GC Altötting-Burghausen Scene of the 1st GEO Day on a golf course

648 species in 24 hours – that is the positive balance of the first GEO day on a German golf course, which has now been published by the BUND Naturschutz Kreisgruppe Altötting . In mid-june, 24 experts examined the flora and fauna of the GC Altötting-Burghausen on the approximately 70-hectare site within 24 hours and entered the finds in species lists. The so-called ” GEO Day of Biodiversity “, which has been held in Central Europe since 1999 with a focus on Germany, is primarily about making biodiversity on one’s own doorstep tangible and tangible. However, a golf course has never been examined during the largest field research campaign in Central Europe.

Diverse biotope structure

The results, presented at the beginning of September, are remarkable. A total of 648 species were detected within one day, including trees and shrubs, flowering plants, grasses and ferns, mushrooms, birds, butterflies, beetles, bees, flies, dragonflies, bats, amphibians, snails and spiders. Among them was the rare crustacean bee (photo Daniela Ehm). In her final report, the organizer of the GEO Day, Eveline Merches, certifies that the golf course has a “diverse biotope structure”.

The largest number of Red List species was discovered on the surface of a semi-arid grassland, where, for example, the heather bugle, the rough-haired goose cress and the oval-leaved rockrose were found. “This shows, how much potential the areas of the golf course, that are not used for golfing, have and how high the overall value of maintaining such areas has,” summarizes Merches. This is one of the reasons why the golf course’s biodiversity team, together with a representative of the landscape conservation association, now wants to determine which of their areas have similar potential and can be reactivated through appropriate care.

Enormous data variety for the golf club

For club manager Markus Löffl, the GEO day was an all-round positive experience: “On this one day we received an incredible amount of data about our golf course, which we can now also use in external communication.” Löffl can therefore only recommend organizing a GEO day to other golf clubs.

But how does one become the scene of a GEO day:

• In principle, you can also register as a golf club to participate in the GEO day
• If you would like to be part of a biodiversity survey, the best thing to do is to contact the local Landscape Conservation Association or BUND Naturschutz group and see if there is any interest in the golf course survey.
• Cities, municipalities, universities and institutions also hold the GEO Day. An overview of all activities in 2020 can be found here .