Vegetation survey of three abandoned alpine pastures in the Gesäuse National Park

This thesis deals with three old, abandoned alpine pastures of the Eggeralm, the Ebersanger and the Wolfsbauernhochalm as well as their vegetation development after the management change. In the course of the diploma thesis, more than 170 vegetation sociological images were taken in the summer of 2006 according to a slightly modified Braun-Blanquet scale, the results of which were evaluated as vegetation tables and finally processed into three vegetation maps. These are the main content of the diploma thesis. The second part of the thesis deals with the analysis of orthophotos of the years 1954 and 2003, whereby questions with regard to vegetation trends and smelting in this period are answered. Chapter 6 discusses the factors influencing succession as well as the processes in the three study areas, which show large differences in altitude, slope slope, exposure and former use.