Abundance of water and treasure trove of data in the national park

2023-11-15 01:00:03

At the Children’s University in Steyr, National Park Director Josef Forstinger invited Environment Councilor Stefan Kaineder (Greens) to his realm. State Nature Conservation Councilor Manfred Haimbuchner (FP) has the political patronage of the national park in the state, but Kaineder also has many thematic links to the protected area with the environment, climate protection and water agendas.

The two of them recently spent a morning out and about in the Reichraminger Hintergebirge. On the one hand, Kaineder was impressed by the many springs in the national park. Expert Elmar Pröll from the national park speaks of 800 to 1,000 larger and smaller karst springs. “The issue of water is becoming increasingly important to us,” adds Forstinger. In addition to the abundance of water, the Kalkalpen National Park also has a huge treasure trove of environmental data that is in demand and attracts international attention. In the middle of the beech forests of the Hintergebirge, the Federal Environment Agency, supported by the National Park and the Federal Forests, has been operating one of the largest monitoring and research sites in Austria for 31 years.

12,000 samples and 250,000 chemical analyzes have been taken or carried out on Zöbel soil over the past three decades. From the treetop to the root tips, specialists examine the forest ecosystem using 650 high-tech devices and sensors. Parameters such as air pollutant concentrations, soil temperature and tree growth are examined and recorded. For this purpose, rain and spring water, soil, rock, leaves and litter are analyzed. “Chemical analyzes provide data on nitrogen and sulfur, phosphorus and carbon and even heavy metals,” explains National Park employee Stefanie Tweraser.

Despite all the technology, human effort is also needed. National park employee Franz Kettenhummer knows every step and every tree in the Zöbelboden area. Whatever the season and whatever the weather, he checks on everything on Wednesdays, secures samples, and carries gallons of collected rain and soil water over the steps on the mountainside.

The national park director wants to polish the treasure trove of data from Zöbelboden even more in the future and make it accessible to a wider public.