Patterns of Wilderness - en route to compiling an inventory of the national processes in Gesäuse National Park (Ennstaler Alps)
Michael Jungmeier (deputy for Corinna Hecke), E.C.O. Institut für Ökologie, Klagenfurt (AT)
Wilderness can be described as the absence of human impacts on ecosystems and hence gives place for undisturbed natural processes. In an interplay between natural disturbances and succession these processes form particular patterns in space and time. A research project in Gesäuse National Park investigates high-disturbance systems by on-site vegetation mapping in combination with drone-based aerial photography. Dynamograms and structograms are new instruments to describe, compare and analyse said systems. Furthermore, the results indicate a significant interrelation between processes and biodiversity.