Research

Around 48% of Austria is covered by forest, making it one of the most densely forested countries in Europe. Forests are home to a wide variety of plants, fungi, birds and mammals, yet little is known about the importance of soils and their animal communities. Soils are among the most species-rich habitats, and healthy soils are crucial for resilient ecosystems that can withstand climate extremes such as heavy rainfall or drought and store carbon in the long term. In 2024, under the leadership of BOKU Zoology, Austria’s first nationwide earthworm monitoring programme was carried out in open landscapes. This identified around half of the 62 earthworm species found in Austria. The present ‘WaldRegenwürmer’ project builds on this foundation and establishes systematic monitoring of earthworm fauna in Austria’s forests. The project objectives are: - To survey earthworm diversity, abundance and biomass in different forest types across Austria. - To analyse the key factors (site, soil, management, climate) that determine the occurrence of earthworms, and to develop a tool for assessing soil health in forests. - Utilising the results by contributing to the Red List of Austrian earthworms and deriving practical recommendations for forest owners, forest managers and ecologists. In doing so, WaldRegenwürmer fulfils the criteria of Measure 10 of the Forest Fund in several respects: It is a monitoring and research project on biodiversity-related topics (funding objective 11.2.1). Through target-group-specific public outreach and awareness-raising (excursions, species profiles, webinars, school programmes, social media), the importance of healthy forest soils is communicated (funding objective 11.2.2). By deriving practical management recommendations for forest owners, the project contributes to the improvement and long-term safeguarding of valuable habitats in forests (funding area 11.2.3). The project thus strengthens the implementation of the Austrian Biodiversity Strategy 2030+ and supports European initiatives such as the EU Soil Monitoring Law.

Road networks account for 47% of the sealed surface area in Lower Austria and thus represent a central component of the cultural landscape. On the one hand, roads are an indispensable foundation for our social life; on the other hand, they have significant impacts on biodiversity. Lower Austria leads the official statistics on wildlife-vehicle collisions in Austria. Nevertheless, comprehensive data are still lacking on animals that are road-killed but are not classified as game species. In the Citizen Science project “Roadkill” at BOKU University, more than 1,000 citizen scientists have been collecting data on road-killed vertebrates in Austria since 2013. Up to now, only presence data have been recorded. As part of the present project, this methodology is to be expanded by collecting presence–absence data through citizen scientists. The central question is: where are animals not being road-killed? The model organism used is the hedgehog genus (Erinaceus sp.). Public outreach campaigns will be conducted via the established social media channels of the project partners, as well as a drawing competition, evening lectures in rural communities, and, not least, events at the Museum of Lower Austria to raise public awareness. The insights gained will not only deepen the scientific understanding of the factors influencing hedgehog roadkills, but also provide an evidence-based foundation for planning and implementing targeted conservation measures. In the long term, the developed methodology is intended to be transferred to other animal species.

Climate change is expected to have a significant impact on the soil biodiversity of alpine regions and thus, ecosystem services and biodiversity hotspots are under increasing pressure. Protected areas (associated management practices) are a crucial management strategy for biodiversity conservation and provision of ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration, water regulation and food production. However, a comprehensive evaluation of protected areas conservation and climate change impact on soil biodiversity and ES, including future predictions, has rarely been addressed so far. The main goals of SoilBioMAP are (1) to provide comprehensive framework for integrated assessment of soil biodiversity indicators and ecosystem services (BES) in Alpine soils across pedoclimatic conditions. (2) Collation and harmonization of existing soil BES data to build the Austrian Alpine soil biodiversity database, for the first time, to identify drivers, threats and knowledge gaps for conservation measures. model future climate scenarios for biodiversity protection. (3) Assess consequences of climate change on soil BES to investigate the patterns and causes of biodiversity change in Austrian Alps and explore adaptation strategies. (4) Provide systematic database and assessment of policies covering soil biodiversity across regional and national level to support conservation measures. The project adopts a multi-stakeholder approach, involving interdisciplinary scientists, and policymakers, to deliver national-scale assessments and support policy measures (eg. Soil Monitoring Law, Austrian Biodiversity Strategy 2030+).