Everything about Oostvaardersplassen totally explained
The
Oostvaarderplassen is a nature reserve in the
Netherlands. Despite its young age (it is in a
polder which was only created in 1968) it already has international importance as a European wetland.
The Oostvaardersplassen can be divided into two areas: wet and dry. In the wet area along the
Markermeer, there are large
reedbeds on clay, where moulting
geese often feed. This area is also home to
Great Cormorant,
Common Spoonbill,
Great Egret,
White-tailed Eagle and
Eurasian Bittern, among many other animals.
Before the establishment of the reserve, the dry area was a nursery for
willow trees, and in the first year hundreds of seedlings could be found on each square metre. This led to concern that a dense woodland would develop, significantly reducing the value of the habitat for water birds. To avoid this, the park's managers brought in a number of large herbivores to keep the area more open, including
Konik horses,
red deer and
Heck cattle. These large grazing animals are kept out in the open all year round without supplemental feeding, and are allowed to behave as wild animals (without, for example,
castrating males). The ecosystem developing under their influence is thought to resemble those that would have existed on European river banks and deltas prior to human disturbance.
Before they were driven to extinction, large herbivores in this part of
Europe included the
tarpan (wild horse),
wisent (European bison),
red deer, elk (known as
moose in North America) and
aurochs (wild cattle). The tarpan and aurochs are extinct, but Konik horses and Heck cattle are able to act as functional equivalents, occupying a similar ecological niche. The only native large herbivores now missing from Oostvaaderplassen are the elk and the wisent. It is unlikely that elk will be introduced, but there's hope for wisent as it fills a different niche from cattle. There are no large predators in the reserve.
Image:Koniks3.JPG|Konik horses
Image:GroteGrazers.JPG|A Heck bull amongst a herd of Konik horses.
Image:Heckrund1.JPG|Heck cattle
Image:Heckrund3.JPG|Young Heck bull with calves
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