Management of Austrian pine on marly lands in the Southern Alps. Forest intervention priorities and silvicultural management

Abstract

This article presents principles in order to aid to the extensive management of the ancient RTM reafforestations of Austrian Pines with the objective of protecting marly lands against erosion in the Southern Alps. From an analysis of the present state of these rehabilitated forest ecosystems, and with the use of the GIS ARC/INFO, it intends to propose a method to determinate places where a forest intervention is a priority, and to define a certain number of silvicultural rules to apply, in order to guarantee in the future a perenniality of the protection against erosion with a minimal management.