Species-rich cultural landscapes
Alpine pastures
Alpine pastures play a special role as islands of biodiversity in the national park. These clearing islands cover around 6% of the national park area and greatly enrich the diversity of the landscape and the biodiversity of the national park. They are home to a wealth of plant and animal species, some of which are highly endangered or threatened with extinction and represent the last refuges for meadow pipit, ring ouzel, yellowhammer, red-backed shrike, creeping bogbean, burnt orchid and Traunstein's fingerwort, for example.
The total number of vascular plants in Kalkalpen National Park is estimated at around 1,000 species. A total of 812 plant species were recorded on 65 meadows surveyed. This means that more than 80 % of the plant species occur on 6 % of the national park area.
Securing cultural biotopes sustainably
A series of labor-intensive maintenance measures are necessary to sustainably secure these cultivated biotopes. There are 21 mountain pastures at Kalkalpen National Park , 10 of which are farmed. In addition to looking after the herds of cattle, turning and maintenance measures are necessary on the pastures. Around 35 hectares of meadows are currently mowed. The majority of the areas are steep and interspersed with stones. Maintenance is only possible with special mountain mowing equipment and a lot of manual work.
Burnet orchid
Blooming treasure
The dainty burnet orchid belongs to the orchid family. This species is chalk-loving, grows mainly in heat-exposed meadows and blooms in Kalkalpen National Park from the beginning of June to July.
