A journey through past and present to look to the future Amphibians and reptiles are among the vertebrate classes most at risk of extinction globally. The main threats to their…

In recent years, increasing biodiversity in forest ecosystems has been gaining an increasing role among the various goods and services provided by forests. It is now recognized that fostering multi-taxonomic…

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…