Five years spring research in the National park Berchtesgaden By Reinhard Gerecke, Helmut Franz, Isabel Schrankel
As we began to research the ecology of the spring habitats in the National park Berchtesgaden in 1993 the research in spring biology had already been underway for 80 years. We already knew, from scattered research from across Europe, that at the boarder between ground water and surface water an interesting organism world was awaiting us.
As there was almost no information about springs in the Alpine region our first questions were very basic:
Which animal species live in the Alpine springs?
Which species are spring specialised and which can also be found in other water systems?
Can the springs in the National park be categorised through their characteristics? Are there differences depending on altitude?
The interest in such research is mirrored by the variety of scientists that came to work in this project: students working on their diploma, doctoral students, freelance biologists, University lecturers and employees of natural history museums from throughout Europe. Other initiatives are now underway in other Alpine countries or are being planned. Springs:
[ http://www.nationalpark-berchtesgaden.de/html/quellforschung5jahre.html
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Mapserver Results for spring research in Berchtesgaden are displayed in
Mapserver-Technologie