Grasslands are among the most species-rich terrestrial ecosystems in the world.  They provide habitat for a wide variety of plants and animals and perform important ecosystem functions. However, no two…

Mosses are spore plants and were the first plants to conquer the mainland more than 400 million years ago. They follow entirely different life strategies than flowering plants and have…

From European Grants to Biodiversity Credits, a Journey into the World of Public and Private Financing Protecting nature has its price. In Europe, and also in South Tyrol, we are…

Fungi, fascinating organisms of the fungal kingdom, play a crucial role in terrestrial ecosystems. They serve as decomposers by converting dead organic matter into vital nutrients for plants. In addition,…

Freshwater systems such as rivers and lakes cover only about 2% of the Earth’s surface, but are home to an astonishing 10% of known species and about one-third of all…

Once widely distributed in Central Europe, then nearly eradicated except for small relict populations, the beaver (Castor fiber) is now returning to European river landscapes and also to South Tyrol.…

Saying ‘ants’, most people think of those small insects that need to be chased out of the kitchen. However, many people do not know that ants make essential contributions to…

The landscape of South Tyrol has undergone significant changes in recent decades, unfortunately at the expense of native biodiversity. In this presentation, Erich Tasser gives an overview of the landscape…

As throughout the Alps, rivers and streams in South Tyrol have undergone heavy modifications during agricultural development to protect crops from flooding and landslides. Rivers and streams have been straightened…

A large part of the biodiversity of a forest consists of species that live “under the bark” of old or decaying trees, the so-called “saproxylic” species. These are organisms that,…