EXECUTIVE SUMMARY - UNESCO World Heritage

30 NOMINATION DOSSIER "ANCIENT BEECH FORESTS OF GERMANY"
Beech (Fagus sylvatica) fl owers
are wind-pollinated (anemophily).
The focus of the autochthonous
biodiversity found
in Germany lies within
the beech forests. The fi ve
German component parts
of the “Ancient Beech
Forests of Germany” are
ab solutely necessary to
illustrate concisely the still
ongoing post glacial development
processes of the
European beech forests.
as the most signifi cant large-scale primary
forest on the periphery of the European
beech forests’ distribution range. Represen ting
its remain ing primeval forests, the World
Natural Heritage “Primeval Beech Forests
of the Carpathians” is an essential part
of these unique beech forest landscapes.
Beech forests of Germany
Th e biogeographic region of the Central
European beech forests is composed of
glacial lowlands in the north, undulating
foothills by the northern alpine border and
a number of low mountain ranges. Germany
is at the region's core, representing the
global centre of distribution of the European
beech forests. Most beech forests are pure
stands. Many of the forest bird species
and primeval forest relic species among the
insects as well as a large fraction of forest
vascular plants occurring in Germany have
a major share of their global populations in
Germany’s deciduous forests.
In the tree layer, these beech forests are
dominated by the beech and display the
seasonal phenophases typical of deciduous
forests. Th ey will populate an exceedingly
broad habitat spectrum in a wide range
of climates and altitudes, from dry to moist,
from nutrient-poor to nutrient-rich, from
highly acidic to calcareous. Th ey are a principal
living environment to more than
10,000 animal, plant, and fungal species (cf.
OTTO 1994) and consequently a focus
of Central Europe’s autochthonous biodiversity,
the uniqueness of which having
emerged over the last millennia in a breathtaking
postglacial development process.
Th e fi ve component parts of the “Ancient
Beech Forests of Germany” are absolutely
necessary to exhaustively illustrate the still
ongoing processes. It is for this reason that
they are to extend the Natural World
Heritage “Primeval Beech Forests of the
Carpathians”. Forming a relevant part
of the ongoing development and expansion
processes of the beech forests in Central
Europe, the component parts of the nominated
German extension constitute the
main range of distribution of the beech
forests with the typical temperate climate.
Moreover, the component parts extend the
montane Carpathian World Natural
Heritage by planar (Jasmund, Serrahn, and
Grumsin) and colline-submontane (Hainich,
Kellerwald) beech forests.