Germany

Europa

Capital: BerlinMay to September

586

Documented species

Parks and reserves

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Germany is arranged in three natural bands: the northern plain with North Sea and Baltic coasts, the middle belt of wooded uplands and the Alpine south. The Wadden Sea, a system of tidal flats shared with the Netherlands and Denmark, is a World Heritage Site and one of the most important migratory stopovers on the planet: on the order of ten to twelve million waterbirds use it every year. The beech forests of the centre and east, at Hainich and Jasmund, represent what little remains of the primeval beechwood that covered central Europe. The Bavarian Forest, the country's first national park in 1970, applies a policy of non-intervention that has turned its bark-beetle-killed woodland into a laboratory of natural regeneration and a refuge for the Eurasian lynx. The Elbe, the Rhine and the Danube organise wetland corridors where beavers, otters and black storks are recovering.

The nature of Germany

National animal: The federal eagle, the heraldic emblem of the state

Did you know?

The wolf disappeared from Germany in the middle of the nineteenth century and returned on its own four feet: in the year 2000 the first litter born in the wild in more than 150 years was documented on a former military training ground in Lusatia, next to the Polish border. From that single family group the population has expanded to more than a thousand animals spread across much of the country.

Biodiversity profile

Europa Occidental/CentralAlemania es uno de los 9 paises de la UE con mas del 30% de su territorio designado como area protegida a finales de 2023

Climate

•Oceanico templado (Cfb) en el norte y oeste
•Continental humedo en el este y sur
•Clima de montaña en los Alpes bavaros (sur)

Main biomes

•Bosque caducifolio y mixto de tierras altas centrales (Selva Negra, entre otros)
•Humedales, turberas y brezales de la Llanura del Norte de Alemania
•Praderas alpinas y bosque montano en los Alpes bavaros (sur)
•Marisma mareal
•Hayedo primigenio
•Bosque de coníferas de montaña
•Turbera
•Llanura de inundación fluvial
•Brezal
•Alta montaña alpina

Marine and coastal ecosystems

•Costas del Mar del Norte y Baltico, con marismas y lagunas de importancia para aves migratorias (Parques Nacionales del Mar de Wadden)

Flagship wildlife

•Lobo gris (poblacion en fuerte recuperacion en el noreste, uno de los procesos de recolonizacion de grandes carnivoros mas importantes de Europa Central)
•Aguila de cola blanca (bastion centroeuropeo en humedales del norte)
•Bisonte europeo (proyecto de poblacion libre en Rothaargebirge, Alemania Occidental/Central)
•Lince euroasiatico (reintroducido)
•Lince boreal
•Castor europeo
•Foca común
•Marsopa común
•Cigüeña blanca
•Cigüeña negra
•Grulla común
•Pigargo europeo
•Ciervo rojo

Notable endemic species

•Endemismo estricto limitado por la historia glacial reciente del pais, tipico de Europa Central; la Selva Negra es reconocida como area de alta biodiversidad regional con fauna y flora endemica de nivel local

Notable threatened species

•Urogallo (En Peligro localmente, amenazado por deforestacion y caza historica)
•Aves de pastizal (alondra, entre otras) en declive por agricultura intensiva

Notable protected areas

•Parques Nacionales del Mar de Wadden (Patrimonio Mundial, compartido con Países Bajos y Dinamarca)
•Selva Negra (Parque Natural)
•Alpes Bavaros
•Parque Nacional del Mar de Frisia
•Parque Nacional de la Selva de Baviera
•Parque Nacional de Berchtesgaden
•Parque Nacional de Jasmund
•Parque Nacional de Hainich
•Parque Nacional del Bajo Oder

Main conservation threats

•Agricultura intensiva que fragmenta habitats de pastizal y afecta a aves y polinizadores
•Conflicto entre la recuperacion del lobo y la ganaderia
•Drenaje historico de turberas en la Llanura del Norte

Notable natural phenomena

•La recolonizacion natural del lobo gris en el noreste de Alemania desde la decada de 2000 es uno de los procesos de retorno de grandes carnivoros mas documentados de Europa Central

Conservation

The spontaneous return of large carnivores and of the white-tailed eagle set against an agricultural intensification that has collapsed populations of insects and of open-country birds such as the skylark and the grey partridge.

Where and when to watch wildlife

The Wadden Sea between August and October for passing waders and for seals on the sandbanks. The Rügen-Bock lagoon in October for the gathering of tens of thousands of cranes. The Bavarian Forest in winter for lynx tracks.

Sources: a-z-animals.com - Wildlife in Germany | EEA - Designated terrestrial protected areas Europe | connollycove.com - Black Forest Germany

Temperate forest Mountain Grassland Freshwater