Maple Ash Forests in Gesäuse National Park

This work is devoted to maple ash forests in the Gesäuse National Park. 31 vegetation images according to BRAUN-BLANQUET are used as a data base. A floor profile was also collected for all recording surfaces. Chemical parameters were also analysed for 23 soil horizons from ten profiles. In order to obtain an overview of the spread of maple ash forests in the Gesäuse, extensive site visits were made in July 2013. An indication of these explorations was the knowledge of forest ecological conditions in the area, acquired by the author in the course of several works since 2005. The focus areas of the maple ash forests were already known. In addition, areas were visited which, for reasons of relief or geological subsurface, suggested location conditions that promote precious wood. Furthermore, biotope mapping (KAMMERER 2007, 2008, Emmerer & KAMMERER 2010) was very helpful in researching suitable reception areas. Maps showing the distribution of the areas identified in the listed biotope mappings as maple ash forest were made available to the author by the nature conservation department Gesäuse National Park.