Great Black Pine Forest of Steinfeld - Pinus nigra subsp. nigra (4742'-49' N 1605'-15' E)

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2011-11-26 Lower Austria, district Neunkirchen (plains: lower end 280 msm, upper end 360 msm, Quadrants 8163/3 + 8262/2 + 8262/4 + 8263/1 + 8263/3; Fischauer Berge/foreground: 350-500 msm, Quadrant 8162/4).View from Fischauer Berge over Winzendorf towards Steinfeld.Black pine, in all likelihood, is not (or only marginally) native to the 'rubble fields' of Lower Austrian Steinfeld - there might have been native growth in smaller numbers, on poorest soil, but generally this isn't a lowland tree at all - it is only competitive against broadleaf trees on dry and rocky soil.Both habitats (the artificial as well as the native one) are shown here:- background: the Great Black Pine Forest of Steinfeld; it covers a roughly trapezoid area 10 kilometres long and 2 to 6 kilometres wide;- foreground: Fischauer Berge, rocky and dry limestone hills, a habitat where the black pine has no rivalI found a link to a pdf file (written in German) about the geobotanical situation on Steinfeld - Hans Malicky, Vegetationsprobleme des Wiener Neustdter Steinfeldes (link to PDF! - year not given, but should be approx. 1970-1975); a few paraphrased and translated quotes from this article:- Ground water level on Steinfeld:20 metres below ground on many places (e. g. Theresienfeld, Obereggendorf, Grossmittel), on some however as deep as 60 metres - while on other places (Petrifeld/ Theresienfeld, Haideansiedlung) there are even some ground water wells. The biggest of them all is Fischa river well - a sizeable river is emerging there from virtually nothing, fed only by ground water.The plain falls slightly from south to north, and the further you go north (towards Mitterndorf and Feuchte Ebene), the higher ground water levels will rise.- Top soil:Limestone rubble dominates in the northern part, which bears poor rendzina soil, with dry grassland on it, and a horizon of soil hardened by resolved lime only a metre below ground, which trees cannot penetrate; see below for succession on this soil.To the south, there is silicate and limestone rubble, and there, under the influence of silicate, brown soil developed, which would be overgrown with oak in natural conditions, and where black pine would find it difficult to take hold.The part of the Great Forest you see in the photo above is the southern part.- Succession on fallow land as observed by Malicky in the south (brown soil):On ground left alone, or after clearcutting or windfall, was observed by him as follows:- Bushy growth is quick to grow: Berberis vulgaris, Ligustrum vulgare, Rosa ssp.- It don't takes long for trees to follow: Sorbus torminalis, Populus tremula, Betula pendula (= verrucosa), Quercus pubescens.- Succession on fallow land as observed by Malicky in the north (rendzina):There are few forests there; on arable land left alone succession kicks in as follows:- Mercurialis annua in the first year in great numbers, later however decreasing quickly.- Artemisia scoparia, Sideritis montana and many more in the second year.- After 5 years Daucus carota, Melilotus officinalis, Carduus nutans, Carlina vulgaris and many more come to dominate.- Also after about 5 years Pinus nigra begins to invade the habitat; however, overall he observed that no dense forests but rather dry grasslands (bushy heath) will develop - with many (elsewhere) rare plants (Stipa ssp., Hesperis tristis, Campanula sibirica and many more).- Pinus nigra however only has a chance in the early years of succession, circa 5-25 years after the first year, as field studies have shown.So, Malicky claims in his article that part of the northern Steinfeld is an original steppe which wouldn't be overgrown by dense forest, as would be the case for most places in Central Europe (and Austria, obviously): he describes those pockets of dry grassland as edaphic steppes.A good part of the plains he describes as steppeland is a military training area (that of Grossmittel), and as such is safe from agricultural cultivation or forestation; on this place which is off-limits for civilians (but botanists might sneak in there on weekends) wide grasslands can be observed, which are interrupted by a very loose (savannah-like) population of Pinus nigra: I know the place from a distance only (I never dared to go there myself, yet); the trees don't grow high there either, obviously they are only marginally adapted for the conditions (poor rendzina with a horizon of impenetrable soil only a metre below ground).He also states that the pine forest south of Wiener Neustadt had been planted as early as the 18th century, and that those north of the town are only some 'decades' old (so date back to the early 20th century).He also notes that Pinus nigra is not native there, it only has a chance to develop in the early years of succession on fallow lands; and he goes on to state that on undisturbed dry meadows there are no pines - they only can grab a stand where ground has been disturbed.The purpose of this article by Malicky, unfortunately, is only agricultural, so it isn't the best source available (he goes on to recommend plantation of Syringa vulgaris against wind erosion, which would be seen very problematic from an ecological point of view, in our times!).Stapfia 77 would be a much better source, but isn't available to me for the time being.