The LTER-CWN sites in the Stubai Valley are part of the LTER Austria Master site Stubai and are situated in the vicinity of Kaserstattalm, above the village of Neustift (47° 7’ N, 11° 18’ E). They include a subalpine meadow, a pasture, an abandoned grassland and a young forest (ca. 40 years), all located between 1820 and 1970m a.s.l..
The LTER-sites are equipped with microclimate stations and continuously monitor soil carbon dioxide fluxes in the soil, as well as the radial growth and sapflow of the dominant tree species, spruce and larch. Furthermore, the productivity, as well as ecosystem carbon dioxide and water fluxes of the grassland sites are monitored through episodic campaigns, and in special campaigns isotope lasers are used for analyzing the processes underlying trace gas fluxes. Since more than 15 years a number of experiments have been realized at the LTER sites, funded through a number of national and international projects.
Fully automatic measuring chambers for soil carbon dioxide fluxes (© University of Innsbruck, Eva Fessler)
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