Erwin Lichtenegger

Erwin Lichtenegger

Erwin Lichtenegger (born May 9, 1928 in Kamp im Lavanttal , Carinthia ; † August 18, 2004 during a vacation stay on the Upper Adriatic in Bibione , Italy ) was an Austrian agricultural scientist . As the state salt mine inspector of Carinthia, he primarily examined the effects of anthropogenic management measures on the vegetation of grassland areas . In close collaboration with the Austrian botanist Lore Kutschera , he made significant contributions in the field of root ecology .

Live and act

Erwin Lichtenegger, the son of a mountain farmer, attended an agricultural college between 1943 and 1948 and completed two years of agricultural practice. From 1949 he continued his agricultural training at the Higher Federal College for Alpine Agriculture in Raumberg -Gumpenstein. From 1952 he worked as a research assistant at the regional planning office in Carinthia, where he carried out plant-sociological studies in the area of ​​the Keutschacher Moor-Seental.

From 1953 to 1957 Lichtenegger studied at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna . Even before he started his studies, he had contact with the botanist Lore Kutschera , who had founded a plant sociological institute in Klagenfurt in 1953 and carried out extensive root studies there. After completing his university studies, Lichtenegger worked for two years as an assistant to Lore Kutschera in Klagenfurt. During this time he acquired fundamental knowledge in the field of root ecology.

In 1959 Lichtenegger took a full-time position as a teacher at the agricultural college in St. Andrä im Lavanttal . From 1961 to 1966 he worked as a research assistant in the department for botany and plant sociology in Gumpenstein near Irdning . His main field of work was researching the grassland vegetation in the central Ennstal. During this time, his dissertation was the natural conditions and their consideration for a successful grazing in the Carinthian Basin , which he in 1963 at the University of Agricultural Sciences in Vienna Dr. agr. received his doctorate .

1966 Lichtenegger entered the agricultural service of the office of the Carinthian provincial government. In 1970 he was appointed the State Alm inspector of Carinthia. In this function, his main task was the promotion and maintenance of alpine farming by advising farmers on fertilization, the creation of farm roads and the construction of farm buildings as well as the allocation of subsidies. In addition, he dealt extensively with studies of the influence of management measures on the composition of the plant communities and their effects on the yields that can be achieved in higher locations. He has published the results of these studies in numerous articles in relevant specialist journals. A major concern for him was the permanent greening and protection of newly created ski slopes and slopes at risk of slipping using seeds that are appropriate for the location . Already at the beginning of the artificial snow-making of ski slopes, he worked out the basis for a proper assessment of the effects on the vegetation. His research results showed that an artificial snow cover has a protective effect for the plant cover.

In 1982 Lichtenegger qualified as a professor at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna with the text site studies in grassland . From 1983 he held lectures on “Ecology and Sociology of Grassland” at this university, and since 1989 at the University of Klagenfurt . In 1990 he was awarded the title of associate professor . In 1993 he left the civil service.

However, Lichtenegger was not only a grassland scientist, he is considered one of the great root researchers in the second half of the 20th century. For almost five decades, together with Lore Kutschera, he dug up plants in natural as well as agricultural and forestry areas in valley and mountain regions and described their roots, taking into account the given ecological location factors. The hairline drawings made by Lichtenegger of the exposed root systems including those of the above-ground parts of the plant are considered timeless documents of scientific root research.

Lichtenegger was involved as a draftsman , co-editor and co-author in all volumes of the seven-part root atlas series published by Lore Kutschera (1960–2009) and in other publications on root ecology . For professional reasons he was only able to do root research in his spare time until 1993. Only after his retirement did he devote himself “full-time” to this field of research. On research trips to several non-European countries he was able to uncover many root systems and gain new knowledge about pedological and climatic location requirements of the plants examined.

Main publications

• The natural prerequisites and their consideration for successful pasture management in the Carinthian basin. Dissertation, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna 1963.
• Site surveys in grassland. Habilitation thesis, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna 1982.
• Biological slope protection by short-growth lawns (= street research. Volume 308). Research project No. 299 of the Federal Ministry for Buildings and Technology in the Austrian Association of Engineers and Architects, Vienna 1986.
• Snow and vegetation. Previous experience about the effects of snowmaking on vegetation. Self-published Plant Sociological Institute, Klagenfurt 1993.
• High-altitude greening with special consideration of the grassing and maintenance of ski slopes. Self-published Plant Sociological Institute, Klagenfurt 1994; 2nd revised edition in German and English, Klagenfurt 2003.
• Lore Kutschera, Erwin Lichtenegger, Monika Sobotik, Dieter Haas: The root of the new organ. Their importance for the life of Weltwitschia mirabilis and other species of the Namib as well as species of neighboring areas. With explanation of the geotropic growth of plants. Self-published Plant Sociological Institute, Klagenfurt 1997.
• Lore Kutschera, Erwin Lichtenegger: Lobau root station. Invitation to the root room. Published by Municipal Department 49 - Forestry Office and Agricultural Enterprise of the City of Vienna , Vienna 2005.
• Co-editor and co-author of the seven-volume Root Atlas series edited by Lore Kutschera and Monika Sobotik . For a bibliographical overview of the individual volumes (1960–2009) see Lore Kutschera.

literature

• Franz Speta : On the history of root research with special consideration of the activities in Austria. In: Stapfia. Edition 50, Linz 1997, pp. 257–261 (entire article pp. 7–288, PDF on ZOBODAT , including short biographies by Lore Kutschera, pp. 257–259, Erwin Lichtenegger, pp. 259–260, and Monika Sobotik, p . 260–261; with photos).
• Scientists and Miners. Alpine Inspector Univ. Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Dr. Erwin Lichtenegger † August 18, 2004. In: Der Alm- und Bergbauer. Issue 10, 2004, p. 39 (with picture), also in: Kärntner Bauer from September 3, 2004, p. 17.
• A great Carinthian is dead. In: Klagenfurter Stadtzeitung from September 16, 2004.

Web links

• Literature by and about Erwin Lichtenegger in the catalog of the German National Library

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Root Atlas - series in 7 volumes. In: wurzelforschung.at. Retrieved May 3, 2020 .