Calcareous grasslands (germ. Kalkmagerrasen) are very rich forms of vegetation, they are grasslands with high nature conservation value. The importance of limestone grasslands is due to their great number of drought and heat resistant plant and animal species and of warmth needing species with a main area of distribution further south. Additionally, many species have found a refuge here from the intensively used modern agricultural landscape where no other richly flowered habitats can be found.

Geology and geomorphology

The Swabian Alb is a karst mountain chain of Jurassic origin. The mountains extend from Schaffhausen (southwest) to the "Nördlinger Ries" (northeast) which represents an old meteor crater. Approximately 300 m in height, its northwestern boundary forms a striking crest line, the so-called "Albtrauf". Some of the southwestern peaks rise higher than 1000 m NN.

The limestone pasture project area (KaMaRa-Project) is located in the middle of the swabian Alb.
This region has the long tradition of sheep grazing and transhumant herding and still active shepherds. For this reasons, it was chosen as the model region of the KaMaRa- project.

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