Tschamut is the west\u00adern\u00admost vil\u00adlage in the can\u00adton of Graub\u00fcn\u00adden. In mid-August, 30 map\u00adpers were out and about there\u2014on dry mead\u00adows, along streams and reser\u00advoirs, through flood\u00adplain forests, across steep slopes, through remote val\u00adleys, and up into high-alti\u00adtude land\u00adscapes, such as Piz Cavra\u00addi. Con\u00addi\u00adtions were not always easy: the hot, dry sum\u00admer had already caused many plants to with\u00ader, and large areas had been grazed. <\/p>\n\n
Sur\u00adpris\u00ading Bio\u00addi\u00adver\u00adsi\u00adty in a Steep Ravine<\/strong><\/p>\n\n The \u201cRuinas\u201d rapid sur\u00advey was par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly impres\u00adsive. The 100 \u00d7 100-meter study area is locat\u00aded on a steep slope in a ravine with plen\u00adty of tall herbs and green alder thickets\u2014so at first glance, it\u2019s not a place where one would expect to find high plant diver\u00adsi\u00adty. But the sur\u00advey\u00adors were not deterred and found 103 species there. <\/p>\n\n New species or species not report\u00aded for a long time<\/strong><\/p>\n\n Dur\u00ading a quick sur\u00advey in Maighels, par\u00adtic\u00adi\u00adpants dis\u00adcov\u00adered the frag\u00adile blad\u00adder fern (Cystopteris frag\u00adilis<\/em>), a new species for the sur\u00advey square. The Alpine wil\u00adlowherb (Epi\u00adlo\u00adbi\u00adum ana\u00adgal\u00adlid\u00adi\u00adfoli\u00adum<\/em>) also reappeared\u2014the last record of this species here dat\u00aded back to 1982. <\/p>\n\n There were also some sur\u00adpris\u00ades in Val Sumvitg: the Ger\u00adman tamarisk (Myri\u00adcaria ger\u00adman\u00adi\u00adca<\/em>) is a new species for the val\u00adley. In addi\u00adtion, the pres\u00adence of the sin\u00adgle-sheathed bul\u00adrush (Eleocharis unig\u00adlu\u00admis<\/em>) was con\u00adfirmed. <\/p>\n\n