Corine Land Cover 2000 - Alpine (Grass) Mats

In the standard CORINE-classification these are referred to as "Natural Grasslands". In Austria, in particular, one prefers to use the expression "Alpine Mats", because the expanse and often also the composition if the varieties in these pastures is not only due to natural factors.

These alpine mats mostly consist of grass communities that are, in part, interspersed with dwarf shrubs and rocks. They correspond to the typical vegetation above the dense dwarf shrub heathland and reach an altitude of some 2200 m in the alpine fringes and 2800 m in the Central Alps.

This grassland has been used for thousands of years as summer grazing land for cattle (mountain pastures) as well as for the production of hay. For this reason these areas have often been extended, i.e. cleared of trees in the lower regions, so that the tree line has in parts been lowered by a few hundred metres. These alpine mats are not really natural pastures but are a cultural landscape typical for Tyrol.

Because there has been a tendency to increase pastureland in the valleys over the last decades, many areas of mountain pasture will, in the long-run through lack of use, experience a re-growth of bushes and be ultimately re-colonised by trees. However, these mountain pastures play an important role in tourism because open scenery is valued highly by holidaymakers. This is also a reason why the utilisation of mountain pastures is financed by public money.