Strategies to Improve Water Resources Protection in Forested Karstic Alpine Watersheds

Authors

  • Roland Koeck

    Department of Ecosystem Management, Climate and Biodiversity, Institute of Silviculture, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU University), 1190 Vienna, Austria
  • Herbert Weidinger

    Municipal Department of Forestry and Agriculture, 1100 Vienna, Austria
  • Alexander Mrkvicka

    Municipal Department of Forestry and Agriculture, 1100 Vienna, Austria
  • Gerhard Kuschnig

    Independent Researcher, 1050 Vienna, Austria
  • Eduard Hochbichler

    Department of Ecosystem Management, Climate and Biodiversity, Institute of Silviculture, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU University), 1190 Vienna, Austria

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30564/jees.v8i6.13466
Received: 29 April 2026 | Revised: 21 May 2026 | Accepted: 25 May 2026 | Published Online: 29 June 2026

Abstract

Forest ecosystems within water protection zones need to be stable, resilient, and adaptable to provide optimal water protection functionality. The Forest Hydrotope Model stratifies water protection zones into silvicultural operational units to adapt forest management strategies to current forest site conditions. Silviculture facilitated by this model, therefore, can create forests with tree species diversity close to the natural forest type, as this is regarded as the most stable and resilient one, and can furthermore give valuable hints for climate change adaptation. The database for this model was created through forest site mapping surveys of the water protection zones. Those surveys yielded new insights about karstic alpine forest soils; parts had to be defined through the creation of a mosaic soil formation typology. Utilizing both site-specific target definitions and general Best Management Practices for forest management can support the implementation of an integral water protection strategy and subsequently improve the water protection functionality of the forest ecosystems. Different ways for the implementation of this strategy are presented by the examples of four water protection zones of Austrian water suppliers. The scientific value added through the paper is given by the delineation of the operational water resources protection strategy, the new possibility of describing highly inhomogeneous karstic soil formations and also by highlighting the growth potential of Silver Fir (Abies alba) at high altitudes of the European Alps, which constitutes an essential silvicultural alternative under climate change conditions.

Keywords:

Forest Ecosystems; Forest Hydrotope Model; Karstic Forest Soils; Best Management Practices; Site-Adapted Silviculture; Ecosystem Services

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How to Cite

Koeck, R., Weidinger, H., Mrkvicka, A., Kuschnig, G., & Hochbichler, E. (2026). Strategies to Improve Water Resources Protection in Forested Karstic Alpine Watersheds. Journal of Environmental & Earth Sciences, 8(6), 227–240. https://doi.org/10.30564/jees.v8i6.13466

Issue

Vol. 8 , Iss. 6 (June 2026)

Article Type

Article

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Copyright © 2026 Roland Koeck, Herbert Weidinger, Alexander Mrkvicka, Gerhard Kuschnig, Eduard Hochbichler

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This is an open access article under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) License.

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