Climate, Vegetation and Fauna

Austria belongs to the Central European transitional climatic zone. In much of Austria the prevailing winds are westerly and northwesterly. In western Austria temperature variations between day and night and between summer and winter are less pronounced than in the East. Throughout most of Austria adequate precipitation figures are registered, although the amount decreases continuously from West to East. Austria can be divided into three climatic zones: The east shows a Continental Pannonian climate (mean temperature for July usually above 66°F, annual rainfall often less than 800 mm), while the central Alpine region has the characteristic features of the Alpine climate (high precipitation, short summers and long winters). The remaining part of the country belongs to the transitional Central European climatic zone, which is characterized by a wet and temperate climate (mean temperature for July 52° to 66°F, annual precipitation 700 - 2.000 mm depending on location, exposure and altitude).

The variety of Austria’s geography and climate has resulted in a wide diversity of vegetation, in which the main groups coincide with the different climatic regions. Austria is characterized by oak and beech forests that predominate in central Europe, while above 1600 ft these give way to a mixture of beech and fir. At altitudes higher than 4000 ft., fir dominates and in turn gives way to larch and stone pine.

Austria is one of Europe’s most heavily wooded countries, with 47% of its total area being accounted for by forests. In the Alpine foreland the forests are to a great extent replaced by arable land, especially on the northern edge of the Alps, where above an altitude of 2000 ft. grassland prevails. Characteristic of the Pannonian region are scrub, mixed deciduous wood and heathland. To the east of Lake Neusiedl in the Burgenland one can find typical salt steppe flora.

Austrian wildlife is characteristic of central Europe: red deer, roe deer, hare, fox, badger, marten, squirrel, pheasant, partridge, etc. Typical Alpine fauna such as chamois, marmot and the Alpine cough are to be found in the mountainous regions, and the ibex is also breeding here again. Typical of Pannonian wildlife is the vast bird population (purple heron, spoon bill, avocet) abounding in the reed beds which surround Lake Neusiedl, central Europe’s only steppe lake.