Winter walk in the Luchwiesen nature reserve by Silva Wischeropp

About "Winter walk in the Luchwiesen nature reserve"

by Silva Wischeropp

About the artwork

This stunning and mysterious winter landscape was taken by me in the late afternoon hours on 29 December 2022.

The Luchwiesen are one of the most species-rich inland salt marshes in Brandenburg. The 110-hectare nature reserve is located in the small town of Storkow in the Oder-Spree district to the south and north of the Storkow Canal. The Luchwiesen are designated as an FFH area in the Natura 2000 network and are part of the Dahme-Heideseen Nature Park. The low marshy valley sand channel is characterised by halophilic flood and creeping grasslands as well as trampling communities, salt grassland, sedge meadows and reed beds. Among the halophytes (salt plants) and halotolerant plant species, four species are represented that are categorised as threatened with extinction in the Brandenburg Red List. The arthropod fauna (arthropods) of the lynx meadows is characterised by species that develop almost exclusively in oligo- to mesohaline salt meadows in Brandenburg. Between 2005 and 2010, the hydrological conditions of the lynx area were stabilised as part of the LIFE project "Safeguarding and developing Brandenburg's inland salt marshes". The salt species flora of the increasingly silted area was promoted by extensive use of the land.
In the 17th century, a salt boiling works most probably existed on the site. Subsequently, the area was used as a peat bog and later as grassland. The 8.5-kilometre-long Storkow Salt Trail leads through the meadows and includes other inland salt sites on the neighbouring Groß Schauener Seenkette. The path is equipped with information boards on the history of the salt pans' formation, vegetation, water balance and significance.