Invitation and guide to the 11th EDGG Field Workshop GRASSLANDS OF INNERALPINE DRY VALLEYS: part 1, Eastern Alps Austria, 6–13 July 2018

Abstract

Following an initial study of vascular plant diversity in the area of the Aosta valley (Wiesner et al. 2015), one of the driest regions of the inneralpine valleys, the authors came up with the idea to start a systematic investigation of the grassland vegetation of the inneralpine dry valleys as a whole. This has been the subject of the seminal work by Braun-Blanquet (1961), more than half a century ago. Since then only few, mostly regional or local studies on the grassland vegetation of these continental valleys have been published. Some more recent works on vegetation complexes of the inneralpine dry valleys (Schwabe & Kratochwil 2004, 2012), although rich in information, do not include the easternmost branches of the Styrian Mur Valley and East Tyrol. Better, more consistent and more recent information on the dry grassland vegetation of these valleys is needed for several purposes: (1) Good data on biodiversity patterns along the steep climatic, edaphic and elevational gradients available here would enrich our understanding of drivers of grassland diversity at European scale; (2) While currently grassland data from the inneralpine valleys are largely missing in EVA (Chytrý et al. 2016), they would actually be needed for solving several intricate syntaxonomic challenges – because the Alps mark the borders between several higher-rank syntaxa from east to west as well as north to south, while some are currently even assumed to be endemic (e.g. Stipo-Poion xerophilae), but with unclear concept and delimitation; (3) Last but not least, the inneralpine dry grasslands also have high conservation priority, but it is likely that spatial extent and quality have much decreased since the times of Braun-Blanquet (1961). We thus decided to start a series of “resurvey” expeditions “on the steps of Josias Braun-Blanquet”, but with modern methodology (Dengler et al. 2016a), starting with the Austrian Alps, where the climate is not as arid (especially in summer) as in the valleys of the Southwestern Alps.