The European beech tree's natural habitat is all over Europe, wherever the climate is humid and the soil is well-drained. This describes Germany perfectly. Beeches grow most often in the Eifel, which is a low mountain range west of Mainz, and in the Schwäbisch-Fränkische Alb, which is a forested area southeast of Mainz. It is estimated that beech trees cover about 1.6 million hectares of land in Germany. That's a little over half the size of Hawaii!
Beech trees most often grow in multi-layered forests. This means that there are multiple different kinds of trees that grow at different heights. Since beeches need lots of sunlight to survive, they grow very tall and have most of their leaves near the top so that they can collect as much sunlight as possible.
Beech trees are also very helpful to other plants and animals in their environment. They provide an important habitat for butterflies, moths, mice, voles, squirrels and birds. Their bark can often be home to many types of mosses, fungi and lichen.
Beech bark is very fragile and can scar easily. Carvings made in its bark will likely stay forever, because the tree is unable to heal itself. Its thin bark also makes it prone to beech bark disease. This is a kind of fungal infection that can lead to the death of the tree. If you see a beech tree in the woods, be gentle and don't leave any marks on it!
Although these trees are fragile, they are not threatened by any means.
