The coomb of the Rouelles stream, which faces north-west, has a cool microclimate. A tufa marsh occupies the upper part of the valley, at the foot of a vast forest; this is the most interesting area in the sector.
For nature lovers:
The marsh is a small tufa slope marsh, accompanying a marsh where a very small pond has filled in and landed, with various plant groups: sedge meadow with Carex rostrata, mulberry meadow with diversified vegetation, classic jonçaie-schoenaie with choin noirâtre and phragmite, low schoenaie with choin ferrugineux, poor border molinia, fruticée and aspen meadow at the edge, potamaie with swimming pondweed (open water), stand of charas at the mouth of the tufa springs of the pond and in the ditches at the edge of the marsh.
Vegetation:
The very characteristic vegetation is well adapted to the particular conditions of the tufa marshes: in particular, we can observe the choin ferrugineux, protected in France, the swamp swertie, the marsh parnassia, the narrow-segmented buttercup and the broad-leaved cottongrass, all of which are protected at regional level and/or included on the red list of plant species in Champagne-Ardenne.
Fauna:
Insects are varied and include some rare species, which are on the regional red list (7 species): dragonflies with the Agrion de Mercure, protected in France (since 1993) and in Europe (Bern Convention and Habitats Directive), included on the national red list of fauna as an endangered species in the northern half of France, the cordulégastre bidenté, a mountain species, rare throughout France and the no less rare ringed cordulégastre, butterflies with the Ino or pearly sanguisorbe and two song crickets.
This small, deep and fairly enclosed marsh (with a tendency towards overgrowth and the presence of shrubs inside the marsh and pine trees both on the edges and inside the marsh) is nevertheless still in a very good state of conservation: it is in fact one of the best preserved and most landscaped marshes in the area, and its educational value is enhanced by its proximity to the Auberive Nature Initiation Centre.
Undeveloped site
Access reserved for an informed and respectful public
Marais de Rouelles
