In June 2026, we conducted fieldwork on Alpine pastures in Nagelfluhkette Nature Park. Our team consisted of Hannah Uther, PhD researcher) in the Bright Futures project at the University of Hohenheim, together with Master's students Sally Riedinger, Sebastian Löffler, and Marta Rardin.
In collaboration with Nagelfluhkette Nature Park and the Allgäu Alpine Farming Association, we carried out ecological surveys on ten Alpine pastures. Our work included vegetation surveys, butterfly monitoring, and the collection of samples to assess forage quality and soil carbon. These samples are currently being analysed in the laboratory.
A key objective of our study was to compare more intensively managed dairy Alpine pastures (Sennalpen) with more extensively grazed young-stock pastures (Galtalpen). We asked whether dairy Alpine pastures provide higher forage quality at the expense of biodiversity. Our preliminary findings support this hypothesis only partially. We also encountered highly species-rich dairy pastures that supported rare and threatened plant species. These initial results highlight the complexity of the relationships between management intensity, forage quality, biodiversity, and soil properties. The ongoing analyses will help us better understand the extent to which these patterns are driven by management practices or by the environmental conditions of each site.
We are grateful to all participating Alpine farmers for welcoming us to their pastures and for sharing their time, knowledge, and experience. Their collaboration has been essential to this research. We also sincerely thank Nagelfluhkette Nature Park and the Allgäu Alpine Farming Association for their valuable partnership, support, and coordination throughout the project.
We look forward to presenting and discussing our findings at the Nagelfluhkette Nature Park Centre in Immenstadt in autumn 2026 and to continuing the dialogue on how Alpine farming can contribute to sustainable agricultural production, biodiversity conservation, and resilient mountain landscapes.
