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 Wanzleben is situated in the "Magdeburger Börde", a flat area with highest ranking of soil quailty in Germany.. It is characterized by a mostly flat topography with a mean elevation of 113 m asl. The area covered by crop fields is 77 % and all semi-natural habitats summing up to 8 %.