COST Action E 52 - vTI - Bund.de

38
curreNT sTaTe oF The euroPeaN beech
(Fagus sylvatica L.) GeNe-PooL IN ausTrIa
RAPHAEL KLUMPP 1 – HERFRIED STEINER 2 – EDUARD HOCHBICHLER 1
1 Institute of Silviculture, Department of Forest- and Soil Sciences, University of Natural
Resources and Applied Life Sciences Vienna, Peter Jordan Str. 82, 1190 Vienna, Austria
2 Department of Forest Inventory, Unit of Natural Forest Reserves and Nature
Conservation, BFW Austria, Hauptstr. , A-1140 Vienna, Austria
absTracT
The current state of European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) in Austria is presented in this paper as well as
information on the present distribution of beech and on its actual representation in forest stands and
plant communities. The historical as well as the contemporary status of beech in Austrian forestry is
also outlined.
Key words: European beech (Fagus sylvatica), Buche, Rotbuche (in German), distribution,
silviculture, gene-pool, forest history, forest genetic resources, Austria
The curreNT dIsTrIbuTIoN oF euroPeaN beech IN ausTrIa
European beech is the most common broadleaved tree species in Austria, covering an area of
323,000 ha which represents 9.6% of the Austrian forests. Beech was recorded up to a maximum
elevation of 2,050 m a. s. l. during the national inventory of 2002 (Englisch 2006). Beech is usually
found in Austria at elevations from 150 m a. s. l. up to 1,500 m a. s. l. throughout the northern
foothills of the Alpine mountains and up to 1,550 m a. s. l. in the southern foothills. More than 0%
of the trees are to be found at an elevation between 300 and 900 m a. s. l. and only 6% can be found
between 1,200 and 1,500 m a. s. l. (Schadauer, Büchsenmeister, Schodterer 2006). Rendzina
soils on substrates rich in carbonates are most frequently occupied by beech.
Being a tree species of the montane forest communities, the species occurs mainly in beech dominated
forests as well as in the spruce-fir-beech and the maple-ash-forests. As a mixed species it can be
found in oak-hornbeam as well as in spruce-fir communities and hence it is spread over a total area
of 1.5 million ha or 50% of all Austrian forests (Schadauer, Büchsenmeister, Schodterer 2006).
In most cases, beech cover is less than 10% of the area and pure stands where beech cover is more
than 80% are scarcely found. However, the “Viennese Forest” west of Vienna and the “Kobernausser
Forest” in Upper Austria are two regions well known for their pure beech stands.
As a result of intensive forestry practice during the last two centuries, beech forms pure beech stands
only on 28% of the potential beech forest sites, while artificial spruce stands can be found on 45%
of this area. The most important forest community, the spruce-fir-beech type with an extension of
more than 1.1 million ha is even covered by 2% of anthropogenic spruce forests. This anthropogenic
driven development is influenced by climate fluctuations: a natural dynamic in beech regeneration