Altitude: 500–582 m above sea level
Area: 41 ha
Material: Paleozoic igneous rock basalt-andesite (melaphyre)

 

The quarry has been in operation since 1965 and produces quarry stone, aggregate and gravel. The quarrying process creates exposed rock walls with south and south-west exposure. In turn woodlands are reduced, including valuable beech forests. Above the quarry walls there is a treeless belt with a stony substrate, the position of which shifts as mining progresses. The quarried Homole Hill has been sensitively reclaimed, leaving rock levels. Woody vegetation is regularly cleared to ensure that suitable habitats for species bound to sunlit rock habitats are not lost. Ponds at the base provide suitable environment for wetland organisms. Vegetation and sediments are regularly removed.

 

Fungi

Associated with early succession vegetation on spoil tips: Green Dapperling (Lepiota grangei), Exidia cartilaginea, Dog Stinkhorn (Mutinus caninus), Girdled Knight (Tricholoma cingulatum)

Associated with excavated sites: Meadow Puffball (Vascellum pratense), Pseudoclitocybe expallens

 

Plants

Xerophilic species: Field Cudweed (Filago arvensis), Hare's-foot Clover (Trifolium arvense), Sheep's-bit (Jasione montana), Corn Chamomile (Anthemis arvensis)

Wetland species: forget-me-not Myosotis nemorosa, Blue Water-speedwell (Veronica anagallis-aquatica), Large Bitter-cress (Cardamine amara), Branched Bur-reed (Sparganium erectum)

 

Invertebrates

Rocky and clay habitats: Spirkled Rustic (Hoplodrina respersa) and Southern Rustic (Rhyacia lucipeta), Square-spotted Mourning Bee (Melecta luctuosa) and sharp-tailed bee Coelioxys conoidea , Cinnabar (Tyria jacobaeae): tiger beetle Cicindela sylvicola, click beetles Quasimus minutissimus and Zorochros meridionalis, beetle Danacea morosa, Rugged Oil-beetle (Meloe rugosus), weevil Otiorhynchus uncinatus. In 2015 a huge number of Oxythyrea funesta on spoil tips with blossoming yellowrockets. 

Wetland species: ground beetles Tachyura diabrachys, Perileptus areolatus; gastropod Lymnaea peregra, Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly (Ischnura pumilio), Southern Skimmer (Orthetrum brunneum), Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum)

 

Vertebrates

Rocky habitats: Sand Lizard (Lacerta agilis); Eurasian Eagle-owl (Bubo bubo)

Sunlit wet habitats: Adder (Vipera berus)

Wetland species: Alpine Newt (Triturus alpestris), Smooth Newt (Triturus vulgaris), European Common Toad (Bufo bufo), European Common Frog (Rana temporaria)