Spatial changes in the extraction areas may create development zones for animals and plants. These zones are of various ages, have different structures, and are closely connected to one another (succession zones). Whenever minerals are extracted again from one of these areas, a replacement has already developed elsewhere. The biotopes, together with their animals and plants, that are affected by quarrying and have emerged as a result of quarrying therefore “wander“ back and forth across the quarrying site. These continually re-developing succession zones are called wanderbiotopes.

Wanderbiotopes allow enormous structural diversity to develop, enabling rare plant and animal species to settle in the area. Shallow, temporary bodies of water without vegetation or the tracks left by heavy-duty lorries, which can appear within a very short period of time during the extraction process, are typical wanderbiotopes for some amphibians such as the Yellow-bellied Toad or the Green Toad. During ongoing extraction activities, the Little Ringed Plover will happily settle on spacious areas of rock, gravel, or virgin soil that are almost free from vegetation, provided that there are at least temporary bodies of water nearby.