Zur Soziologie und Struktur Tannen-reicher Bergmischwälder im Kristallin des Mühlviertler Mittelgebirges (Böhmisches Massiv)

The survey deals with the position of the silver fir (Abies alba) within the mixed mountain forests of Upper Austria‘s Mühlviertel. With a focus at sea heights between 500 and 900 m, the Mühlviertel low mountain range is one of the core areas of the Central European fir area (cf. Dunzendorfer 1988, Wagner 1989). On the basis of an evaluation of existing plant-sociological recording material, supplemented by new recordings by the author, the sociological and local spectrum of the fir is worked out using a synthetic overview of the forest vegetation of the Mühlviertel and a systematic classification of the societies with the participation of Fir is made. It was possible to differentiate between six societies in which the fir tree appears, which can be assigned to three different syntaxonomic units at association level - the Fagion sylvaticae, the Dicrano-Pinion and the Abieti-Piceion. On the basis of characteristics of the structure of the stands as well as their distribution, it is shown that in addition to the natural and local conditions, a plenter-shaped management has a decisive influence on the occurrence of the fir. This is further investigated on the basis of a detailed study on farmed plenter forests, the so-called „Julbacher plenter forests“