Aim: The aim of the study was to explicitly develop a methodology of delineation of natural Protected Designation of Origins (PDO) terroir regions for Austria, where PDO viticulture regions reflect natural conditions only in a formal manner.Methods and results: There is increasing competition in the wine market from globalized trends, where the European Union (EU) and non-EU wine producers have adopted different market strategies to promote their wines and gain larger market share. The EU has therefore established protective agricultural product categories such as PDO and Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) based on the terroir concept which contrasts with USA strategies. Here, we first collected and derived as many as possible relevant physical geographical data for a total of 66,673 officially registered vineyard areas in Burgenland (Austria). Next, we applied factor analysis to these data with the aim to shrink their size and reduce their dimensionality. For each vineyard plot was derived a factor score which was used for performing k-means clustering. The best count of clusters, k-parameter, was estimated using five internal validity indices. Five homogenous management zones were created as a result of clustering. Correctness and accuracy of the clustering was evaluated by multidimensional discriminant analysis. The final zones were compared to current Districtus Austriae Controllatus (DAC) of Burgenland.Conclusion: It was found by the comparison of DAC regions of Burgenland and our drafted zones that some of the DAC regions do not respect natural terroir zones, while these regions were created as PDO regions which should respect their natural terroir.Significance and impact of the study: The presented methodology can be applied all over Austria and, with some modifications caused by different input data, to each EU member country where it is necessary to revise PDO regions’ borders.

Managed broadleaf deciduous forests are an important type of forest vegetation in Central Europe, also in the Western Carpathians. These forests are both economically and environmentally valuable. However, little is known about ecological species groups and the inter-specific associations of dominant species in temperate deciduous managed forests in Central Europe. Since the forest stands are in a managed landscape, they are not consistent with the traditionally recognized and used vegetation associations in the Western Carpathians. For these reasons our research contributes to understanding the consequences of broadleaf deciduous forest management. The aim of this research was the determination of ecological species groups and an investigation into the main environmental drivers, in order to explain the distribution of ecological species groups. The numerical TWINSPAN classification was selected to distribute 146 relevés to the five ecological species groups. Of these, 77 relevés were divided into two groups with Fagus sylvatica dominant, while 63 relevés were Quercus petraea dominant. Carpinus betulus, Tilia cordata and Fraxinus excelsior were dominant in 19 relevés. Constrained Analysis of Principal Components was used to explain the vegetation–environment relationship on three transects in the Male Karpaty Mountains. Altitude, pH, Ca, C, K and Mg were selected as the significant environmental drivers responsible for a large part of the species group variability (31.8%). The main requirement for sustainable forest management is knowledge of the vegetation–environment relationship and this research was focused on gaining such understanding. This knowledge can be used as a decision support tool for sustainable management in managed deciduous forests.

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