Grasshopper fauna in avalanche troughs in Gesäuse National Park

On the avalanche channels examined in 2006 and 2008, a total of 19 different locust species were detected. Three species are among Austria’s potentially endangered species: Wart biters, common mountain fright and red-winged snorer. Austria bears a strong responsibility for two species, Alpine mountain frightening and alpine shrubs. The high suitability of the examined avalanche troughs as a habitat for locusts results from the heat-favored southern exposure and in the nutrient-poor but very diverse vegetation in the form of tree- and shrub-free debris and rock societies as well as high-stauden corridors (Koschuh et al. 2009). Further species are to be expected, as the find of the ant grille (H. Wagner) has shown in the context of the GEO-Day 2010 in the Kalktal (cf. also Koschuh et al. 2009). Therefore, in the future, the higher parts of these avalanche gutters should be examined further.