Eine vegetationskundlich-ökologische Studie zu den Auswirkungen des Wasserbaus am Beispiel der Stauhaltung Ering am unteren Inn

Abstract

The results of hydraulic construction works are shown taking the Ering Dam as a example. Like many rivers in Central Europe, river correction, the construction of high water dams and, last but not least, the diversion of the flood into dam sections, results in deep-seated changes in the morphodynamics, the hydrological conditions, sediment size and, as a consequence, in the flood plain locations with their vegetation. On the basis of the present-day situation of the vegetation and ecology, the vegetation changes have been reconstructed since 1900. As a methodological basis, an interdisciplinary approach to the vegetation serves as an indicator for the soil condition, water budget and land use. Based on this, the present-day coincidences between locational factors and plant associations of the southern Bavarian flood plains permits earlier vegetation conditions to be determined, using the available but sketchy information concerning the history of the Inn (hydrological data, aerial photographs, pictures of the earlier vegetation, and regional descriptions). As a result of alterations in the formation components, changes in the inventory of plant associations and species, as well as in succession, could be established. This exemplary method presented here enables the essential characteristics of the location factors of soil conditions, water budget and land use to be registered. This makes a valuable contribution to the study of the present situation and the development of the landscape. The application proves to be relatively simple and is transferable to other regions, especially wetlands, which are dose to nature.