The sites Friedeburg, Greifenhagen, Harsleben, Schafstädt, Siptenfelde and Wanzleben are part of the TERENO Harz / Central German Lowland Observatory in Saxony-Anhalt run by the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research UFZ. These sites have a focus on biodiversity monitoring in the “normal landscape” which is characterized by agricultural use (about 60 % coverage of Saxony-Anhalt). Each site is a 4x4 km landscape of mainly arable land and semi-natural habitats like e.g. hedges and forests. The site Schafstädt is part of the "Querfurter Platte" ranking about the richest soils in Germany. It is characterized by a quite flat topography and a mean elevation of 177 m asl. The average size of crop fields is highest compared to the other sites and the total area covered by crop fields is still 97 % and all semi-natural habitats summing up to 2 %.