OCR Text |
Show and by gross inequalities in snow deposition. The successful reforestation of wasteland or soil long- unused for tree-growing can only be achieved when the development of fungi ( mycorrhizal mycelium) is promoted by artificial measures. This can most conveniently be done by soil inoculation in nurseries at the same time as seeding or transplanting. Influence of these various factors on reforestation has been graphically summarized by H. Aulitzky in a complex " ecogram" which serves as a field guide to terrain classification and the appropriate steps in re- establishing the sub-alpine forest cover. The methods and techniques devised by this research program are now being put nto practice. The first extensive application has been in Ziller Valley, one f the major tributaries to the Inn Valley southeast of Innsbruck. The Ziller Valley program aims to revise completely the whole ecology and iconomic utilization of the timberline zone. It is a pilot program which eventually ' ill be extended to the rest of the Austrian Alps. Initiation of this revision las not been easy, for there was strong political and economic opposition from the fountain farmers, who are notably conservative and suspicious of change everywhere in the Alps. Political and psychological evolution have thus become just as important as a solution to the technical problems. Obstacles to starting the program have been formidable, but its initial success in the Zi 1 ler Va. l. l£. y will simplify the job of selling reforestation elsewhere. Instead of ranging freely over the alps as they have done for centuries, dairy herds are now confined to specific grazing areas accessible by newly- built roads and served by central milk stations. These grazing areas are carefully managed for grass and water. Yield from the dairy herds is higher in these managed areas |