left, Leutratal in winter 2015, after the removal of the Autobahn Leutratal valley 2008

NSG Leutratal und Cospoth (often referred to simply as Leutratal) is an important nature reserve in Germany, southwest of the town of Jena. The reserve is maintained by Naturschutzbund Deutschland. The reserve contains the valley of the river Leutra and

beech Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engle ...

forest. The nature reserve measures 582.9 hectares. The bedrock is Muschelkalk (limestone). In 2018, 23% of the reserve was pine forest and 16% broadleaf trees, 23% was xerothermic meadow, 9% brome semi-dry grassland and 14% agricultural use.Thüringer Landesanstalt für Umwelt und Geologie - Naturschutzgebiete
/ref> Rare tree species growing in the forests and on the slope include

wild pear Wild pear may refer to: * European pear, ''Pyrus communis'' * European wild pear, ''Pyrus pyraster'' * South African wild pear, ''Dombeya rotundifolia ''Dombeya rotundifolia'', the dikbas or "South African wild pear" (it is not related to pear ...

and wild service tree. A huge variety of wildflowers grow in the valley, including at least 26 species of orchids. Other flowers in the reserve include

Carthusian pink ''Dianthus carthusianorum'', commonly known as Carthusian pink, is a species of ''Dianthus'', native to Europe, from Spain north to Belgium and Poland, and east to Ukraine, occurring in dry, grassy habitats at elevations of up to in mountains.Fl ...

, purple gromwell and

liquorice milk-vetch ''Astragalus glycyphyllos'' (liquorice milkvetch, wild liquorice, wild licorice) is a flowering plant in the family Fabaceae, native to Europe. It is a perennial herbaceous plant which is sometimes used for tea Tea is an aromatic bever ...

. In 2007 the protected area was expanded by 441.4 hectares from its initial size of 141.5 hectares. During the Nazi era a motorway (the A4) was built through the valley, however Angela Merkel's government had a 3 kilometre road tunnel built in 2014 (

Jagdbergtunnel The Jagdbergtunnel is a 3.074 km tunnel on Bundesautobahn 4, west of the town of Jena, in Germany. Construction began in 2008 and lasted until 2014, when the tunnel opened. The tunnel was built to expand the capacity of the Autobahn, while p ...

) to expand capacity of the Autobahn while reducing the impact of the road on the nature reserve.Thüringer Allgemeine - Jagdbergtunnel: Alte A4-Trasse im Leutratal bei Jena wird ab 2016 renaturiert
/ref>Zeit - An Autobahn Disappears
/ref> The results of this work have so far been mixed. The burial of the Autobahn led to

invasive Invasive may refer to: *Invasive (medical) procedure *Invasive species *Invasive observation, especially in reference to surveillance *Invasively progressive spread of disease from one organ in the body to another, especially in reference to cancer ...

non-native plant species including ''

Bunias orientalis ''Bunias orientalis'', the Turkish wartycabbage, warty-cabbage, hill mustard, or Turkish rocket, is an edible wild plant species in the genus ''Bunias ''Bunias'' is a genus of flowering plants in the cabbage family Brassicaceae. The genus inc ...

'' (Turkish rocket) colonising the bare ground, which it is feared threaten to displace native wildflowers, however it has also already been observed that more bats (including '' Rhinolophus hipposideros'') are visiting the valley. Image:Orchis_x_hybrida_LC0354.jpg, ''Orchis militaris''x''purpurea'' natural hybrid, photographed in the reserve in 2014 Image:Thueringen_leutratal_der_ort.jpg, Leutratal in 2016, looking towards Leutra Image:Jagdbergtunnel_am_09_Sept_2008.jpg, An aerial view of the Leutra valley in 2008, after the expansion of the nature reserve, but before the Autobahn was removed.

References

Nature reserves in Thuringia {{Thuringia-geo-stub