Mainz Sand Dunes
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The Mainz Sand Dunes (German: Großer Sand) are a small, but geo-ecologically and botanical supra-regional important nature preserve in Mainz. Within this protected area rare plants and animals can be found. Some of the species settled here as e.g. the purple goldendrop (Onosma arenaria) occur within Germany only here and in small numbers.
The sand dunes developed after the last ice age (Würm glaciation) and the first resettlement with grassland plants. 12,000 years ago. The dry sandy soils are poor of nutrients and easy to be heated up. As a relict flora from the glaciation grassland plants grow favoured. These plants are to be found otherwise only in south-east-European- and innerasiatic (pontic steppe) areas and in the mediterranean respectively. The effective surface of the protected landscape is rather small 1.27 square kilometres.
The Sand Dunes can be found between the suburbs Mainz-Gonsenheim and Mainz-Mombach and stretches up to the floodplains and Flood plain beginning in Mombach. Bordering is the Lennebergwald, sizing about 7 km² and therefore the biggest contiguous forest in Rheinhessen. The Lenneberg forest is also protected and shows to some extent the same flora and fauna.
[edit] The development of the sand dunes
In the late pleistocene, just before the end of the last ice age, during the short summers, sanddrifts were blown from the Rhine valley into the area of the present Sand Dunes and formed this unique geology. The soil consisted almost solely of high lime component fine, white sand, which was hardly able to retain water and nutritives, but easy to be warming.
