Junction between forest and farmland

The for­est bor­ders form a junc­tion between the dark wood, even­ly tem­per­ate and humid and the open land, exposed to the wind and chang­ing tem­per­a­tures. Such a junc­tion between 2 dif­fer­ent biotopes is called “bor­der biotope”. It is a more or less lin­ear space, vital for many fau­na and flo­ra species.

The perfect forest border: structure and role

In the ide­al case the for­est bor­der is struc­tured grad­u­al­ly. This is true for the Aar­nescht, as the tran­si­tion between the wood and the lea hap­pens by the decreas­ing height of the trees with a “coat” of bush­es around, chang­ing to an herb layer.An ide­al­ly grad­u­al­ly grown for­est bor­der has dif­fer­ent roles: it is a vital space for many fau­na and flo­ra species it is pro­tect­ing the for­est against the winds and storms (the dan­ger of crack is less­ened), it pro­tects the for­est ground against the des­ic­ca­tion by the wind it pro­tects the bor­der trees against inci­dent solar radi­a­tion it enrich­es the gen­er­al landscape

Structure of an ideal forest border

Fields — Herb lay­er — Tran­si­tion zone — Forest

Vital space for animals

Thanks to its high botan­i­cal diver­si­ty and the struc­tur­al abun­dance, the for­est bor­der offers a vital and adapt­ed space for many ani­mal species. This abun­dance is due to the junc­tion line of the 2 dif­fer­ent biotopes, where you can also find all those ani­mal species who can only sur­vive in this spe­cial admixed zone.

Typical animals of the forest border

Red-backed Shrike	Bee	Lady­bug
Great spot­ted Woodpecker	Com­mon Lizard	Red Ant
Nyc­talus	True bug	Slow-Worm