Austria nature and fauna. Austrian national parks and reserves. Lower Austria: the best agronomic area

The Austrian landscape boasts views that are stunning in its beauty, because most of the country is the Alps and valleys in the foothills. To the south are the central eastern Alps, which stretch from east to south. The mountainous area is a system of mountains and valleys, which is distinguished by its isolated climate, on many mountain peaks there are eternal glaciers, from which mountain rivers begin, which feed numerous mountain lakes.

Climate in Austria

The Austrian climate is characterized by distribution into vertical zones that stretch from plains to mountain peaks covered with eternal snows. On many slopes of the mountain I even cultivate grapes, it is especially warm in the north-east of Austria, the temperatures in Vienna during the day are kept at 25 degrees, and in January it is about 0 degrees, moving up the Danube valley, the temperatures gradually drop, and at the same time the humidity rises. In early spring, a thaw begins, which leads to a sharp increase in the level of this river. Precipitation is usually higher in mountainous areas, especially on the northwestern slopes, but cities that are located in a vicious circle of mountains cannot boast of heavy rains, maximum precipitation is observed at altitudes of one and a half to two kilometers.

Nature of the Alps

In the Alps, there are very strong winds, the so-called foehns, which are created at the change of seasons due to the pressure difference on the northern and southern slopes of the mountains, so on the northern slopes dry and warm descending winds appear, bringing warm and clear weather, which leads to snowmelt in early spring, creating the threat of floods and avalanches, and in the summer, accelerated ripening of grapes. During the winter, a large amount of snow has time to accumulate in the Alps, which can interfere with transport infrastructure; melting snow in spring often leads to catastrophic consequences.

Rivers and lakes of Austria

All of Austria is in the Danube basin, but the western part of the country already belongs to the Rhine. The Danube has tributaries the Morava, Drava, Enns and Inn with the Salzach. The mountain rivers are steep, have significant energy resources, and tourist excursions are held at hydroelectric power plants with an overview of stunning views. The Danube itself is gaining its maximum value already in the summer, while its tributaries Inn, Salzach, Enns become shallow.

There are about 580 lakes in the country, most of them are glacial, the most smoky Lake Constance, which has common borders with Switzerland and Germany, Lake Neusiedler See is shared with Hungary, there are a lot of lakes in the northern foothills of the Alps and in the south in the Klagenfurt Basin, however, temperatures The waters are not very high, but the water is clear.

Vegetation of Austria, forests

Austria shows plant diversity, which is characterized by altitudinal zonality and human activity, oak-beech forest grows in the valleys, more than half a kilometer on the mountains and valleys a beech-spruce forest appears, only coniferous forest remains above 2 kilometers. Interestingly, in terms of forest area in Europe, Austria is in third place after Finland and Sweden, the green heart of Austria is the Styria region, where even national costumes are green. In the south of Austria, there are also subtropical vegetation, in the west there are predominantly beech, chestnut and oak forests, and in the east there is forest-steppe. At a height of 2 kilometers, vegetation is already interfered with by humidity, temperature fluctuations and strong winds, only grasses survive here.

Fauna and fauna of Austria

An alpine type of fauna is observed, while in the Alps there are more wild animals than on the plains of Europe, as you understand, animals were replaced by people, mountain sheep, deer, chamois, goats in the summer go out to graze on meadows, and in winter they rise to the mountains, and from birds one can distinguish the predominance of capercaillie, black grouse, partridge. There are no animals on the lands that have been converted into agricultural plots, however, you can sometimes see hares and foxes.

Grossglockner sightseeing road

The highest point in Austria is Mount Grossglockner with a height of 3798 meters with the largest Pasterze glacier in Austria. The Grossglockner sightseeing road passes to the mountain in the form of a serpentine of 36 turns, the length of which is 48 kilometers, the road rises to the mountains to a height of 2504 meters. The road starts at Fusch an der Grossglocknerstrasse and ends at Heiligenblut. The road is paid and offers wonderful views of the Pasterze glacier. Please note that the road is open from the first days of May to October, depending on weather conditions, the passage is open from May to mid-June from six in the morning to eight in the evening, until mid-September until half past ten in the evening and from mid-September to October from six in the morning to half past seven in the evening . A one-time trip in a passenger car costs 34 euros, an electric car 24 euros, a monthly pass 52 euros.

The Danube valley contains the Carpathian and Alpine foothills, which connect with the northern Alps and Tauern in the south. Tourists will be interested in the charming mountain lakes in the Salzkammergut, next to the Vienna Woods and the Bohemian Massif. In the north of Austria is Pannonia or the Vienna Basin, here are the lowest points of the country, including Lake Neusiedler See.

80% of Austria is occupied by mountains, 50% is occupied by forests, valleys are involved in agriculture, which turn into forests in the foothills with spruces, pines and various deciduous trees.

On the territory of Salzburg, Carinthia and Tyrol, there is the Hohe Tauern National Park, the largest nature reserve in Central Europe, the Lichtensteinklamm mountain gorge and the picturesque Golling and Krimml waterfalls are also interesting here.

The occupied area is 83.8 thousand square meters. km; population 8 million people. The capital is Vienna, which is home to 1.6 million people. The form of government is a federal republic.
State language: German.
The national composition of Austria is - ethnic Austrians - 96%, Croats, Hungarians, Slovenes, Czechs, Italians, Serbs, Romanians.
The main religion is Christianity (Catholicism).
The national flag of Austria is a rectangular panel with an aspect ratio of 2:3, consisting of three equal horizontal stripes - the top red, the middle white and the bottom red.
The Austrian flag was adopted in 1919. Then, in 1933, it was canceled and again restored as a state one in 1945.
In the Republic of Austria, the single-headed black eagle, which served as the emblem of the country in the 12th-13th centuries, was returned as a coat of arms in 1919. and became a symbol of power (the imperial crown on the eagle was replaced by a tower crown with three prongs, symbolizing the bourgeoisie, the peasantry, workers and artisans). In the claws of the eagle is a hammer and sickle, also a symbol of the union of peasants and workers. In 1945, a new symbol appeared on the coat of arms of Austria - a broken chain, fettering the paws of an eagle. This is the memory of the Anschluss ("accession") of Austria to the German Reich, which took place in 1938.

Geography of Austria

The state is located in the mountainous regions of Central Europe (Alps). The territory of Austria is elongated in the form of a wedge, strongly narrowing to the west, taking up little space on the map of Europe. The Danube flows in the northeast.
More than 70% of the country's territory is occupied by the ridges of the Eastern Alps and their spurs, stretching in a latitudinal direction. These are the Northern limestone Alps with the Hoer-Dachstein peak (2995 m) and the Central Crystalline Alps with the highest point - Mount Grossglockner (3797 m). Peaked mountain ranges, separated by deep valleys, gradually decrease to the east, where the western part of the Middle Danube Plain enters, including the Vienna Basin.
The position in the center of Europe makes Austria the crossroads of a number of trans-European meridional routes (from the Scandinavian countries and the states of central Europe through the Brenner and Semmering Alpine passes to Italy and other countries).
In the west, Austria borders on Switzerland and Liechtenstein, which is closely related to it. Germany and Italy adjoin it in the northwest and south. The eastern part of the country borders with the Czech Republic and Slovakia, in the north with Hungary, in the southeast with Slovenia.
The state borders of Austria for the most part coincide with natural boundaries - mountain ranges or rivers. Only with Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia (for a short distance) do they pass on almost flat terrain.

Climate of Austria

The climate of Austria is mountainous and temperate continental. The average temperature in January is from -1 to -5 °С, in July - from +15 to +19 °С. Precipitation falls annually from 500 mm in the plains to 2000 mm in the mountains, mainly in summer. In the highlands, snow lies for 7-8 months.
In the low-lying north-eastern and eastern outskirts of Austria, the climate is moderately warm (the average July temperature in Vienna is about + 19 ° C, January - 0 ° C) and quite humid (700-900 mm of precipitation per year).
The climate of Austria is called "grape" because there is enough heat to ripen the grapes and droughts are rare.
Humidity rises up the Danube valley. With the rise in the mountains, the amount of precipitation increases, reaching 2000 mm or more per year on the highest mountains, especially on their western slopes.
On the plains and foothills, a relatively mild winter with an average January temperature of 1-5 degrees. With the rise for every 100 meters, the temperature drops by 0.5 - 0.6 degrees. The snow line is located at an altitude of 2500-2800 meters. Summer in the high mountains is cold, damp, windy, and sleet often falls. In winter, there is even more precipitation here: giant layers of snow accumulate on the slopes of the mountains, which often break off and rush down for no apparent reason in avalanches that crush everything in their path.

Vegetation of Austria

The country is rich in forests (47% of the entire territory). The Austrian flora is characterized by an oak-beech forest in the valleys, and at an altitude of more than 500 m - a beech-spruce mixed forest. Above 1200 m, spruce predominates, larch and cedar are found. Alpine meadows in the foothills.
Vegetation zones on the territory of Austria replace one another in the following order: broad-leaved (oak, beech, ash) forests in the Danube valley (though very thinned) are replaced by a mixed forest of foothills. Above 2000 - 2200 m they are replaced by coniferous (mainly spruce-fir, partly pine) forests.
Mountain forests are one of the national treasures of Austria. On the vegetation map of Central Europe, the Austrian Alps look like the only large green island. Among the small Western European states, only Finland and Sweden surpass Austria in forest area. There are especially many forests suitable for industrial exploitation in Upper (mountainous) Styria, for which it is called the “green heart of Austria”. Above the forests and sparse dwarf shrubs - subalpine (matta) and alpine (alma) meadows.
Nature reserves play an important role in the system of measures for nature protection. There are 12 of them in Austria with a total area of ​​0.5 million hectares. They are found in all natural areas - from the steppe surroundings of Lake Neusiedler See to the high Tauern. Most of the reserves are located in the Alps.

Animal world of Austria

The fauna of Austria is typical Central European. The surroundings of Lake Neusiedl are unique protected nesting sites for birds of various species. In the highlands of the Eastern Alps, the composition of the fauna is typically alpine.
In mountain forests, mainly in reserves, ungulates live - red deer, chamois, mountain sheep, mountain goats. Of the birds - capercaillie, black grouse, partridge. On the plains, where almost all the land is already cultivated, there are no large wild animals for a long time. But still there are foxes, hares, rodents.

Water resources of Austria

In Austria, the rivers of the Danube basin flow. The Austrian part of the Danube - 350 km, Mur - 348 km, Inn - 280 km. There are more than 500 relatively small lakes and two large ones on the territory of the country: on the border with Hungary - Neusiedler See (156.9 sq. km, the Austrian part - 135 sq. km), on the border with Germany and Switzerland - Constance (total - 538.5 sq. km).
The mountainous part of Austria is distinguished by an abundance of clean fresh water, concentrated in addition to glaciers and rivers in numerous alpine lakes (the predominance of lakes in the Salzkammergut area). In the hot summer months, rapid snowmelt in the mountains begins, which leads to large floods, including on the Danube, the level of which sometimes rises by 8-9 m.
Alpine rivers also determine the regime of the Danube: it is especially abounding in summer, when lowland rivers usually become shallow. The tributaries of the Danube - Inn, Salzach, Enns, Drava - are fraught with large reserves of energy, but all of them are not navigable and are only partially used for timber rafting. There are many lakes in the country, especially in the northern foothills of the Alps and in the south, in the Klagenfurt Basin. They are of glacial origin, their pits are plowed by ancient glaciers; as a rule, lakes are deep, with cold, clear water. These lakes include the vast Lake Constance, the southeastern part of which belongs to Austria.

Minerals of Austria

In the bowels of Austria there are various minerals: iron ore, the main deposit of which is located in Styria, as well as lead-zinc ores, copper ore, bauxite, manganese, antimony, molybdenum and others. However, among the minerals of Austria there are very few of those, the value of which would go beyond the borders of the country. An exception is magnesite, which is used for the production of refractory materials and partly for the production of metallic magnesium from it, but magnesite, as is well known, is not a raw material of paramount importance. Magnesite occurs in the Styrian, Carinthian and Tyrolean Alps.
There are very few energy resources. These are very modest deposits of oil (23 million tons) and natural gas (20 billion cubic meters) in Lower and partly in Upper Austria. Even with the Austrian scale of production, these reserves, according to available forecasts, will be exhausted within two decades. The reserves of brown coal are somewhat larger (in Styria, Upper Austria and Burgenland), but it is of poor quality.
Comparatively high-quality iron ores, but with a high metal content, are found in Styria (Erzberg) and a little in Carinthia (Hüttenberg). Non-ferrous metal ores are found in small quantities - lead-zinc in Carinthia (Bleyberg) and copper in Tyrol (Mitterberg). Of the chemical raw materials, only table salt (in the Salzkammergut) is of practical importance, and of other minerals, graphite and feldspar. Significant reserves of building materials - granite, marble, limestone, kaolin, etc.
There is practically no coal. There are no industrial reserves of aluminum ore and ores of alloying metals.

Austria (officially the Republic of Austria) is a federal inland German-speaking state in Central Europe. The area of ​​the territory is 83,871 km2, which is comparable to the area of ​​the territory of Serbia. The shape of Austria is somewhat reminiscent of the muzzle of a seahorse - the narrow western part is the nose, and the expanded eastern part is the head itself. This state includes 9 federal units - lands: Upper Austria, Lower Austria, Burgenland, Salzburg, Styria, Tyrol, Voralberg, Carinthia and Vienna. Each of the lands has its own administrative and economic center, that is, a separate capital. Talking about each of the Austrian provinces separately does not make much sense - most of the lands are almost exactly the same from the side of nature and are divided only with the political motives of the authorities of the Republic of Austria. Thus, when talking about the animate and inanimate nature of Austria, it is not always necessary to take into account a specific land, so the story will be conducted most often without indicating this province.

Climatic conditions of Austria

The climate in the Republic of Austria on the plains is temperate continental, but the temperature drops sharply with increasing altitude. Winters are warm (about two degrees Celsius), and in summer, on the contrary, it is quite cool and, importantly, not stuffy or dry at all (about 25 degrees Celsius). Humidity is neither high nor low - the most common for such a climatic zone. There are very few winds and they are extremely weak, almost imperceptible - numerous mountain ranges, penetrating most of Austria like veins, very well protect all local residents and guests of the state from the slightest breath. Precipitation is moderate, from 0.5 to 3 meters per year. Thus, it is almost ideal, according to many residents of Russia, the climate is the most neutral and regulated.

Geology and seismology

Despite the huge number of mountain ranges and ranges, not a single volcano has been discovered in Austria, but there are really a lot of mountains. The highest mountain is Mount Grossglockner or, in the German way, simply Glockner. This one is located in the north of Austria and rises to 3798 meters above sea level. Just a few meters behind her mountain Kleinglockner (3770 meters above the sea). She, by the way, is located on the same array very close to the first. The honorable third place is occupied by the Wildspitze peak (3768 m), just a couple of meters lower than the previous one. In Austria, there are quite a few points above 3000 meters, they all have fairly small intervals in height, so all you need to know about Austria is that there are really a lot of mountain peaks.

Water wealth of Austria

Since Austria has no access to the sea, that is, it is surrounded on all sides by land, only rivers and lakes are in its possessions and free access from water spaces. The largest lake in Austria is Lake Constance (Constantine) with an area of ​​538.5 km and a maximum recorded depth of 254 meters. It is located just on the very "nose of the seahorse", that is, in the south-west of the republic. It is interesting that when naming this lake, they mean as many as three different reservoirs at once - the Upper and Lower Lakes and the Rhine River, which connects them together. This entire “construction” is located on the territory of three large European states: Germany, Switzerland and Austria, therefore, not all of the lake belongs to Austria, but only a small part of it. Nevertheless, this does not prevent her from annually gathering tens and hundreds of thousands of tourists who came to look at the unique lake, as if assembled from a nature constructor. The second largest lake is Lake Neusiedler See, located in the east of the republic, and, again, belonging not only to it. But now Austria has most of it (a little more than 75%), and shares the rest with one of the Hungarian counties bordering the republic. The area is 156.9 km ?, and the deepest is only two meters, which is extremely unusual for lakes of such a large size. It, by the way, is the 4th in area in all of Central Europe. Unlike the previous exclusively freshwater Lake Constance, the Neusiedler See is slightly brackish. It is the westernmost lake with this degree of salinity in all of Europe. These are the most interesting lakes in Austria out of 44 existing ones. The area of ​​most of them does not exceed even one square kilometer and does not stand out among four dozen others. But there is certainly something to be said about the rivers of states. Although there are a dozen or so fewer of them, they can surprise many. The longest river passing through the territory of the Republic of Austria is the Danube River, known to everyone. It has a huge number of tributaries. The second most popular river, which has already been mentioned earlier, is the Rhine. It is known just for being a kind of "guide" from one lake to another. Another very small river (only 34 km long) is the Vienna River. It is easy to guess that it owes its fame not at all to its size, but to its location in the capital. This river can be compared with the Moscow River - in this case, the situation is absolutely identical. It is definitely worth throwing the Gail River into the piggy bank of interesting Austrian rivers, which, like Vienna, has become recognizable not because of its size (a modest 122 kilometers), but because it is one of the few rivers that passes exclusively through the territory inland republic.

Flora of Austria

Austria is located in the Alpine region, known for its coniferous and deciduous forests. Mysterious forest slopes of high wild mighty mountains - a picture characteristic of many mountainous regions of Central and Western Europe. Basically, all the plants of Austria are no different from the flora of any other point in Central Europe, so it does not make much sense to go into the details of the most ordinary, unremarkable vegetation. But there is still something in the Austrian nature that distinguishes it from any other place - these are the well-known, literally legendary alpine meadows - a synonym for fresh grass, happy alpine cows, fresh milk, the smell of freshly cut grass ... The Alpine belt extends from 2500 to 3000 meters above the level of the World Ocean, beyond this height, the meadows lose their exceptional and unique "charm", because in our time, alpine meadows are practically a single brand, a visiting card of a quality product. A little-known fact is that there are a lot of swamps and gradually swampy areas on the subalpine and alpine belt. After a mark of three kilometers above sea level, the alpine strip gradually turns into snowy peaks, constantly icy, windy, where every little rustle can easily cause a long series of snow avalanches, some of which have already claimed the lives of brave climbers, mountain conquerors.

Austrian fauna

Although the diversity of the Austrian fauna is difficult to envy, it contains many interesting species of animals that live in the mountains. Some of the most common animal species are the red fox, lynx and other wild felines, deer, yaks and bulls, cows, chamois and mountain goats. Many of them spend the summer grazing in alpine meadows, and in winter they move to the lower, therefore warmer and “well-fed” zone. In winter, in the forest zone, you can find much more food than at the same time in the alpine zone, and vice versa. The steppe regions are sure to "capture" various species of birds, of which there are more than 400 species in all of Austria - herons live near the lakes, hawks and eagles build their nests on rocky mountain cliffs. True, of these 400 species, about a dozen have not been encountered by scientists since the fifties of the last century, which makes one think of such a terrible thing as the complete extinction of these species. But, moving away from the sad, it is important to note an interesting fact about the Pannonian Plain (Middle Danube Lowland) - it is this lowland that, more than any other place in Austria, is inhabited by birds, which seem to be attracted to it by internal instincts.

Ecology in Austria

Austria has never experienced significant environmental problems in its long history of existence. Nevertheless, it is definitely worth talking about its development, ups and downs, and the situation at the present time. It cannot be said that alpine meadows and coniferous forests on steep mountain slopes are pristine and untouched by man, no, but it can be definitely stated that deforestation and development of natural areas with anthropogenic complexes is negligible compared to the territory under special exclusive control. For any harm caused to nature by a specific person or group of people, caused without the written consent of the authorities (which is almost impossible for individuals to obtain), you can easily go to jail or at least have to pay a fine that is tangible for any, even the thickest, wallet amount . Even in a state where the legislature is very worried about the nature and ecological well-being of their state, there are problems with this very ecology. Although they are not as deplorable and serious as in many other cities and countries, they are still quite unpleasant. Austria has rather polluted air compared to the rest of Europe, here it is dirtier than even in the Russian Federation. Serious measures are now being taken to purify the air in the Republic of Austria, and it is worth noting that it is not bad to fight pollution. As for the protection of individual species, in each of the federal states there are at least two national parks, on the territory of each of which killing and harming animals and plants, as well as any actions dangerous to nature (for example, kindling fires) are prohibited. In all other respects, such parks are no different from ordinary ones, but they bring much more benefits.

More than half of the country's territory is covered with forests. At altitudes of more than 2500 meters above sea level are the famous alpine meadows.

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Nature of Austria is mainly determined by the peculiarity of the natural relief that forms its territory. Most of it, and to be precise, about 80% falls on the mountain range of the Alps and their foothills (Central Eastern Alps). The highest part of this mountain range is the Grossglockner peak, which is 3797 meters above sea level.

The foothills of the Alps are defined by low peaks, the height of which does not exceed 2.5 km, and the slopes are covered with oak-beech and spruce forests. It is at these heights that the most picturesque alpine meadows are located, in areas where there are many lakes and glaciers - one of the visiting cards Austrian nature. Flora of Austria

Flora (flora) of Austria in its flat part and at low altitudes (up to 500 above sea level) it is represented by oak-beech forests, and above 500 m - beech-spruce forests. It should be noted that in addition to the mountainous terrain, the territory of Austria is covered by almost 45% forests. This is facilitated by a wonderful climate.

Animal world of Austria

Fauna (fauna) of Austria not rich in species, but also distinguished by constancy in the long history of these places. The most common animal species here are foxes, wild cats, ibex, deer, chamois and marmots. The Pannonian Lowland is home to many birds.

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The travel company Travel Plan "DSBW Travel Collection" organizes sightseeing tours to Austria in 2020. We invite fans of cognitive tourism to exciting sightseeing tours to Austria. In 2020, you can go with our company as simply to Vienna on a tour "Vena Light" or tour "Vienna at the Weekend", which offers numerous excursions, as well as combined excursion tours in Austria - Germany. Pay attention to the author's excursion tours "Bavaria - Austria" , "Royal Bavaria + Austria in miniature" for mini-groups up to 12 people, which provide the highest level of comfort in sightseeing travel. Competently composed, with small transfers, these tours will surely become one of the most interesting trips of yours.

Our tours to Austria are designed for tourists from different cities of Russia. In each tour, in the "Transport" section, there is information on flights and transfers: from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Tyumen, Kazan, Samara, Rostov-on-Don, Krasnodar, Novosibirsk, Vladivostok. We also welcome tourists from other cities.

Lovers of beauty who want to combine a holiday in Austria with a visit to the Kursalon and Mozart concerts in Salzburg will love our private tours. And for lovers of spa treatments, we can offer attractive vouchers for the cost of thermal resorts in Austria.