1. Nature reserves “Heiliges Meer” and “Recker Moor” – Wetlands, boglands and sinkhole lakes developed in the past 5,000 years

One-day trip, Fr 25/09, 08h00-17h00

Leaders: Manja Hethke, Christoph Lünterbusch, Simon Chen
Participants: min 6, max 15
Transportation: minibuses

Experience the unique flora and fauna of a landscape in the northern Münsterland Region, where sudden geological processes shaped wetlands, boglands and sinkhole lakes.

The distinctive feature of the “Heiliges Meer” Nature Reserve is its numerous bodies of water, most of which have formed naturally as a result of geological activities. Over hundreds of years, several small and large lakes have formed following the sudden appearances of sinkholes, e.g. the Großes Heiliges Meer (11 ha), which is about 1100 to 1400 years old and represents the largest natural lake of North Rhine-Westphalia, or the Erdfallsee (7 ha), which formed on 14 April 1913. Other significant habitats in the “Heiliges Meer” Nature Reserve include heathlands, which bear witness to a historic cultural landscape, and forest communities in both dry and wet habitats, such as the alder swamp forest around the Großes Heiliges Meer. Species-rich grasslands on lowland bog sites are found primarily in the adjacent Heupen Nature Reserve.

The Recker Moor is a 3.5 km² nature reserve in the Tecklenburger Land region. It is one of the best-preserved bogland areas in North Rhine-Westphalia. The “Recker Moor” began to develop into a raised bog around 5,000 years ago. The area provides a habitat for a wide variety of plant and bird species, including many endangered species such as teal, snipe, black-tailed godwit, curlew, yellow wagtail, and whinchat. The nine native sphagnum moss species include the extremely rare Sphagnum molle.

Schedule: Transportation to Education and Research Centre “Heiliges Meer”, a branch of the LWL Museum of Natural History in Münster, guided tour through the Nature Reserve “Heiliges Meer”, lunch at the Research Centre, transportation to Nature Reserve “Recker Moor”, guided walk through the nature reserve towards bird observation tower “Schnepfenturm”; return to Münster c. 17h00.

2. Neogene floras of the “Hambach” lignite surface mine

One-day trip, Fr 25/09, 08h00-19h00, packed lunches included

Leaders: Georg Heumann, Christian Pott
Participants: min 15, max 35
Transportation: bus
Requirements: solid shoes, equipment for fossil collecting, binoculars useful

Experience palms, ginkgos and lush humid–temperate vegetation, or the world’s largest machinery, in one of Germany’s largest surface mines, the Tagebau Hambach, where massive lignite seams are mined. The formation of the continental ice sheets caused the primordial North Sea to retract during the early Miocene and led to extensive silting-up of the Lower Rhine Embayment (LRB). In this enclosed peatland area, extensive riparian forest and bog vegetation led to the deposition of substantial peat layers up to 270 meters thick in northwestern and central Germany. After being covered by sediment, these were compacted into thick lignite deposits up to 90 m thick over a period of about 10 million years.

Although the relatively mild and dry Miocene was predominantly characterized by grasslands, large parts of the North Rhine-Westphalian landscape in the late Miocene were covered by lush vegetation in dense, humid–temperate forests. Excellent fossils from the Inden Formation (c. 10 mya) in the Rhenish lignite mining area provide evidence of a deciduous forest encompassing a high biodiversity. In addition to various species of maple, hackberry, beech, sweetgum, oak, and elm, there were alders, hornbeams, chestnuts, katsura, hazels, linden-like trees (Craigia), ebony trees, magnolias, tupelos, plane trees, poplars, wingnuts, willows, sassafras, sandalwoods, and zelkovas. Conifers such as swamp cypresses and redwoods can still be found sporadically, having managed to survive in river floodplains or along shallow lakes. About 6 million years ago, ginkgos and palm trees also thrived here.

The lignite is mined using bucket-wheel excavators, which, at 225 meters in length, are the largest and, weighing up to 14,000 tons, the heaviest land vehicles on Earth. Their daily output is 240,000 tons of coal, which fills approximately 2,400 freight cars.

Schedule: Transportation by bus to the Hambach Mine; scenic tour along the terra:nova viewpoints, packed lunches served at last viewpoint, second stop at RWE Power Niederzier, guided tour with special off-road bus into the Hambach Mine; return to Münster.

3. Upper Carboniferous floras of the Piesberg Quarry

One-day trip, Fr 25/09, 08h00-17h00

Leaders: Benjamin Bomfleur
Participants: min 15, max 25
Transportation: bus 

More information to follow…

4. Upper Cretaceous flora and fauna of the Baumberge Hills

One-day trip, Fr 25/09, 09h00-17h00

Leaders: Patrick Blomenkemper
Participants: min 15, max 25
Transportation: bicycles

A bicycle tour from Münster to the Baumberge Hills, including a stop at Burg Hülshoff, the home of Biedermeier poet and novelist Annette von Droste-Hülshoff.

More information to follow…