Kurzbeschreibung der Inhalte

Within the framework of the LIFE project „Riverscape Lower Inn“, numerous river engineering measures are being implemented to promote ecological development along the Lower Inn. The project area covers the Lower Inn between the mouth of the Salzach and Schärding and has a length of about 54 river kilometres on the Inn and about 4 river kilometres on the Salzach. In order to be able to describe the effects of these measures on bird species occurring in the study area, accompanying ornithological monitoring based on a BACI-concept will be carried out in the period between 2022 to 2027. This will primarily involve field-mapping bird species that are considered key project indicators (target species) of near-natural river habitats. These include the species Kingfisher, Common Sandpiper and Little Ringed Plover. Along the flood protection dykes, the Red-backed Shrike is also relevant as a target species of extensively used meadow landscapes. In addition to these species, other habitat-typical bird species of conservation importance are also recorded.
Field mapping takes place at a total of 18 different study sites distributed throughout the study area. Each of these sites will be visited tree times between May and mid-July. 2022 a total of 2,342 precise observations of bird species were recorded in the field, which were taken into account for the territory evaluation. A total of 115 observation data were available for the four target species in the narrower sense. Considering the size of the study area, these results show that habitats for gravel or gravel-bank breeding bird species are currently only available on a very small scale within the study areas. Accordingly, the potential for implementing habitat improvement measures for this guild is estimated to be high.
The ornithological survey will be repeated from 2023 till 2027 using the same methods. Subject to possible changes due to the implementation of river engineering measures, the study areas will also be retained.