Invertebrate diversity in springs of the National Park Berchtesgaden (Germany): relevance for long-term monitoring

During the last glaciations, the area of the National Park Berchtesgaden (208 km(2). 603-2713 in a.s.l.), upper Bavaria, Germany, was covered by extensive, thick ice shields that markedly changed both geomorphology and hydrology in this karstic area. Since then, a rather unstable draining system developed, including a western catchment with seasonal flow, a central one with mostly subterranean drainage in alluvial deposits, and a third one feeding Lake Konigssee. High numbers of small, typologically diverse groundwater-fed springs emerge year-round, mostly at elevations between 1000 and 1400 m a.s.l., but most headwater streams are unstable with seasonal flown and only in exceptional cases giving origin to higher-order streams. Intense studies on the springs of the area, organized by the National Park Berchtesgaden since 1994 in cooperation with numerous specialists, aim to: (1) assess distribution and geomorphology of the springs in the whole area; (2) document biological diversity at the most detailed possible taxonomic scale; and (3) develop and apply methods for the study of potential changes in spring biota in the frame of a network of long-term monitored habitats. Here we analyze some data resulting both from the first decade of research (see GERECKE & FRANZ 2006 for further details) and from 2005 field work, with the main goal to discuss the potential value of various parameters for long-term investigations.