National Park Hunsrück-Hochwald - Germany

Concerning the animal and plant species in the national park, populations of birds, bark beetles, wildcats, bats and the red deer are observed and analysed in several monitoring programmes. Statistics about Lichens, mosses and fungi have been collected, too. There is also a big programme ongoing which intends to remove the spruces out of the moors. The consequences of this move for the development of the moor are recorded as well as the impacts on climate. Since 1983, there are analyses of bodies of water ongoing. Because of the previous problem of acid rain in the Hunsrück, the air monitoring network ZIMEN was found. The station Hunsrück-Leisel is part of this network. There, ozone, sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, temperature, precipitation and other parameters are observed. Every year, statistics of level I about the ascertainment of forest damages and the condition of forest soil are collected. Intensive investigations of level II are carried out, too. Part of these investigations are for example the monitoring of ecosystems in the forest. Parameters while doing this are the state of the treetops, the supply of nutrients, the growth of the forest, the natural vegetation or the mycorrhiza. A further part is the monitoring of immissions and the weather (ZIMEN) as well as the monitoring of the water balance and the natural balance. The last part of the investigations are experiments, e.g. liming the forest and recording the consequences of this action.