Start of Fieldwork 2024

As the Stemless Gentian (Gentiana clusii) slowly finished blooming, our next field season began. Before around 15 overgrown calcareous grasslands are cleared in winter 2024/25, our task is to record the current species inventory. As part of an ecological evaluation, we aim to determine how certain taxa respond to the planned restoration measures. Our indicator groups for pre-alpine calcareous grasslands include vascular plants, grasshoppers, and butterflies.

In May, we focused on early-blooming plants, such as the Moonwort Cabbage (Biscutella laevigata, Bavaria Red List 3), the host plant of the Mountain Green-veined White (Pieris bryoniae), which is also found in our study area. Another butterfly expected in the area was the Duke of Burgundy (Hamearis lucina, Bavaria Red List 2). Although most grasshoppers only reach adulthood later in the summer, Field Crickets (Gryllus campestris, Bavaria Red List V), also one of our indicator species in May, could already be heard from afar during our initial surveys.

While the first Marsh Fritillaries were already on their wings, we were still able to observe a caterpillar in its final larval stage.