TheWestern European broadleaf forests is anecoregion inWestern Europe, and parts of theAlps. It comprisestemperate broadleaf and mixed forests, that cover large areas of France, Germany and the Czech Republic and more moderately sized parts of Poland, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium and South Limburg (Netherlands). Luxembourg is also part of this ecoregion.
The Western European broadleaf forests ecoregion covers an area of 492,357 km2 (190,100 sq mi), including theMassif Central, Central German Uplands,Jura Mountains, Bavarian Plateau, andBohemian Massif.
This area has been inhabited for thousands of years and holds several large cities such asLyon,Nancy andMunich. Most of the countryside has been cleared for agricultural land, cultivated withcereals (corn,wheat,oats), and to a smaller extentgrapes. The ecoregion hosts a good variety of animal species, birds in particular, but most large mammals are in decline.
Most of the original forest of the ecoregion has been cleared in the last 200 years, but a few larger patches remain, typically in non-arable montane areas that are part of national parks or protections. The woodlands of the ecoregion is generally second-growth and heavily fragmented.
Eifel National ParkWinter. Palatinate Forest Nature Park.Canopy walkways in Bavarian Forest National ParkElbe Sandstone MountainsThal Nature ParkWaterfalls and gorges in Jura Mountains Regional Natural Park
The Czech parts of these mountains forms the Lusatian Mountains Protected Landscape Area and the smaller German part forms theZittau Mountain Nature Park.
Luxembourg maintains theUpper Sûre Natural Park, but this park covers mostly the Upper Sûre Lake, an artificial dam created in 1959, and no land area of significance. The lake is an important bird area. Luxembourg also holds part of the cross-borderGerman-Luxembourg Nature Park in addition to several smaller nature reservations. Here eco-typical patches of forest are growing.
Austria does not have any protections in this ecoregion.
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