The Alsatian ''ried'' ({{IPA-fr, ʁid) consists of meadows liable to flooding, and of

gallery forest A gallery forest is one formed as a corridor along rivers or wetlands, projecting into landscapes that are otherwise only sparsely treed such as savannas, grasslands, or deserts. The gallery forest maintains a more temperate microclimate abov ...

s, the vegetation of which is lush. The ''ried'' was formed by the then meandering Rhine, before it was canalised. The

Petit Ried The Petit Ried (occasionally referred to as Ried-Nord) is located in north-eastern Alsace. It stretches between the Robertsau Forest in Strasbourg in the south, and Lauterbourg in the north. It borders on Outre-Forêt. The Petit Ried shows a typic ...

lies north of Strasbourg, whereas the Grand Ried lies south of Strasbourg. The town of Rhinau possesses 1000 ha of the last example of a temperate

in Western Europe, which is located on the right bank of the Rhine.

Toponymy

The word "ried" derives from Alemannic "Rieth" which means reed, and is related to the English word.

Geography

Today's Rhine is a pale reflection of what it used to be. Formerly, it used to be many kilometres broad, spreading its sediments on a large zone, with Europe's largest water table discharging into the Rhine, or recharging from it, depending on the seasons. In return, the Rhine has become navigable, and provides Alsace with abundant hydroelectricity. As a matter of fact, France claims for itself the hydroelectricity produced here, according to the treaty of Versailles. Only the most recent dams, namely Gambsheim (F) - Freistett (D) and Iffezheim (D) - Beinheim (F), both of them located downstream of Strasbourg in the Petit Ried, produce electricity shared evenly by both states. The Iffezheim dam has just been equipped with a fifth turbine.

Ornithology

The Rhine Rift, and the Ried, is located on a major corridor as regards bird migration (the other major French corridor is located over the English Channel and the Atlantic Ocean).

Geology

In the Quaternary period, while the Rhine rift was subsiding, sediment made up of sand and gravel coming p