Plettenberg is a mountain of

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a 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 inhabitants across a ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. 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-east ...

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 the habitat at which trees are capable of growing. It is found at high elevations and high latitudes. Beyond the tree line, trees cannot tolerate the environmental conditions (usually cold temperatures, extreme snow ...

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 Temperate broadleaf and mixed forest is a temperate climate terrestrial habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature, with broadleaf tree ecoregions, and with conifer and broadleaf tree mixed coniferous forest ecoregions. These fo ...

consisting of beech, rowan, spruce and

silver fir Silver fir is a common name for several trees and may refer to: *''Abies alba ''Abies alba'', the European silver fir or silver fir, is a fir native to the mountains of Europe, from the Pyrenees north to Normandy, east to the Alps and the Car ...

. 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 The green hairstreak (''Callophrys rubi'') is a small butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. Etymology The genus name ''Callophrys'' is a Greek word meaning "beautiful eyebrows", while the species Latin name ''rubi'' derives from ''Rubus'' (brambl ...

'' *'' Erebia medusa'' *'' Zygaena viciae'' *'' Fabriciana adippe'' *'' Boloria dia'' *'' Boloria euphrosyne'' *''

Coenonympha arcania ''Coenonympha arcania'', the pearly heath, is a butterfly species belonging to the family Nymphalidae. Distribution It can be found in Central Europe. Description It resembles ''Coenonympha hero''. Seitz describes it thus ''C. arcania'' L ...

'' *'' Colias alfacariensis'' *'' 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 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 ''Limenitis camilla'', the (Eurasian) white admiral, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found in woodland throughout southern Britain and much of Europe and the Palearctic, extending as far east as Japan. Adult white admirals ha ...

'' *''

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 The Adonis blue (''Lysandra bellargus'', also known as ''Polyommatus bellargus'') is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It inhabits the Palearctic realm (Western Europe, Central Europe, Southern Europe, Southern Russia, Iraq, Iran, Caucasus, T ...

'' *'' Lysandra coridon'' *''

Cyaniris semiargus ''Cyaniris semiargus'', the Mazarine blue, is a Palearctic butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. Subspecies Subspecies include: * ''Cyaniris semiargus semiargus'' (Europe, Caucasus, Siberia, Russian Far East) * ''Cyaniris semiargus altaiana'' (, ...

'' *'' Satyrium w-album'' *''

Zygaena fausta ''Zygaena fausta'' is a member of the family Zygaenidae, the day-flying burnet moths. Its bright aposematic colours of red, white and black on the wings indicate to possible predators such as birds that it is foul tasting or poisonous. In fl ...

'' *'' 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