Current projects
Archaeological finds of textile remains give an insight into ancient weaving techniques, including fabrics from the Hallstatt salt mine dating from between 1500 and 300 BC, or finds of gold threads such as those from Ebreichsdorf in Lower Austria, ca. 1100 BC. They are scientifically analysed and reworked in the Prehistoric Department of the Natural History Museum in order to understand the manufacturing technique and the amount of work involved. Especially the board weavings and fabric with...
Austria is rich in a wide range of mineral deposits. Precise documentation of both “old” deposits (e.g. mining heaps and tunnels, slag heaps) and “new” location spots (e.g. quarries, natural outcrops, road cuts, etc.) is one of the focuses of the Department of Mineralogy and Petrography at the Natural History Museum Vienna. This can be achieved only with the help of mineral collectors, amateur mineralogists and members of the general public interested in mineralogy who collect minerals and...
Karst and cave documentationThe Working Group on Karst and Caves (KHA) of the Natural History Museum Vienna cooperates closely with the Speleologic Society in Vienna and Lower Austria, but also with other groups of the Austrian Speleological Association (VÖH). The KHA is primarily active in the eastern part of Austria. Working in the terrain requires some physical fitness, surefootedness and a sense of orientation, as marked paths are usually abandoned. However, interesting objects can be...
Important groundwork for bird protectionThe association BirdLife Austria has been researching and protecting the native avifauna for over 50 years. Citizen science has always been an essential basis of this work, as BirdLife's expertise is based on decades of collecting bird records. In the past, observations were recorded on paper slips, today www.ornitho.at is a modern and simple way to report bird observations.Many functionalitiesWith the platform ornitho.at you can not only report...
Citizen Science with a long traditionThe first water bird counts in Austria took place as early as the 1950s. In the following years, the number of counts was gradually increased, and from 1970 onwards Austria-wide surveys have been carried out. This makes the waterbird census one of the longest running citizen science projects of BirdLife Austria. The censuses are carried out by volunteers between one and five times per winter (depending on the province) at defined river sections.Decline in...
Annual countsThis advanced citizen science project requires knowledge of the common native breeding bird species and participation over several years. Twice a year, the participants count all birds seen and heard at fixed points. The total of all counts is then used to calculate population trends. The available data is currently sufficient to determine meaningful trends for about 90 bird species – from 1998 onwards. Sadly, the results show how important it is to monitor our breeding bird...
The Ragweed Finder was developed in 2017 by the Austrian Pollen Information Service at MedUni Vienna and has also been available to download as an app for Android and iOS since 2019.The Ragweed Finder consists of four components:Specimen reportRagweed distribution mapInformation about RagweedManual to recognize ragweedSpecimen reportThe most important data such as location, population size and symptoms can be entered quickly using the specimen report. Uploading a photo is mandatory...
Interested groups (mainly school classes) can participate in this scientific project about the whereabouts of the greylag geese in the Cumberland game park in Grünau im Almtal (Upper Austria).The social behaviour of the flock of greylag geese of the Konrad Lorenz Research Center (a core facility of the University of Vienna) has been monitored for more than 40 years. The birds are individually marked by coloured leg-rings and can move completely free.What is it all about?During the...
Amphibians and reptiles under observation in AustriaImportance and evaluability of databases increase with the extent, the precision and the currency of the data stored.The Natural History Museum Vienna, one of the largest non-university research institutions in Austria, houses more than 30 million objects from the fields of biology, earth sciences and human sciences. Since 1982, the Amphibian and Reptile Collection has also been collecting data on the historical and recent...
The golden jackal (Canis aureus) was not considered native in Austria, until the first golden jackal discovery was made in 1987, followed by sporadic records scattered over several federal states and in 2007 the first reproduction record was documented in the National Park "Neusiedler See-Seewinkel". Since then, rumours about camera trap pictures, fallow deer and one or two sightings have led to the assumption that these secretly living animals are present in some areas of Austria. In the...
Many weather phenomena as well as their impacts and damage on the ground are reported in real time or immediately after the event by means of weather reports. Within the framework of the Trusted Spotter Network Austria, all reporters can be trained to become particularly trustworthy observers. All weather and impact reporting parameters as well as the training and competence levels of the observers are comparable throughout Europe.Why weather reports?A large number of automatic weather...
Read more: Wettermelden.at / Trusted Spotter Network Austria
The growing flood of images cannot be processed by institutions alone. Partnership with citizen scientists is vital. Topotheque is a digital archive and network in which this historical legacy can be gathered. For the locally resident Topotheque users, every new image and new piece of information means a valuable building block with which they can document their regional history in more detail. Enthusiasm for the work with the Topotheques creates local archives that captures an interest that...
With the Citizen Science Project "CITREE" a crowdsourcing instrument for monitoring the growth of urban trees, will be developed and used. It builds on the "Sparkling Science" project "Woody Woodpecker", which deals with the growth, structure and function of wood.Urban trees fulfill a variety of functions, such as improving the microclimate and air, noise protection or the design of public spaces. Monitoring of urban trees is important because climate change leads to an intensification of...
App for the scientific recording of Austrian butterfliesOn behalf of Blühendes Österreich - BILLA gemeinnützige Privatstiftunga, butterfly expert Peter Huemer published a report on the dramatic state of the butterfly fauna in May 2016. In Europe, their number had fallen by half since 1990 and over 50 percent of Austria’s butterflies are acutely threatened with extinction according to the Red Lists. Butterfly habitats have been massively restricted by agricultural intensification, increasing...
In Viel-Falter: Butterfly Monitoring volunteers, together with researchers from the Department of Ecology of the University of Innsbruck, observe, identify and count butterflies. The aim is to build up and establish an Austria-wide systematic butterfly monitoring.Butterflies are an excellent indicator group for the ecologically extremely important animal group of insects. They react quickly and sensitively to habitat and environmental changes. Butterflies are also excellent for raising...
The Pollen Diary was launched back in 2009 as a scientific project as part of a master's thesis at the WU Vienna Executive Academy. Meanwhile it has become an important service for pollen allergy sufferers in 13 European countries: Austria, Germany, Switzerland, France, Great Britain, Sweden, Finland, Croatia, Hungary, Lithuania, Serbia, Slovenia and Turkey. The number of users is growing every year, not at least because of the projects that were made possible by the Pollen Diary, such as the...
Since 2008, the Institute of Silviculture at BOKU University, Vienna, has been analyzing the occurrence, distribution, causes and characteristics of forest fires in Austria as part of various research projects. The data series spans several decades and includes around 8000 fires, of which around 7000 are forest fires. The last 20 years are the best documented. The Institute of Silviculture has created the web GIS platform “Fire Database”, which is freely accessible and allows interested...
We take care of our meadows and alpine pastures!For more than a decade, hundreds of farmers have been saying "We look at our meadows and alpine pastures!".The regular observations of the more than 700 participants impressively show that on more than 80 % of the monitoring plots in extensive grassland the number of individuals of the species observed has remained the same or even increased.By observing the animals and plants every year, the perspective with which the farmers perceive their...
The project “GeoMaus” collects information about the distribution of small mammals in Austria, Germany and in Switzerland. Nature enthusiasts are invited to report their observations to learn more about the occurrence of small mammals. Two identification keys (text key and decision tree), information on trace images and on the appearance, biology and way of life of the species will help. The report is made using a form through which the required data such as species, location, date and photo...
Can tea help us understand climate change? Yes, but we need your help! We would like you to become our research partner and take part in one of the largest experiments on soil decomposition processes at the moment!
The European genealogy database"Connecting genealogists"GenTeam is a European platform of genealogical databases. Both scientists and amateur genealogists can make their data available here for free for other researchers. The cooperation of collaborators from many different countries has made it possible to compile databases that one researcher could not typically manage alone due to the volume. Our focus is currently on the indexing of ecclesiastical sources from Lower Austria, on a...
Have you ever seen a sparrow hawk in Vienna? Did a badger cross your path on your way home at night? Or do you have swallow nests at your housing complex? We are interested in your observations in Austrian cities!The project works specifically in urban areas. With the help of Austrian city dwellers we want to get an overview of the distribution and way of life of mammals and birds in urban areas. We hope to obtain a broad data base based on sighting reports in order to better...
Ural owl resettlementThe resettlement of the Ural owl is led by a team of researchers headed by ornithologist Richard Zink at the Austrian Ornithological Centre at "Vetmeduni" Vienna. The goal is the "Come Back" of the big owl into the forests of Austria. A new occurrence in the alps creates an essential link between the populations south (Slovenia, Italy) and north (Germany, Czech Republic) of the Alpine republic. Individual owls migrating between these populations ensure gene flow within...
The project Pilzdaten-Austria.eu aims at a comprehensive documentation of the occurrence and distribution of fungi in Austria, and to present and evaluate the available data. It is an Austria-wide cooperation of numerous mycologists, citizen scientists and institutions, which collect distribution data of fungi or hold collections of fungal specimens, coordinated by the Austrian Mycological Society.The freely accessible online database Pilzdaten-Austria.eu continues the previous Bio-Office...