On the flora side
Tyrol's different valleys have different orientations and exposures, which inevitably leads to a diversity of vegetation. The winds come from many places: Central Europe, Southern Germany, the Swiss plateau, the Mediterranean basin and sometimes even the Sahara winds laden with ochre sand, sometimes leaving traces on the snow and in the glacial strata. As a result of these varying climatic conditions, the valleys are home to a wide variety of tree species, mainly fir and spruce in the mid-mountains, and larch, arole and hooked pine in the alpine zone. Tyrol is particularly noted for its variety of mountain flowers, some of which are found nowhere else but north of the Arctic Circle, such as the beautiful hail cottongrass (Eriophorum gracile) with its tuft of long white silks, a species that is now protected but was once used as cotton by man. Edelweiss is the natural queen of the Tyrol, as is the sublime martagon lily with its distinctive scent. Among alpine plants, gentian is also emblematic of the area. Typical of the Austrian Alps, androsaces and beautiful saxifrages are widespread rock plants. On the highest peaks, only glacier buttercups, houseleeks and a few androsaces grow. It is in the Tyrol, as in all the eastern Central Alps, that we find the most archaic species, preserved in certain valleys and found nowhere else, such as wulfenia and campanula alpina.
On the animal side
Tyrol's wildlife is abundant and well protected. These include the large mammals typical of the Alps, some of which were once threatened, but are now thriving again following their protection and reintroduction over the last few decades. Among herbivores, the emblematic ibex, chamois and mouflon live at high altitudes (montane, subalpine and alpine levels), while deer and roe deer thrive in the lower, forested levels. Although the brown bear has reappeared in the Tyrol, it's still very rare, if not impossible, to come across one! Slovenia remains a close breeding ground for their reintroduction to other countries, and ten Slovenian bears were reintroduced to Trentino in the 1990s. There are now around sixty bears in the province of Trentino-Alto Adige. There is officially no bear population on the northern slopes of the Great Alps, despite reintroduction attempts. Among carnivores, wolves and lynx are also present in Tyrol, as are wildcats, martens, weasels and ermine. Last but not least, rodents abound, including the famous marmot! It goes without saying that all these animals have to cope with and adapt to the long, harsh winters, learning to brave the cold and sometimes finding their food under the snow. Tyrol is also home to many endogenous bird species, the most typical of which are undoubtedly the golden eagle, the alpine accentor, the northern goshawk, the bearded vulture, the griffon vulture, the great horned owl and the mountain venturon.
The layering of vegetation
The living world adapts to its environment, which is why we don't find the same species everywhere. Vegetation gradation is mainly a function of mountain height and climate. From bottom to top, we find the following stages: collinean stage, montagnard stage (small mountains), subalpine stage (medium mountains and alpine meadows), alpine stage (high mountains, between 1,800 and 3,000 meters) and finally nival stage (peaks above 3,000 m). In practice, these stages mean two things: firstly, you won't find the same living species depending on which stage you're in. In other words, the pretty flowers of the valley bottoms of the Tyrol won't be the same as those you'll see on the alpine meadows, or those that seek to reach the summits. On the other hand, the different altitudes, and therefore the different species of flora and fauna, vary for the same altitude. In the northern Pre-Alps, for example, the sub-alpine zone corresponds to an altitude of between 1,200 and 1,900 m, whereas it extends from 1,400 to 2,100 m in the central Alps.
