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Left to right: left: Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria); Yellow Gentian (Gentiana lutea); Moorland Spotted Orchid (Dactylorhiza maculata)

Another typical landscape feature, especially in the northern mountains, are the patches of moorland, locally known as Grinden – the result of deforestation followed by regular grazing. Even though these moors essentially represent a degraded, man-made landscape, they provide a habitat for highly specialised plants and animals, such as sundew (Drossera sp), cottongrass (Eriophorum sp), marsh cinquefoil (Comarum palustre), bog bilberry (Vaccinium uliginosum), bogbean (Menyanthes trifolia), bog-rosemary (Andromeda polifolia) and various insects, including rare dragonflies that can only survive and thrive in such harsh and specialised biotopes.

At the higher altitudes conifers still dominate, while the understory layer consists of mosses and ferns that relish the humid atmosphere. This is the habitat of the endangered wood grouse. Heather, bilberry and cowberry are often found carpeting areas that have lost their tree cover due to the ravages of hurricane Lothar. These open areas also provide a habitat for snakes, such as the European adder, while grass snakes tend to prefer a more boggy terrain.