Orchids and birds as biodiversity indicators
- Boden und Landökosysteme
- Lebensraum und Landschaft
- Forschungscluster "Landschaft & Entwicklung"
Abstract
The Austrian “Sustainable Development Strategy” suggested the indicator “Bird and Orchid species as indicator for Habitat Quality” as one of the headline indicators for the sector environment. In this pilot study, we will, therefore, develop a combined indicator using data from both, selected bird-species and orchid-species groups. This combined indicator shall describe better the current state and the development of the habitat quality than in the case of using only one of the two data sets. The data sets are part of the Austrian Biodiversity monitoring and will be provided by BirdLife and the Austrian Orchid Network (ÖON). The two data sets differ not only in quantity but also in quality. The main objective of the project is therefore to develop a feasible method for combining these two fundamentally different data sets to a meaningful index. Within the habitat type cultural landscape (particularly grassland), the combination of indicators of nutrient-poor site conditions (orchids) with meadow-breeding bird species is promising. This pilot study will, therefore, concentrate on meadows, within the selected test areas. We will use the information on occurrence and population trends of meadow-orchids and meadow breeders to (1) develop a method for evaluating the habitat quality (habitat index), (2) to test the improvement of the combined index compared to an index using only one of the data sets, and (3) to judge the possibilities and necessities to include more species groups (e.g. butterfly species) for improving the index.
Project staff
Monika Kriechbaum
ao.Univ.Prof. Dipl.-Ing.Dr.nat.techn. Monika Kriechbaum
monika.kriechbaum@boku.ac.at
Tel: +43 1 47654-83411
Project Leader
01.01.2007 - 30.09.2007
Bernhard Splechtna
Dipl.-Ing.Dr. Bernhard Splechtna
bernhard.splechtna@boku.ac.at
Tel: +43 1 47654-83417
Project Staff
01.01.2007 - 30.09.2007
Silvia Winter
Dipl.-Ing.Dr.nat.techn. Silvia Winter
silvia.winter@boku.ac.at
Tel: +43 1 47654-95307
Project Staff
01.01.2007 - 30.09.2007
BOKU partners
External partners
BirdLife Austria
partner
Österreichisches Orchideenschutznetzwerk (ÖON)
Dr. Dieter Amerding Donaustr. 73 A-Höflein a.d. Donau
partner