The bumblebees of the Gesäuse National Park and the Admont Basin

In the area of the Gesäuse National Park and the Admont Basin, 25 species of bumblebee have been detected so far, 19 of them within the borders of the National Park. 22 of them were confirmed in this investigation in 2008. The biotopes with the highest attractiveness for bumblebees were high-water floodplains, followed by alpine pastures on limestone and forest edges. The species of bumblebee recorded in altitude transects differed in their height and biotope preferences as well as in their phenology and their trunk length. This strong niche differentiation enables the existence of species-rich bumblebee communities. Bumblebees play a prominent role in mountain areas as pollinators and visited more than 25 % of the total entomophile flora found on the transects with 101 plant species.