Alpine pastures play an important role in the province of Salzburg, especially in the regional economic and tourist aspect due to 1,800 actively managed alpine pastures. Looking at alpine pastures from a health perspective, a significant potential in the health sector can be identified: Alpine pastures offer a multitude of health-promoting factors. In addition to the clean air, vitamin D build-up, altitude and the promotion of exercise, there is a new scientific hypothesis that the high biodiversity of microorganisms in alpine pastures (the alpine pasture microbiome – consisting of bacteria, fungi and archaeae) has an anti-inflammatory and health-promoting effect via complex immunological control loops.

In the project „Alpine pastures and health“ the Research Studio iSPACE, the Paracelsus Medizinische Privatuniversität Salzburg (PMU) and the University of Salzburg (PLUS) are jointly investigating the effects of a stay in an alpine pasture on the health of city residents.

Günter Gruber, Researcher at Research Studio iSPACE, about the project:

 “For us it is extremely exciting to combine spatial analytical methods of geoinformatics with a clinical study. We hope to make sound statements about the health potential of alpine pastures, which can be used in the tourism industry, among other things”.

Microbiome research has influenced the understanding of health and disease over the last decade more than almost any other topic. Enabling a lively exchange between the human microbiome and microbes from the environment is fundamental in view of the constant urbanization that is increasingly reducing the spectrum of microorganisms and at the same time increasing the risk of diseases such as allergies, asthma, autoimmune diseases or diseases of civilization.

Due to the diversity of this habitat, the alpine nature area, especially alpine pastures, offer an enormous future health potential. The project aims to analyse the alpine pasture microbiome of different Salzburg alpine pasture typologies and to create an innovative basis for the positioning of alpine pastures as health-promoting living and recreational areas by means of the differences between alpine pasture and urban microbiome. Based on this, a clinical study on the effect of a stay in an alpine pasture and its specific microbiome on the health of city dwellers will be conducted. The overall objective of the project is to build up a regional innovation competence for the sustainable valorisation of alpine pastures as health-promoting living and recreational areas.

Read also the current press release on the project:

DIE PRESSE, 31.10.2020 
„Fördert „Almbaden“ die Gesundheit?”