European Mountain Areas Research Articles

A review of the Cochylimorpha perfusana (Guenée, 1845) species group (Lepidoptera, Tortricidae) in Europe, with the description of a new species from the Southern Carpathians (Romania)

European species of the Cochylimorpha perfusana (Guenée, 1845) species group are revised. Four species are recognized, all closely related to C. perfusana (Guenée, 1845) with which they have previously been confused. Based on morphological differences and DNA barcode data, C. callosana (Herrich-Schäffer, 1856), sp. rev. and C. dorsimaculana (Preissecker, 1908), sp. rev., are re-instated to their original species rank. Inconsistencies in their taxonomy leading to their synonymy are shown and corrected. Cochylimorpha bucegiana Z. Kovács, S. Kovács & P. Buchner, sp. nov. is described from the subalpine meadows of the Bucegi and Făgăraș Mountains (Southern Carpathians, Romania), and the other three species are redescribed. Adults and genitalia of both sexes of all four, and the habitat of three taxa are figured. The geographic distribution of each species is re-evaluated based on the examined material and a critical analysis of the literature. Literature data for which no material could be found for examination are treated as doubtful and in need of confirmation. Cochylimorpha perfusana is widely distributed in mountain areas of Europe (Alps, Carpathians and Pirin Mountains), C. callosana is widespread only in the north-western Balkan Peninsula and north-eastern Italy, and local in eastern France, Corsica and Hungary, the other two seem to be endemics, C. dorsimaculana to Wachau and Retz in Lower Austria and C. bucegianasp. nov. to the Southern Carpathians in Romania. Cochylimorpha perfusana is recorded for the first time from Bulgaria; the first confirmed records of C. callosana from Slovenia and Hungary are given; and in the north-eastern Italian fauna C. callosana replaces C. perfusana. Records of C. perfusana from Ukraine, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, and north-western Italy require confirmation.

Sustaining altitude pastures in mountain landscapes–a fuzzy cognitive model approach

Similarly to other European mountain areas, in Serra da Estrela the grazing pressure has been reducing due to social and economic drivers that have pushed shepherds and sheep to the foothill, or plainly out of the sector. Shrub encroachment on commons and other previously grazed land is one of the most tangible effects of pastoral abandonment in Serra de Estrela. The impacts of the resulting increase in landscape continuity and biomass availability were made clear in the severe fires of 2017 and 2022. As fire risk is likely to increase with climate change, it becomes urgent to understand what strategies can be deployed to keep fragmentation in these landscapes. Key actors such as shepherds should be involved in this discussion to understand their perceptions, points of view and reasons for abandoning upland pastures. In this study, we use fuzzy cognitive mapping to identify the key variables and mechanisms affecting the pastoral system according to local shepherds. In our study, we developed with local stakeholders a framework outlining the local pastoral system. Based on that, we carried out the fuzzy cognitive mapping collecting 14 questionnaires. We found that shepherds' income is a central issue, but that it is highly dependent on many factors. Increasing the Common Agricultural Policy payments alone is not enough to incentivise the use of upland pastures. More targeted strategies, such as more support for shrub clearing, and direct payments conditional to transhumance are more impactful. Despite a contentious discourse between conservation and shepherding values in Serra da Estrela, we find that shepherd's values are aligned with biodiversity conservation and a potential nature-based solution for minimizing fire risk through woody fuel management. This opens up possibilities for new governance strategies, that put Serra da Estrela's social, environmental and cultural values at its core.

Characterizing value chains’ contribution to resilient and sustainable development in European mountain areas

Mountain areas have been the testbed for sustainable development models focused on balancing their vulnerability and the value of their natural, cultural, and social resources. In these areas, the continuous adaptative interaction between bio-geophysical and socio-cultural processes assembles Socio-Ecological Systems (SES) characterized by a great diversity of ecosystems and land uses, which provide substantial support for the livelihoods of mountain communities and essential ecosystem services for uplands and lowlands. In this paper, we take value chains to be the operative units of analysis to examine human-natural systems interactions in mountain areas. Value chains mobilize resources and connect actors beyond territorial boundaries and economic sectors to generate economic, environmental, and social values. Strategies for local development of these areas should direct attention to value generation activities and require a systemic, integrated and assets-based approach which explores the potential synergies emerging from the coordination of the diversity of local specificities and considers the opportunities and threats emerging from external sub-systems. This paper proposes a novel comparative framework to characterize value chains contribution to resilient and sustainable development of SESs in mountain areas. This framework is meant for researchers and policy analysts to identify the role value chains might accomplish for a better balance between natural resource conservation and sustainable socio-economic development in European (remote) rural areas. Two mountain food value chains are used to illustrate the framework and test its efficacy. The cases depict two value chain configurations which result in different social, economic and environmental outcomes for the sustainable development of the SES.

Migrants in the economy of European rural and mountain areas. A cross-national investigation of their economic integration

New dynamics of local development have shed the light on the possible revitalization of European rural and mountain areas. A key element in these dynamics is the international migration fluxes that have these areas as new destinations. Newcomers' arrivals to rural and mountain areas represent both an opportunity and a challenge. They can fill in the gaps in local job markets left by the out-migration of young and the depopulation of remaining locals, but migrants' integration can present hurdles. Within the complex composition of the integration process, this research analyses the economic aspects related to local entrepreneurs' behaviours, migrant self-entrepreneurship, the role of the social economy and its effects on local communities. This paper presents results from secondary sources produced by the work of ten research teams – which collaborate on a European project MATILDE Horizon 2020 – based in as many European countries. The consortium agreed on a qualitative research approach, the use of semi-structured interviews, focus groups and participatory observation for data collection, and the “Foundational Economy” as the principal theoretical framework. Then, our research team carried out data extraction and comparison. Results show the diverse features of economic integration, encompassing local economic actors’ solutions, reactions in the communities, the role of the social economy and migrant entrepreneurship.

Editorial: Hydropower: From ecology to policy

Hydropower generation through river exploitation is widely considered a renewable and clean energy 15 source because of absent or negligible greenhouse emissions into the atmosphere. However, previous 16 studies have demonstrated that hydropower plants and related structures often affect river ecosystems 17 and their biota in several ways (Kondolf et al., 2014;Grill et al., 2019). The ecological impacts can 18 occur during all the phases associated with these manufacts, from the construction to their mode of 19 operation, and are mainly driven by changes in the physical habitat (e.g. water temperature, sediment 20 grain size, water depth and velocity, discharge fluctuations and dewatering). Quantifying the 21 magnitude of such alterations on biodiversity and river processes is usually difficult and may vary 22 depending on the site-specific conditions. 23 Nations (Goal 7). This has fuelled in the last decades the proliferation of small to medium hydropower 38 plants in the mountain areas of Europe and their number is expected to increase worldwide in the next 39 future (Zarfl et al., 2015). In the light of this, quantifying the impacts of hydropower serves as a basis project to basin and regional levels. By comparing case studies from different countries, the Authors 63 provided useful insights on how to maximize all the benefits in a sustainability perspective.In

Editorial

“eco.mont – Journal of Protected Mountain Areas Research and Management” was founded as a joint initiative of the Alpine Network of Protected Areas (ALPARC), the International Scientific Committee on Research in the Alps (ISCAR), the Austrian Academy of Sciences and the University of Innsbruck. “eco.mont” offers a platform specifically for scientists and practitioners working in and on protected mountain areas in Europe and overseas. Target audiences of the journal are scientists from all related disciplines, managers of protected areas and an interested public including practitioners, visitors, teachers, etc.“eco.mont” is available by open access under CC BY-NC-ND-Licence from the Austrian Academy Press and in a printed version from Innsbruck University Press. Alpine protected areas play a key role in biodiversity conservation, but also in monitoring species and habitats. Since its first issue, eco.mont has published articles on long-term monitoring programmes in different areas of the Alps. The current issue covers a wide range of topics concerning protected areas globally. Geographically, the articles cover protected areas in the Alps, the Himalayas, Southern Siberia and the Italian island of Sardinia. The subjects discussed include anthropogenic sounds and their influence on outdoor recreation, sacred larch trees as cultural monuments, firewood as a natural resource, sustainable regional development in a natural park and Biosphere Reserve on Sardinia, a glimpse into the EuroMAB Conference 2022 in Carynthia, Austria, the influence of historic and current land-use changes on wetland habitats, the development of the small-mammal fauna in the Swiss National Park in the last 100 years, and the conservation of endemic species in the Yarlung Zangbo river basin in Tibet.

Mountain Index Business Model Nexus Internet of Things Development and Sustainability

The paper proposes an aggregate index for a model regarding mountain business development through the Internet of Things (IoT) and Information and Communication Technology (ICT). The paper presents an aggregate index, built from unequal indices, which sustains the business development model in the mountain area, primarily through ICT and IoT. The proposed model is predictive. The paper contains relevant data related to the Eurostat index Business Demography and activities of ICT and IoT for some European mountain areas. Data have been processed and simulated in Excel, SPSS, and Make fractal software. The article performed exploratory and quantitative analysis, using statistics and forecasting techniques based on ANOVA. The indicator, the first in the specific literature, and its application developed a considerable model of the mountain business, in the 2022 context, declared by the United Nations as the” International Year of Sustainable Mountain Development”

La montagna che produce: nuove immagini territoriali per le terre alte

For a long time, European mountain areas have provided resources according to their environmental specificities. Mines and forests, meadows, pastures and streams have allowed the export of minerals and timber, agricultural and manufacturing products as well as handcrafts to the surrounding plains. Production has brought income to local communities while modifying the landscape. During the 20th century, many mountain areas had to deal with more competitive surrounding areas. More recently, mountains have been rediscovered mainly as places of production of environmental, touristic and cultural ecosystem services. Looking at the mountain as a place of production allows us to gain a new understanding of its territories, to look at them with an unprecedented gaze. In the last two decades, in fact, the images and analyses built around the mountain have clustered around two opposing poles, from tourism to depopulation and abandonment. Society, governments and the world of research have recently attributed promising and positive values to the mountain territories of production; this could have serious repercussions on their destiny. The present essay questions the origins and meaning of this new interest and deals with the theme of production to highlight changes in approaches and points of view. In mountain areas, in fact, the issue of production raises questions, highlights critical issues, imposes new interpretative categories, brings out perspectives for the definition of a structuring relationship between soil design and sustainable ways of transforming places.

Collective forestry regimes to enhance transition to climate smart forestry

AbstractAs European mountain forests are a significant world carbon stock and sequester, they have a prominent position in climate policies and climate smart forestry (CSF) implementation. However, forest ecosystem services (ES) that are public or common goods (i.e., of carbon sequestration) face a traditional social dilemma of individual versus collective interests, which often generate conflicts, and result in the overuse of ES and resource depletion. In this article, we elaborate a conceptual analytical framework and use it in case studies selected in European mountain areas to analyse the potential of socio‐ecological systems to develop CSF. Collective self‐organized forestry regimes, as a form of social innovation, are the main focus, compared with centrally governed state regimes and forest management practices in municipal forests. A conceptual framework to analyse collective self‐organized regimes and compare these with other CSF‐applicable forestry regimes is elaborated using a mixed‐method approach, centered around the estimation of carbon sequestration potential. The results indicate that collective self‐organized forestry regimes can play a role in fostering the transition of European forestry towards CSF.

Crumbotti and rose petals in a ghost mountain valley: foraging, landscape, and their transformations in the upper Borbera Valley, NW Italy

BackgroundThe abandonment of mountain areas in Europe is a process that started during industrialisation and whose traces are still present nowadays. Initiatives aimed at stopping this decline and preserving the local biological and cultural diversities reflect the crucial issue of fostering sustainable rural development. This article contributes to the ongoing debate in assessing and preserving local ecological knowledge (LEK) in a highly marginalised mountain community in the Piedmontese Apennines to support local development. In so doing, it continues a larger project assessing how local botanical knowledge and landscapes evolve over time, in order to understand in more depth which factors affect how LEK is shaped, eroded, and re-created, and how this could be revitalised.MethodsWe compared information about the current gathering and use of local wild plants in the upper Borbera Valley (Carrega Ligure municipality, NW Italy), elicited via 34 in-depth open and semi-structured interviews, with the findings of a field study conducted in the same location, most likely carried out at the end of the 1970s and published in 1981.ResultsThere were remarkable quantitative and qualitative differences between the two ethnobotanies. The gathering and use of some wild medicinal plants growing in meadows, woodlands, and higher mountain environments (Achillea, Centaurea, Dianthus, Ostrya, Picea, Polygonum, Potentilla, and Thymus) seems to have disappeared, whereas the collection of plants growing in more anthropogenic environments, or possibly promoted via contacts with the “reference” city of Genoa (the largest city close to Carrega and historically the economic and cultural centre to which the valley was mostly connected), has been introduced (i.e. ramsons, safflower, bitter oranges, black trumpets) or reinvigorated (rose petals). This trend corresponds to the remarkable changes in the local landscape ecology and agro-silvo-pastoral system that took place from the first half of the twentieth century, dramatically increasing woodland and secondary vegetation, and decreasing coppices, plantations, grasslands and segregating cultivated land.ConclusionThe findings show a very difficult rearrangement of the LEK, as most of the areas the local actors still know are within their villages, and they no longer have daily experience in the rest of the abandoned woodland landscape (except for mushrooming and gathering chestnuts). This situation can be interpreted in two ways: as the start of the complete abandonment of the valley, or as a starting residual resilience lynchpin, which could possibly inspire new residents if the larger political-economic framework would promote measures for making the survival of the mountain settlements of this municipality possible, and not just a chimera.

Congruent responses of vascular plant and ant communities to pastoral land-use abandonment in mountain areas throughout different biogeographic regions

BackgroundThere is a long-term trend towards the abandonment of agro-pastoral activities in the mountain areas of Europe: the following encroachment process of semi-natural grasslands by shrubs is one of the main severe threats to the conservation of biodiversity in mountain environments. To better understand the impact of land abandonment, we analysed the reliability of plant functional groups, ant traits, and ant functional groups as indicators of land use changes. We carried out the research in Italy at four sites along a latitudinal/altitudinal gradient in three biogeographic regions (Mediterranean, Continental, Alpine). We identified three stages of a chronosequence at each site as representative of the plant succession in response to pastoral land-use abandonment.ResultsAs expected, both the plant and ant assemblages considerably differed across sites at the species level and, within each site, among the three stages. This trend was found also using ant traits, functional groups of ants, and plant functional groups. Ant and plant communities were related in terms of composition and functionality. Harvester ants and ants with collective foraging strategy were associated with annual legumes and grasses (Therophytes); ants with a strictly individual foraging strategy with Phanerophytes. Ant traits and plant functional groups indicated significant differences among the three stages of the chronosequence. However, ant functional groups could not discriminate between the stages represented by secondary grasslands currently grazed and shrub-encroached grasslands ungrazed.ConclusionDespite some limitations of ant functional groups in explaining the succession stages of land abandonment, our results suggest that ants are a good surrogate taxon and might be used as bioindicators of land-use changes and ecosystem functioning. Furthermore, our findings indicate that the functional group approach should be applied to other European ecosystems. Finally, reducing the taxonomic complexity could contribute to developing predictive models to detect early environmental changes and biodiversity loss in mountain habitats.

Implementing the livelihood resilience framework: An indicator-based model for assessing mountain pastoral farming systems

CONTEXTOngoing decreases in family farms and livestock numbers in European mountain areas are linked to multiple interconnected challenges. The continuity of such farms concerns society at large since they also act as landscape stewards, and their management influences the provision of ecosystem services.The livelihood resilience lens provides a means of examining how farm households respond and build their capacity to persist, to adapt to changes and shocks, and eventually transform what is understood as farming. While an increasing number of studies address livelihood resilience in different parts of the world, its link with livelihood strategies and how these enhance or erode livelihood resilience dimensions is still missing. OBJECTIVEWe built and applied an indicator-based framework to characterize the livelihood strategies of mountain livestock farming households in the Catalan Pyrenees (Spain) considering local historical trends, to assess how these strategies contribute to their adaptive capacity. METHODSWe combined sustainable rural livelihoods and livelihood resilience frameworks and operationalized them to: group farm households with similar livelihood strategies based on their income-generating activities; asses the influence of capital assets and context on the adoption of strategies; and relate these strategies with their performance in three dimensions of adaptive capacity, namely capacity for learning and adaptation, self-organization, and diversity. Information was gathered surveying a sample of 103 farm households. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONSWe identified five livelihood strategies showing different degrees of adaptive capacity. Farm households either intensified production (21.3% of the sample) or pursued various diversification pathways based on additional off-farm work (28.6%), rural-tourism activities (22.7%), or added-value production (13.3%). Pensioners (11.8%) had a low endowment of assets and presented the lowest estimates in several dimensions of adaptive capacity. In contrast, diversification into rural tourism scored higher in adaptive capacity, showing greater proactive capacity, farmer organization, and multiple income sources. SIGNIFICANCEWe explored the multidimensional issues that influence and are influenced by the livelihood strategies and their adaptive capacity at the farm household level. Our work highlights the relevance of including income-generating activities in addition to structural, technical, and socioeconomic variables in characterizing farming systems. It demonstrates the role of farmer involvement in formal and informal social cooperation networks in the sustainability and adaptive capacity of their households. To be successful, diversification strategies may require certain prerequisites in the farms, while strategies based on off-farm activities, although they support improved financial performance of the farm household, could also contribute to the displacement of agriculture from mountain areas.

The EU Mountain Product Voluntary Quality Term as a Valorization Tool for Livestock Farms: Challenges and Opportunities in an Alpine Context

European mountain areas have experienced a persistent loss of agricultural land and economic activities over time, with negative effects from both an environmental and a cultural perspective. In 2012, the European Union devised the mountain product (MP) quality term to provide to mountain producers a tool to better market their products and thus increase their income. In this article, we tried to understand what the current challenges and opportunities are concerning this quality term, focusing on meat products in the Italian Alpine context. To this end, interviews were conducted with producers who are allowed to use the term on meat in this area and with regional persons in charge of the food quality policy. The SWOT analysis performed on the results of these interviews highlights that the lack of stringent requirements and simple bureaucratic procedures are the main strengths of this tool, while the interest of consumers in mountain products is a factor that can stimulate the spread of its use. However, four crucial needs should be addressed, namely increasing consumers’ awareness of MP, providing information on MP to producers, increasing the protection of the term and developing a more collaborative approach among producers.

The contribution of landscape features, climate and topography in shaping taxonomical and functional diversity of avian communities in a heterogeneous Alpine region

Understanding the effects of landscape composition and configuration, climate, and topography on bird diversity is necessary to identify distribution drivers, potential impacts of land use changes, and future conservation strategies. We surveyed bird communities in a study area located in the Central Alps (Autonomous Province of South Tyrol, northeast Italy), by means of point counts and investigated taxonomic and functional diversity at two spatial scales along gradients of land use/land cover (LULC) intensity and elevation. We also explored how environmental variables influence bird traits and red-list categories. Models combining drivers of different types were highly supported, pointing towards synergetic effects of different types of environmental variables on bird communities. The model containing only LULC compositional variables was the most supported one among the single-group models: LULC composition plays a crucial role in shaping local biodiversity and hence bird communities, even across broad landscape gradients. Particularly relevant were wetlands, open habitats, agricultural mosaics made up of small habitat patches and settlements, ecotonal and structural elements in agricultural settings, and continuous forests. To conserve bird diversity in the Alps, planning and management practices promoting and maintaining small fields, structural elements, and a mosaic of different LULC types should be supported, while preserving continuous forests at the same time. Additionally, pastures, extensively used meadows, and wetlands are key to conservation. These strategies might mitigate the impacts of global change on bird diversity in the Alps and in other European mountain areas.

News from ALPARC CENTR’ALPS – Strengthening cooperation between protected areas in the Alps – new network office in Immenstadt im Allgäu (DE), and a workshop

The journal “eco.mont” – Journal of protected mountain areas research and management – was published for the first time in June 2009. The journal was founded as a joint initiative of the Alpine Network of Protected Areas (ALPARC), the International Scientific Committee on Research in the Alps (ISCAR), the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) and the University of Innsbruck. The journal aims to highlight research on and management issues in protected areas in the Alps without excluding other protected mountain areas in Europe or overseas. Its target audiences are scientists from all related disciplines, managers of protected areas and interested individuals including practitioners, visitors, teachers, etc. The journal presents peer-reviewed articles in English by authors who research protected mountain areas and management issues within these areas. It's published twice a year as a collaboration of the Austrian Academy of Sciences Press – responsible for the e-version – and Innsbruck University Press – responsible for the print version.

News

The journal “eco.mont” – Journal of protected mountain areas research and management – was published for the first time in June 2009. The journal was founded as a joint initiative of the Alpine Network of Protected Areas (ALPARC), the International Scientific Committee on Research in the Alps (ISCAR), the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) and the University of Innsbruck. The journal aims to highlight research on and management issues in protected areas in the Alps without excluding other protected mountain areas in Europe or overseas. Its target audiences are scientists from all related disciplines, managers of protected areas and interested individuals including practitioners, visitors, teachers, etc. The journal presents peer-reviewed articles in English by authors who research protected mountain areas and management issues within these areas. It's published twice a year as a collaboration of the Austrian Academy of Sciences Press – responsible for the e-version – and Innsbruck University Press – responsible for the print version.

Editorial

The journal “eco.mont” – Journal of protected mountain areas research and management – was published for the first time in June 2009. The journal was founded as a joint initiative of the Alpine Network of Protected Areas (ALPARC), the International Scientific Committee on Research in the Alps (ISCAR), the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) and the University of Innsbruck. The journal aims to highlight research on and management issues in protected areas in the Alps without excluding other protected mountain areas in Europe or overseas. Its target audiences are scientists from all related disciplines, managers of protected areas and interested individuals including practitioners, visitors, teachers, etc. The journal presents peer-reviewed articles in English by authors who research protected mountain areas and management issues within these areas. It's published twice a year as a collaboration of the Austrian Academy of Sciences Press – responsible for the e-version – and Innsbruck University Press – responsible for the print version.

Non-Structural Flood Management in European Rural Mountain Areas—Are Scientists Supporting Implementation?

Mountain areas are highly exposed to flood risks. The latter are increasing in the context of climate change, urbanization, and land use changes. Non-structural approaches such as nature-based solutions can provide opportunities to reduce the risks of such natural hazards and provide further ecological, social, and economic benefits. However, few non-structural flood mitigation measures are implemented in rural mountain areas so far. The objective of this paper is to investigate if the scientific boundaries limit the implementation of non-structural flood management in rural mountain areas. In the study, we statistically analyzed the knowledge about flood management through a systematic literature review and expert surveys, with a focus on European rural mountain areas. Both methods showed that scientific knowledge is available for decision makers and that nature-based solutions are efficient, cost-effective, multifunctional, and have potential for large-scale implementation.

The challenge of sustainable ski area management: the New Zealand club fields model between experience and sense of place

Purpose of the paper: This study explores how a small ski area in New Zealand is experienced and managed. Small ski areas around the world are facing the challenges of sustainability and climate change. The ski area in question is not only economically, socially and environmentally sustainable, but also seems to meet the growing demand for authenticity and immersive experiences. The findings have interesting implications for dealing with competition and climate change that are also potentially useful for major ski-resorts. Methodology: Field research was conducted during the 2019 NZ winter season, by means of face-to-face interviews (15) with managers, employees and skiers and through a questionnaire (258) which collected the perceptions of skiers in order to better understand the day-to-day reality of the object of the case study. Findings: The results reveal some distinguishing features of a club field in New Zealand and present considerations for how it might be usefully adopted in certain European mountain areas. Research limitations: The study is based on a single case study and although the ski field under investigation (in the Selwyn region of New Zealand) is an important destination, the limitations of having one only case study need to be considered. Practical implications: The study enriches the on-going academic discussion on boutique destinations and community-based models and highlights strategic and managerial aspects that could be useful to destination and ski area managers. Originality of the paper: As yet, there is no literature on club fields, and no European ski area has adopted this model. The study, moreover, introduces a micro-segmentation analysis.

High Fungal Diversity but Low Seasonal Dynamics and Ectomycorrhizal Abundance in a Mountain Beech Forest

Forests on steep slopes constitute a significant proportion of European mountain areas and are important as production and protection forests. This study describes the soil fungal community structure in a European beech-dominated mountain forest stands in the Northern Calcareous Alps and investigates how it is determined by season and soil properties. Samples were collected at high spatial resolution in an area of ca. 100 m × 700 m in May (spring) and August (summer). Illumina MiSeq high-throughput sequencing of the ITS2-region revealed distinct patterns for the soil fungal communities. In contrast to other studies from temperate European beech forest stands, Ascomycota dominated the highly diverse fungal community, while ectomycorrhizal fungi were of lower abundance. Russulaceae, which are often among the dominant ectomycorrhizal fungi associated with European beech, were absent from all samples. Potentially plant pathogenic fungi were more prevalent than previously reported. Only subtle seasonal differences were found between fungal communities in spring and summer. Especially, dominant saprotrophic taxa were largely unaffected by season, while slightly stronger effects were observed for ectomycorrhizal fungi. Soil characteristics like pH and organic carbon content, on the other hand, strongly shaped abundant taxa among the saprotrophic fungal community.