Animal species

With 174 known species and subspecies, the animal order of beetles (Coleoptera) is by far the largest group within Austria's endemic fauna. Of these, a very impressive 31 beetles (around 18 %) have also been recorded in Kalkalpen National Park , 13 of which are native only to Austria, without exception. For 18 others, at least 75 % of the distribution area is on Austrian territory. In addition, a further 14 endemic beetles have been confirmed for the protected area, at least 33% of whose total distribution area is on Austrian territory.

With a total of 45 known endemic species and 5 more to be expected, the Kalkalpen National Park and in particular the Sengsengebirge are among the most endemic areas in the Alps. Within Austria, due to their geographical location, only the higher mountain ranges in the immediate vicinity (especially Totes Gebirge, Haller Mauern, Gesäuse) have slightly higher numbers of species. Thus
the endemic beetle fauna alone shows that the Kalkalpen National Park fulfills its purpose as a protected area in the literal sense, i.e. as a refuge for sensitive and valuable species.

Probably the most important and also the most famous endemic beetle of the Kalkalpen National Park is the cave ground beetle Arctaphaenops muellneri, whose distribution area (Sengsengebirge, Reichraminger Hintergebirge and Mollner Vorberge) lies primarily within the borders of the Kalkalpen National Park and thus exclusively in Upper Austria. A number of other locally endemic beetle species are only known from a few neighboring locations worldwide outside the Kalkalpen National Park . These include, among others, Schauberger's weevil(Otiorhynchus schaubergeri), the extremely rare Austrian bearded beetle(Leistus austriacus) or the line-dotted burying beetle(Pterostichus lineatopunctatus).

The Kalkalpen National Park is a particularly important conservation area for these unique Austrian natural treasures. However, this also results in a high level of responsibility towards these specialists. The conservation of these species depends on the preservation of their habitats, but also on further research. Only if extensive knowledge about the special requirements, way of life and exact occurrence of a species is known can it be effectively protected and new challenges such as climate change or the accumulation of pollutants in the Alpine region be met.

Endangered species in Austria with occurrence in Kalkalpen National Park

Listing of selected species occurring in Kalkalpen National Park which are listed as endangered (VU), critically endangered (EN) or even threatened with extinction (CR) in the Red List of endangered butterflies and moths in Austria (excluding moths). The number of previous records in the national park area is also listed.

The primary aim of this project was to identify the species of spring snails (hydrobioids: dwarf snails) found in the area, the majority of which are endemic. The majority of this species group, which is widespread in karst spring biotopes and underground waters in the Northern Limestone Alps, cannot be reliably identified to species level on the basis of morphological characteristics and requires genetic analyses. However, knowledge of the species status is essential, as endemic species are usually distributed on an extremely small scale and the majority are also under strict conservation protection. The genetic analysis as well as other classical methods for species determination were carried out under a contract for work by employees of the Natural History Museum Vienna (laboratory & ABOL project management: Dr. Luise Kruckenhauser, head of the mollusc collection and project coordination: Anita Eschner, project implementation: Hannah Schubert, as well as the involved experts Dr. Michael Duda and Dr. Martin Haase).

100 DNA barcodes were created on individuals from 39 spring biotopes. The results confirm that extremely rare hydrobioids, which are particularly worthy of protection due to their endemic status, occur in selected spring biotopes in the region of the national park and therefore require special protection. This applies in particular to the two species Belgrandiella aulaei and Bythiospeum nocki, which have so far only been recorded worldwide in Kalkalpen National Park and its immediate surroundings.