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Name: Marios Katsantonis

Historical background of natural forest reserves

in AustriaImpacts of historical forms of utilization

Only few of Austria's natural forest reserves are true remnants of virgin forests andeven those are relatively small and in some cases comprise but a few hectares. In the past, Austrian forests were much more intensively exploited by man than they aretoday. Wood was not only an important construction material, but also the mainsource of energy. Entire valleys were radically clear-cut to cover the energy demandof the iron and steel industry and of the salt works and the firewood demand of the

flourishing towns. As a result of permanent pasturing and litter use over hundreds of years, the original forests were in many areas transformed into open, park-likelandscapes. Many forest ecosystems have not recovered from that intensiveagricultural exploitation.

For the above reasons, it is easily understandable that parts of virgin forests withoutanthropogenic impacts have survived only in areas which are either absolutelyinaccessible or not well suited for agricultural use because of their difficult terrain andsoil conditions. This historical land use development explains why reserves wereformerly established mainly at the mountain and subalpine altitudinal levels, and particularly in the Limestone Alps. It is one of our objectives today to correct this

unfavorable distribution.

Background

As early as in the past century forest-tenants were responsible for the protection of theremaining virgin forests, which were located mainly in the Northern and SouthernLimestone Alps. Motives such as the maintenance of nature for future generationswere underlined.

Approximately since 1965 new activities have been undertaken with a view toreserves and scientific documentation. This stage of development is closely relatedwith the two forest scientists Hannes Mayer and Kurt Zukrigl. Even at this early stageit was tried to build up network of natural forest reserves which eventually wouldrepresent all important forest communities in proportion to their significance. A major part of the existing reserves were established due to the efforts of these two scientistsand is documented in monographs (MAYER et al. 1987, ZUKRIGL et al. 1990).

Examples of outstanding initiatives included the designation of mostly small areas(termed natural forest stands) through private-law contracts of the Tiroler Forstverein.with private or communal forest-tenants and the establishment of natural forestreserves in parts of the Vienna Forests located close to the city by the Forest Office of

Vienna.

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On the initiative of Hannes Mayer and Kurt Zukringl, a contractual agreement wassettled in 1986 between the University of Agriculture and Forestry and the AustrianFederal Forests (BF) to make the reserves located on BF properties available for research. According to recent information the BF.s share in the total area of naturalforest reserves was approximately 15%, which corresponds to its share in the totalforest area.

This brief summary of the historical development clearly indicates that private forest-tenants have from the very beginning played a major role in the establishment of natural forest reserves in Austria and that the task of establishing forest reserves wasnot exclusively left to state forests. By the end of 1994, Austria had as many as 86natural forest reserves with a total area of 3,224 ha (FRANK 1995).

Consequences of the Helsinki Resolution H2

Further to the agreements made at the Ministerial Conference for the Protection of Forests in Europe, a working group was established in 1994 to develop a framework concept for the establishment of an Austria-wide network of natural forest reserves.From the very beginning, people representing the interests of forest-tenants, forestexperts working in administration, forest scientists, and forest practitioners wereincluded in the process which finally lead up to an Austrian Program for NaturalForest Reserves..

The Federal Forest Research Centre (FBVA) has been entrusted with the technicalimplementation of the Program. Administrative and financial tasks are theresponsibility of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.

At present, systematic extension of the network has top priority. We are thereforeconcentrating our capacities on checking the suitability of potential new areas and ondocumenting the original conditions of new reserves as exactly as possible. For lack of staff, scientific investigation of existing reserves must be limited to immediatelynecessary periodic surveys of the field plots, some of which have existed for morethan 30 years.

We visited the forest of L.F.S. and we saw many different types of treesand one of the them is the silver maple

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SILVER MAPLEThe silver maple is a relatively fast-growing deciduous tree, commonly reaching aheight of 1525 m (5080 ft), exceptionally 35 m (115 ft). Its spread will generally be

1115 m (3550 ft) wide. A 10-year-old sapling will stand about 8 m (25 ft) tall. It isoften found along waterways and in wetlands, leading to the colloquial name "water maple". It is a highly adaptable tree, although it has higher sunlight requirements thanother maples.

The leaves are palmate, 816 cm long and 612 cm broad, with deep angular notches

between the five lobes. The 512 cm long, slender stalks of the leaves mean that evena light breeze can produce a striking effect as the silver undersides of the leaves areexposed. The autumn color is less pronounced than in many maples, generally endingup a pale yellow, although some specimens can produce a more brilliant yellow andeven orange and red colorations. Some specimens can simply drop their leaves whilestill green as well.

The flowersare in small panicles, produced before the leaves in early spring, with theseeds maturing in early summer. The seeds are winged, in pairs, small (510 mmdiameter), the wing about 35 cm long. Although the wings provide for sometransport by air, the seeds are heavy and are also transported by water.

On mature trunks, the bark is gray and shaggy. On branches and young trunks, the bark is smooth and silvery gray.

In many parts of the eastern U.S., the large rounded buds of the silver maple are oneof the primary food sources for squirrelsduring the spring, after many acorns and nutshave sprouted and the squirrels' food is scarce. The seeds are the largest of any nativemaple and are also a food source for wildlife.

The silver maple has brittle wood, and is commonly damaged in storms. The roots areshallow and fibrous and easily invade septic fields and old drain pipes and can alsocrack sidewalks and foundations. It is a vigorous resprouter, and if not pruned, it willoften grow with multiple trunks. It is, nonetheless, widely used as anornamental tree

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because of its rapid growth and ease of propagation and transplanting. It is highlytolerant of urban conditions, which is why it is frequently planted next to streets.Although it naturally is found near water, it can grow on drier ground if planted there.

It is also commonly cultivated outside its native range, showing tolerance of a widerange of climates, growing successfully as far north as central Norway and south toOrlando, Florida. It can thrive in aMediterranean climate, as at Jerusalemand LosAngeles, if summer water is provided. It is also grown in temperate parts of theSouthern Hemisphere, as in Argentina, Uruguay, the [[Southern Region,Caracas-Venezuela Brazil|southern states of Brazil]], as well as in a few lower temperaturelocations within the states of So Pauloand Minas Gerais (also inBrazil).

The silver maple is closely related to thered maple, and can hybridize with it, thehybridbeing known as the Freeman maple (Acer x freemanii). The Freeman maple isa popular ornamental tree in parks and large gardens, combining the fast growth of silver maple with the less brittle wood and less invasive roots of the red maple

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