Landscape

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The landscape in 1998

Landscape element	Landscape description
Land distribution/ land use	Structurally poor arable fields of up to 15 ha, exclusively cereal and sugar beet cultivation, largely drained (some previously ploughed wet meadows), arable land use up to close to watercourses.
Watercourses and seepage water	Watercourses cut deep into the loess; straightened streams and drainage ditches (largely free of wood), some piping, sparse woodland along watercourses in some sections, pesticide and nutrient input into surface waters and increased surface seepage runoff due to drainage into receiving waters; non-natural construction of crossings.
Extensive grassland / field copses	Overgrown dry slopes with traces of former grazing.
Hedges	Insufficiently grown hedges with severe damage from browsing.
Individual trees	Concentrated in a few areas, otherwise sparse, isolated decaying pollarded willows.
Plant communities	Partly dominated by eutrophication indicators (Urtica dioica); partly wide and relatively species-rich field margins along the partly unpaved field paths; several wet areas in cultivated fields with wetland indicators (Equisetum palustre, Juncus bufonius, Coronopus squamatus, etc.). Cereal crops in the field interior almost free of field weeds.
Yard/yard surroundings	Partly dilapidated buildings, empty stables; two breeding pairs of kestrels in the farm buildings; overgrown garden with fruit trees, conifers and nettles.

Landscaping in the last 25 years

This was the starting point for the perception and recording of the section of landscape managed by the Domäne Frankenhausen, its potential and its character. The development of the landscape over the past 20 years has resulted from a "dialog" between the potential of the landscape and the managers of the domain, experts from the university, the authorities, private planning offices and interested citizens with different interests in its use. Utilization concepts (firewood, valuable wood, deciduous fodder, wild fruit, berries, renewable raw materials) were included in the creation of woody structures (hedges, fruit trees, field wood islands, succession areas, etc.). In a model project "Nature conservation-compliant land use in organic farming", which was led by the Department of Organic Agriculture and Plant Production (Prof. Heß, Faculty 11) and the Landscape Ecology working group (Prof. Mayer, Faculty 13), intensive work was carried out on this topic from 2005-2009. The results of the planning at that time can now be evaluated on the domain. All new landscape elements and nature conservation measures are reviewed annually by an independent expert.