Survey of three abandoned pastures in Gesäuse National Park

This thesis deals with three old, abandoned alpine pastures of the Eggeralm, the Ebersanger and the Wolfsbauernhochalm as well as their vegetation development after the cultivation change. In the course of the thesis, more than 170 vegetation sociological images were carried out in the summer of 2006 according to a slightly modified brown-blanquet scale, the results of which were evaluated as vegetation tables and finally processed into three vegetation maps. These are the main content of the diploma thesis. The second part of the thesis deals with the analysis of orthophotos of the years 1954 and 2003, in which questions regarding vegetation tendencies and cover-ups are answered during this period. Chapter 6 discusses the factors influencing succession as well as the processes in the three study areas, which show great differences in altitude, slope inclination, exposure and former use.