Long-term observation
of ecosystems
in cooperation with the Federal Environment Agency
Since 1992, long-term ecosystem research has been conducted in Reichraminger Hintergebirge Zöbelboden under the direction of the Federal Environment Agency. The 90-hectare research area is one of the most extensively studied forest sites in Austria.
In response to forest dieback in the 1970s and 1980s, a monitoring network for large-scale, transboundary air pollution was established under the Geneva Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution—the ICP-IM program.
The Zöbelboden research site is Austria's contribution to this monitoring network. The remoteness of the site, far away from any major sources of pollution, in the northern foothills of the Alps and nestled in Kalkalpen National Park it an ideal location for background measurements.
In addition to the original research goal of observing airborne pollutant inputs and their effects on terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems, research questions on climate change, greenhouse gas balance, and biodiversity have now also come into focus. The extensive monitoring covers air, soil, tree population, and water. Regular inventories are carried out to record vegetation, mosses, lichens, birds, and, more recently, insects. Weekly sampling, various maintenance work, and sample processing at Nationalpark Zentrum Molln carried out by National Park employees. The data collected is now fed into 18 different research networks and forms an important basis for setting and monitoring pollutant limits and protecting ecosystems.
