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Wild nature in Vorarlberg: 30 years of undisturbed forest magic!
The Rohrach Natural Forest Reserve in Vorarlberg has been promoting biodiversity for 30 years and examining dead wood for biodiversity.
Wild nature in Vorarlberg: 30 years of undisturbed forest magic!
In Vorarlberg, in the impressive Rohrach natural forest reserve, significant progress has been made in research on biodiversity. Since it was placed under protection 30 years ago, this 50 hectare forest in the communities of Hohenweiler and Möggers has been carefully monitored and provides valuable data for European natural forest research. In the protected area, all forestry use was banned in 1992, which enabled the flora and fauna to develop undisturbed. An impressive 26 species of large mushrooms were detected for the first time in Vorarlberg and two for the first time in the whole of Austria. In addition, 34 beetle species were documented on the Red List, including the bark beetle and the shoveler beetle vorarlberg.orf.at reported.
A key to the amazing biodiversity in this natural forest is the high proportion of dead wood, dying trees and branches, which are crucial for the habitat of numerous animal and plant species. The recommended amount of dead wood in forests is five to ten percent, but there is an increasing shortage of it in these habitats. However, the steady increase in the standing stock of dead wood in Austrian forests since 1960, which has now almost tripled, shows positive developments. Austria now has a larger standing deadwood supply than the entire wood supply level of Luxembourg, with an average of 30 m³ of deadwood per hectare, as well foreststories.com determines.
Innovative measuring methods for determining dead wood
In order to precisely measure the proportion of dead wood, geodesist Jakob Galle from the Vienna University of Technology is testing various techniques for his master's thesis. He compares traditional field measurement, drone laser scanning and the terrestrial laser scanning method. Galle's conclusion is that none of the methods alone is perfect. The most effective solution requires a combination of drones for overview and ground scanners for detail.