The Habitats Along the Upper Danube in Germany and Changes to Them Induced by Human Impacts

Abstract

The Upper Danube extends from its two main source rivers, the Breg (45.6 km long) and Brigach (40.2 km long) in the Black Forest (Schwarzwald) to the gap called the Devin Gate or Porta Hungarica upstream of Bratislava, crossing over some 975 km various landscapes of Germany and Austria. The beginning of the Danube is also frequently denoted from the confluence of the rivers Breg and Brigach at Donaueschingen, at an altitude of 672 m NHN, where too the small Danube stream (“Donauquelle”) flows in from the Fürstenberg castle area.