Transplantation of an alpine Carex-fen – a mitigation measure related to the construction of a reservoir in the Austrian Alps

¹ TIWAG-Tiroler Wasserkraft AG, Innsbruck, Austria
² Institute of Hydrobiology and Aquatic Ecosystem Management, University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
³ Ingenieurbüro für Landschaftsgestaltung und Ingenieurbiologie, Telfes i. Stubai, Austria
⁴ Naturraumplanung Egger, Klagenfurt, Austria
⁵ Institute of Geography and Geoecology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany

^* Corresponding author: martin.schletterer@tiwag.at

Abstract

Translocations are applied in the context of infrastructure projects to preserve certain vegetation types. Within the EIA of a large hydropower project in the Austrian Alps, manifold mitigation measures were defined. Among those, the transplantation of about 1.4 ha Carex-fen at an altitude of about 2000 m was defined. One year before the start of the construction works in 2021, basic infrastructure (roads) was established and different ecological measures were undertaken, e.g. translocation of amphibians to newly constructed habitats as well as the transplantation of the Carex-fen. The turf was cut from the initial area with an adjusted excavator shovel, delivered to a wheel loader which brought each single turf immediately to the target area, where another excavator mounted the turf in a pre-arranged area. At the donor site more than ½ of the area was based on wet gley, while especially areas in the vicinity of the river were based on fluvial gravel. With the 30 to 70 cm thick turfs also animals, e.g. Odonata, were transferred. Before the translocation a monitoring of the donor sites was carried out. The monitoring concept foresees a detailed monitoring of the newly established sites for 10 years. Herein we provide insights in the applied technology and summarize first results of the monitoring. Overall, our project is unique regarding the vegetation type, the technology, the size and the intensity of monitoring.