The inductive-exploratory phase Area investigated and sampling universe

We chose the wilderness areas in those regions in the German part of Switzerland where wilderness and its spread are the subjects of intense de­bate. By “wilderness areas” we mean areas in which there has been hardly any human intervention in the form of tending or cultivation or in which hardly any such measures are still being implemented. The study areas were: (1) a forest near Zurich that had previously been commercially ex­ploited, (2) a re-naturalised floodplain area close to an urban area, (3) an overgrown cultivated area, and (4) an area with an Alpine wilderness that is being considered as a possible second Swiss national park. All the se­lected wilderness areas can still be used without any significant restrictions as recreation areas.

Updated: October 3, 2015 — 2:46 am