion.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Western European broadleaf forests.

• "Western European broadleaf forests". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund.

References