Plettenberg is a mountain of

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million i ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. It is located in

Zollernalbkreis The Zollernalbkreis () is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in the middle of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The district is located in the Swabian Alb, and contains the second highest elevation of this range, the high '' Oberhohenberg''. In the south-e ...

Vegetation

The Plettenberg is not wooded. However, the sharp transition to forest illustrates it is no natural border. Even the top of the mountain does not reach the

tree line The tree line is the edge of a habitat at which trees are capable of growing and beyond which they are not. It is found at high elevations and high latitudes. Beyond the tree line, trees cannot tolerate the environmental conditions (usually low ...

which, in this region, would lie at around 1,650–1,700 metres. Many of the open areas are habitats for specialised species of flora; these include bogs, rock faces and snow fields. Below the summit the mountain is covered by mixed forest consisting of

beech Beech (genus ''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to subtropical (accessory forest element) and temperate (as dominant element of Mesophyte, mesophytic forests) Eurasia and North America. There are 14 accepted ...

rowan The rowans ( or ) or mountain-ashes are shrubs or trees in the genus ''Sorbus'' of the rose family, Rosaceae. They are native throughout the cool temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, with the highest species diversity in the Himalaya ...

spruce A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' ( ), a genus of about 40 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal ecosystem, boreal (taiga) regions of the Northern hemisphere. ''Picea'' ...

and

silver fir Silver fir is a common name for several trees and may refer to: *''Abies alba'', native to Europe *''Abies amabilis'', native to western North America *''Abies pindrow ''Abies pindrow'', the pindrow fir, West Himalayan fir, or silver fir, is ...

. That is attributable to the intensive sheep farming in this region, which limits forest growth. In 2017 milling machines was used in the sensitive area.

Butterflies and moths

*'' Speyeria aglaja'' *'' Callophrys rubi'' *'' Erebia medusa'' *'' Zygaena viciae'' *'' Fabriciana adippe'' *'' Boloria dia'' *'' Boloria euphrosyne'' *'' Coenonympha arcania'' *''

Colias alfacariensis ''Colias alfacariensis'', Berger's clouded yellow, is a butterfly of the family Pieridae. It was separated from the pale clouded yellow, ''C. hyale'', in 1905. Berger's clouded yellow is a Palearctic species (South and Central Europe, South Rus ...

'' *'' Cupido minimus'' *'' Erebia aethiops'' *'' Erebia ligea'' *'' Erynnis tages'' *''

Hamearis lucina ''Hamearis lucina'', the Duke of Burgundy, the only member of the genus ''Hamearis'', is a European butterfly in the family Riodinidae. For many years, it was known as the "Duke of Burgundy fritillary", because the adult's chequered pattern is s ...

'' *''

Lasiommata maera ''Lasiommata maera'', the large wall brown, is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. Subspecies * ''Lasiommata maera maera'' * ''Lasiommata maera abastumana'' (Sheljuzhko, 1937) (Caucasus) * ''Lasiommata maera adrasta'' (Hübner, 823-1824 (fro ...

'' *''

Lasiommata megera ''Lasiommata megera'', the wall or wall brown, is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae (subfamily Satyrinae). It is widespread in the Palearctic realm with a large variety of habitats and number of generations a year. Description ''P. meger ...

'' *'' Limenitis camilla'' *''

Nymphalis antiopa ''Nymphalis antiopa'', known as the mourning cloak in North America and the Camberwell beauty in Britain, is a large butterfly native to Eurasia and North America. The immature form of this species is sometimes known as the spiny elm caterpillar. ...

'' *'' Lysandra bellargus'' *'' Lysandra coridon'' *'' Cyaniris semiargus'' *'' Satyrium w-album'' *'' Zygaena fausta'' *'' Zygaena transalpina''

Public viewing

On 23 June 2017 there was special permission by the Regierungspräsidium Karlsruhe for everybody to catch butterflies. Herbert Fuchs (Naturschutzbüro Zollernalb) was the leader of the training course.

References

Mountains and hills of the Swabian Jura Zollernalbkreis One-thousanders of Germany {{BadenWürttemberg-geo-stub