Meadow

In the meadow is agricultural grassland, which is in contrast to the pasture used and not obtained by grazing animals, but by cutting the production of hay or grass silage.

During regular mowing (mowing ) the encroachment and subsequent forest formation is prevented. Meadows are like a willow habitat that has been used for several millennia created and maintained by humans. One speaks therefore of a half- culture formation.

Characteristics

Due to the selective pressure of the mowing plants are favored that can cope well with the frequent cutting and high light irradiation, including many grasses. Due to the regular mowing perennial plants ( perennial, herbaceous ) compared to annual plants preferred. They survive the winter and reproduce vegetatively. Its seeds are light to germinate normally.

Certain plants, such as thistles, missing the meadows, while being shunned by cattle on pastures and are not affected by the cut. The diversity of species in a meadow is largely determined by the frequency of mowing.

Of course meadows would remain no longer arise and get under present conditions in Central Europe. Yet you have similarities with steppe and forest-steppe to alpine meadows and lawns, as well as to dry meadows and dry grasslands that are sometimes popularly referred to as meadows, as they consist mainly of herbaceous plants such as grasses.

Types of meadows

• Flower meadow
• Magerrasen, fat meadow
• Dry grassland, wet meadow
• Salt marsh

Special forms are:

• Stray field: wet meadow in the production of bedding for livestock ( today only relics )
• Orchard: meadow or pasture with different varieties of fruit trees in high stem form (traditional orchards, has nothing to do with litter )
• Forest meadows: Meadows similar intensively used in sparse forests, the historic forest pastures; especially in southern Scandinavia and the Baltic States (the Baltic foliage meadow)
• Sporty used meadows for some turf sports (such as volleyball or Swingolf )

Mountain meadow in the Thuringian Forest