Vegetation development on the nunatak of “Kleiner Burgstall”

The Kleiner Burgstall (2,709 m above sea level) is a peak in the Glockner mountain range (Hohe Tauern, Carinthia) which at the time of the last glacial peak around 1856 remained free of ice. In 2002 detailed studies of the vegetation were carried out including a time classification of the vegetation units. In this process, a direct connection between the developmental age of the area on the one hand and species abundance, coverage proportion and distribution of vegetation life forms on the other hand became visible. The locations have continuously been freed from ice since the last glacial peak level of 1850. Their investigation is particularly interesting because vegetation units of different age appear along a time line spatially next to each other. In cooperation with the Hohe Tauern National Park and the Austrian Alpine Association E.C.O. conducted a first survey of vegetation of the Kleiner Burgstall that is to constitute the basis for continuous monitoring.