Abstract
Flora, mire vegetation, actual and fossil pollen precipitation of medieval fish ponds are investigated. At present days each pond shows different stages of mire development. Small sedge communities of Caricetum fuscae and Caricetum rostratae prevail, in open waters Potamogeton natans, Juncus bulbosus and at the pond margins Carex rostrata grow. The pollen precipitation is compared with the actual vegetation cover of the mire and its 500 m radius. Soil dependent mire formation in the brook valley starts in post-Roman times. After construction of the fish ponds and increasing forest clearance the mire development continues by increasing peat formation, and in the ponds limno-minerogenic sediments accumulate fastly. Mire desiccation at the valley margins and mesotrophic fen peat formation in the remnant ponds during the last 250 years by surrounding afforestation lead to the present day status of a protected area within the Nature 2000 fauna-flora-habitat system. Proposals for nature reserve management are applied to the lake and mire biotops as well as the surrounding forests.