Western European broadleaf forests
{{Short description|Ecoregion in Western Europe}}
{{Infobox ecoregion
| name = Western European broadleaf forests
| image = File:20070517-20 Vosges du Nord (098).JPG
| image_size =
| image_alt =
| image_caption = Temperate mixed forests covering the mountain slopes in Vosges du Nord Bioreserve in Alsace, France.
| country = Poland
| country1 = Czech Republic
| country2 = Austria
| country3 = Germany
| country4 = Switzerland
| country5 = France
| country6 = Luxembourg
| country7 = Belgium
| country8 = Netherlands
| state =
| border = Central European mixed forests
| border1 = Pannonian mixed forests
| border2 = Alps conifer and mixed forests
| border3 = Northeast Spain and Southern France Mediterranean forests
| border4 = Pyrenees conifer and mixed forests
| border5 = European Atlantic mixed forests
| bird_species =
| mammal_species =
| habitat_loss =
| habitat_loss_ref =
| protected =
| protected_ref =
| area = 492357
| biogeographic_realm = Palearctic
| biome = temperate broadleaf and mixed forests
| conservation = Critical/Endangered
| map = File:Ecoregion PA0445.png
| map_size =
| map_alt =
| map_caption = Ecoregion PA0445
| coordinates = {{coord|49.153870|N|8.875401|E|display=inline,title}}
|footnotes =
}}
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 {{convert|492357|km2|0|abbr=on}}, 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. The dominant trees in this forest are Quercus robur, Quercus petraea, Picea abies, Alnus glutinosa, Fagus sylvatica, Taxus baccata, Acer pseudoplatanus, Malus sylvestris, Viburnum lantana, Fraxinus excelsior, Tilia cordata, Aesculus hippocastanum, Rhamnus cathartica, Ulmus glabra, Ulmus minor, Populus alba, Salix alba, Pinus sylvestris, Betula pendula, Populus tremula, Populus nigra, Juglans regia, Juniperus communis, Prunus padus and Corylus avellana
File:Detmold - 2014-08-27 - Hohe Warte (30).jpg|Broadleaf forests (Teutoburger Forest, Germany)
File:ViewtoWuerttemberg.jpg|Conifer in the montane parts
File:Licht im Schwarzwald.jpg|Inside the conifer forests (Black Forest, Germany)
File:Waldweg in den Nordvogesen.jpg|European beech is abundant in many submontane parts
File:Black Forest- Stream (10562132523).jpg|Mountain streams, rocky ground, and deciduous trees in a mix with conifer
File:Black Forest- Road (10561950824).jpg|Autumn
File:Simonswälder Tal 150707.JPG|Many valleys have been cleared for villages and agriculture
Fauna
{{expand section|date=September 2019}}
File:Wolf im Nationalpark Bayerischer Wald 1.jpg|Wolf
File:Luchs im Nationalpark Bayerischer Wald 8.jpg|Lynx
File:Wildschweine im Nationalpark Bayerischer Wald.jpg|Wild boar
File:Hirsch im Nationalpark Bayerischer Wald 1.jpg|Stag
File:Feuersalamander Larve Quellfassung.jpg|Fire salamander
File:150712-Steigerkopf-02.jpg|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:
File:20140531 Kermeter-Urft 01.JPG
File:Baumwipfelpfad Neuschönau Weg.jpg
File:Sächsische Schweiz – Elbsandsteingebirge – Blick von der Bastei - panoramio.jpg
File:Cascades du Hérisson (6045046687).jpg
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
{{Commons category}}
- {{WWF ecoregion|id=pa0445|name=Western European broadleaf forests}}
References
{{reflist|3}}
{{-}}
{{Paleartic temperate broadleaf and mixed forests}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Western European broadleaf forests}}
Category:Ecoregions of Austria
Category:Ecoregions of Belgium
Category:Ecoregions of the Czech Republic
Category:Ecoregions of Metropolitan France
Category:Ecoregions of Germany
Category:Ecoregions of Switzerland
Category:Natural history of Luxembourg
Category:Palearctic ecoregions