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The Alpine Journal

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Alpine plants,

"In presenting the accompanying work ... it should be mentioned that M. Graf ... died before he had been able to complete it, the thread being then taken up by his successor, M. Petrasch."--Pref.

Position measurements at five permanent GPS stations in the Bavarian Alps as part of the Geodetic Alpine Integrated Network (GAIN) of the ALPS-GPSQUAKENET project

In the frame of the transnational ALPS-GPSQUAKENET project, a component of the Alpine Space Programme of the European Community Initiative Programme (CIP) INTERREG III B, the Deutsches Geodätisches Forschungsinstitut (DGFI) in Munich, Germany, installed in 2005 five continuously operating permanent GPS stations located along the northern Alps boundary in Bavaria. The main objective of the ALPS-GPSQUAKENET project was to build-up a high-performance transnational space geodetic network of Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers in the Alpine region (the so-called Geodetic Alpine Integrated Network, GAIN). Data from this network allows for studying crustal deformations in near real-time to monitor Earthquake hazard and improve natural disaster prevention. The five GPS stations operatied by DGFI are mounted on concrete pillars attached to solid rock. The names of the stations are (from west to east) Hochgrat (HGRA), Breitenberg (BREI), Fahrenberg (FAHR), Hochries (HRIE) and Wartsteinkopf (WART). The provided data series start from October 7, 2005. Data are stored with a temporal spacing of 15 seconds in daily RINEX files.

Effect of heat stress on milk production of goats from Alpine and Saanen breeds in Brazil.

The purpose of this bibliography review was to approach the thermal comfort rates on milk production of goats from Alpine and Saanen breeds in Brazil. The caloric stress caused by weather changes to which the animals are submitted, influence on the mechanisms of normal physiological processes of the body. Thus, the effect on the lactation process in goats can be mentioned, where it decreases the amount of water in the body with the consequent decrease in synthesis and milk ejection interfering in the production of hormone prolactin and growth hormone. The animal?s interaction with the environment must be considered when the aim in livestock farming is welfare, because the different responses of the animal to the peculiarities of each region are crucial for the success of the animal adaptation. So, the correct identification of the factors that influence the productive life of the animal, such as the stress caused by the seasonal fluctuations of the environment, allow production systems management, making it possible to make them sustainable and viable. The maintenance of these parameters in normal levels is very important, to the point of being used in the evaluation of climate adaptability of breeds to a certain environmental condition. In this way, the concerns about animal welfare and environmental comfort are due to the climatic variables and the behavioral, physiological and productive responses are prevailing when implementing the suitability of certain production systems.

Dynamics of terricolous alpine lichen communities of the Alps and Mediterranean Mountains in a climate change perspective

This thesis focuses on the impact of climate change in alpine ecosystems stressing the response of high elevation terricolous lichen communities. In fact, despite the strong sensitivity of cryptogams to changes in climatic factors, information is still scanty.We collected records in 154 plots placed in the summit area of the Majella Massif. In Following a multitaxon approach, Chapter 1 includes cryptogams and vascular plants. We analysed patterns in species richness, beta diversity and functional composition. In Chapter 2, we analysed the relationships between climatic variables and phylogenetic diversity and structure indices. Chapter 3 provides a long-term response relative to the consequences of climate change on a representative terricolous lichen genus across the Alps. Chapter 4 explores the relationships between the species richness and the functional composition of lichen growing on two types of substrates (carbonatic and siliceous soils) along different elevation gradients in the Eastern Alps. Climate change could affect cryptogams and lichens much more than vascular plants in Mediterranean mountains. Contrasting species-climate and traits-climate relationships were found between lichens and bryophytes, suggesting that each group may be sensitive to different components of climate change. Ongoing climate change may also lead to a loss of genetic diversity at high elevation ranges in the Mediterranean mountains, pauperising the life history richness of lichens. Alpine results forecasted that moderate range loss dynamics will occur at low elevation and in peripheral areas of the alpine chain. Results also support the view that range dynamics could be associated with functional traits mainly related to water-use strategies, dispersal, and establishment ability. We also highlighted the importance of substrates as a main driver of both species’ richness and functional traits composition. A “trade-off” also occurs between stress tolerance and the competitive response of communities of terricolous lichens that grow above siliceous and carbonatic soils.