Irrsee

The nature reserve of Mondsee or Zeller See is the warmest lake of the Salzkammergut and located in Upper Austria, near the border to Salzburg. It will be warm up to 27 ° C. It is situated in 553 meters above sea level and is 4.4 km long and 1 km wide. Together with the Lake Fuschl he is the top lake a chain of lakes, which continues over the Mondsee Attersee for. The Mondsee is relatively natural and with the moors surrounding it provides a habitat for many endangered animal and plant species.

Geography

The Mondsee is located in a line extending in a north-south direction of the flysch valley, which is surrounded by glacial moraines. The elongated lake basin has an approximately rectangular shape. The western shore drops steeply than the eastern shore, north and south banks fall off very flat. The lake consists of a smaller, 27 m deep northern and a larger, 32 m deep southern basin, which are separated by a rocky ridge in 21 m depth.

To the west of the Irrsee is the Kolomannsberg. On the east bank Zell am Moos, whose municipality the entire lake area belongs. In the north the municipality Oberhofen closes at the Mondsee, in the south, the municipality of deep trench.

The Mondsee is fed by more than 20 smaller streams and submarine springs and flows over the Zeller Ache from southeast to Lake Mondsee. The average discharge is 1.3 m³ / s, the theoretical water exchange time 1.3 years.

Because of the small volume and the sheltered position of the Mondsee freezes regularly, with the duration of ice cover between one week and two months may fluctuate.

Formation

During glaciations the Attersee Mondsee basin as the area of the other lakes of the Salzkammergut today was the mighty Traun glacier covered. This formed part deep wells, referred to the glacier ends as tongue basin. The Mondsee is believed to have originated towards the end of the Würm ice age about 17,000 years ago when glaciers retreated the Traun and the tongue basin filled with melt water. The siltation zones of bogs and wet meadows in the north and south suggest that the lake at the end of the ice age was almost twice as long as today.

Environment

The shores are mostly undeveloped and natural, they are available in wide sections surrounded by reed beds, silting bogs and wet meadows.

Nature Reserves Zeller and Mondsee -Moore

The entire lake area is a nature reserve Zeller ( Mondsee ) with 349.1935 hectares under protection ( N018 ). The lake has some more good reeds. Am Irrsee a principal lakeshore protection zone of 500 m is set up, and parts of the surrounding marsh lands are also under protection, the conservation area Irrsee -Moore ( N109 ) with 52.0004 ha It includes the silting Moore with predominant litter meadow use and successional stages, and is divided into several sub-areas:

• The Mondsee Northern Moor, a mud sedge with alder
• The Laiter Moss when bathing place Moosmühle in Laiter on the northeastern shore, a Davallseggenried
• The grave moss around the grave creek between trench and Ramsau
• Zellermoos in Zell am Moos, smaller remnant of a stiff harrows Ried
• And the Mooswiesen am Irrsee south shore, north of the bathing place, the drain moss at the Zeller Ache, and the polecat creek and at the Gasthof Pöllmann on the southwestern shore, transitions from stiff sedge meadows to economic

Water Quality

The Secchi depth is temporarily affected by mineral turbidity, biogenic decalcification and phytoplankton. From about 1985, the water quality has improved as a result of restructuring efforts to improve in all parts of the lake, it is classified as oligotrophic today, the average Secchi depth is 5.0 m.

Flora and Fauna

In the sedimentation areas and wet meadows, there are many low-growing grasses such as sour Alps Hair rush, head rushes or sedge Davall and Molinia meadows on which grow next to the moor grass among others bloodroot, Willow Gentian or True Betony. In Nordmoor of the Irrsee, small ponds are located with significant stocks of water lilies and water lilies.

One of the main fish species include pike, whitefish, carp, tench, bream, eel, perch, catfish and chub.

The bogs and wet meadows around the Mondsee are important habitats for numerous specialized and endangered species. So here are several bound to wetland habitats insect species such as the Marsh Grasshopper, the False Ringlet or the little blue arrow. Numerous bird species have her here - z.T. nationwide single - breeding area, in particular the curlew and the Whinchat.

Use

Due to the relatively high water temperatures in the summer of Mondsee is a popular swimming lake. There are several beach resorts and camping on its banks. The fisheries play an important role. With a viable ice cover in winter lake of ice skaters and curlers is utilized.

As part of the project " Mondsee Land Art " 1999, two works of art have also been installed on the banks of the Irrsee. At the bathing place in Zell am Moos is the " Tilted surface " by Benoît Tremsal. On a hill on the south bank there is a sculpture by Sjoerd Buisman, " Phyllotaxis Mondsee ". It represents the section through the leaf level of a stick of celery, which is to remember the shape of the lake shore.