Change In Mountain Regions Research Articles

Selected Issues from the Samedan GLOCHAMORE Workshop on Altitudinal Gradient Studies

Abstract In the context of the EU GLOCHAMORE project (Global Change in Mountain Regions, 2003–2005) a workshop was held on Altitudinal Gradient Studies from 27 to 30 July 2005 in Samedan/Switzerland. The main topic of the workshop was ecology and ecosystem processes (see “Ecological and land use studies along altitudinal gradients,” Becker et al 2007, in this issue). Other issues that arose at the workshop, including general aspects and hydrological and geomorphological issues, are presented here in brief.

Climatic Change in Mountain Regions: A Review of Possible Impacts

This paper addresses a number of issues related to current and future climatic change and its impacts on mountain environments and economies, focusing on the `Mountain Regions' Chapter 13 of Agenda 21, a basis document presented at the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro, and the International Year of the Mountains (IYM) 2002. The awareness that mountain regions are an important component of the earth's ecosystems, in terms of the resources and services that they provide to both mountain communities and lowland residents, has risen in the intervening decade. Based upon the themes outlined in the supporting documents for IYM, this paper will provide a succinct review of a number of sectors that warrant particular attention, according to IYM. These sectors include water resources, ecosystems and biological diversity, natural hazards, health issues, and tourism. A portfolio of research and policy options are discussed in the concluding section, as a summary of what the IYM and other concerned international networks consider to be the priority for mountain environmental protection, capacity building, and response strategies in the face of climatic change in the short to medium term future.

Sustainability in a Time of Global Change: The Challenge for Research

Mitigating global environmental problems requires most societies to focus on sustainability. To support the corresponding reorientation of priorities, researchers need to complement their rather isolated investigations of individual phenomena with studies that involve humans more deeply. The scientific community must continue to contribute to both the accumulation and the implementation of knowledge. To effectively translate knowledge into action, all actors and all parties affected must be involved. Because international agreements on measures to mitigate key problems of global change are very difficult to reach, they must be complemented by regional views, which have a much greater chance of enactment. The syndrome approach evoked in this article—which is based on an earlier collaborative study—is a research framework that can provide the necessary scientific basis for regional decisions within a global context. It seems particularly appropriate for identifying and tackling problems of global change in mountain regions.

Global environmental change in mountain regions : an overview

Abstract. Mountain regions cover 20% of terrestrial land surfaces and represent one of the principle source regions for the world's hydrological Systems. Mountain regions are today under pressure as a result of human interference; climatic change could lead to an additional stress on natural and socio-economic Systems. Paleo-climatic evidence has shown that past climatic change has lead to substantial shifts in the distribution of Vegetation. If the present warming trend were to continue into the 21" Century, there would be significant impacts on ecosystems. In particular. certain species may become extinct because ot their limited capacity for migration to regions with favorable climatic and soil conditions. In most mountain regions, a warmer climate will lead to a reduction in the mass of glaciers, as well as snow-pack and permafrost. Changes in precipitation regimes may have far-reaching consequences for fresh-water supply to agriculture, tourism and hydro-power. These shifts would affect not only mountain populations, but also those living downstream from the mountains and who depend on mountain-fed water resources. The social structure of populations in the mountains of the developing world may be disrupted by environmental change, because of the impacts this change is likely to have on the natural resources essential to traditional lifestyles of mountain communities.

Climate change in mountain regions: some possible consequences in the Moroccan High Atlas

Mountain areas are particularly sensitive to climate change. Seasonal and annual variations in climate already strongly influence agro-ecosystems, and although there is much speculation about the precise effects in such areas, any response of the communities will emerge from existing coping practices. Using examples from the High Atlas in Morocco, the paper explores the implications for livestock management, arboriculture and tourism. Although the local agro-ecosystem may prove resilient initially, the need to change tenure conditions and other rules of management may lead to conflict which exceeds the capacity of local institutions to resolve. At the same time national considerations may also draw the state more fully into conflict with mountain communities over resource use. However, the paper argues that these issues are just as likely to emerge from the evolution of the national economy as from climate change.

Global change in the mountains

This report identifies the research and information needs towards a greater understanding of the impacts of interacting global processes on mountain regions. It provides an overview of the European Conference on Environmental and Societal Change in Mountain Regions, which took place in Oxford, UK, in December 1997. Since the Rio Earth Summit in 1992, the importance of mountain regions has been increasingly recognised in science and policy initiatives at all levels. Key themes for research on the interactions of environmental and societal change are: a) carbon and nitrogen cycles, b) biodiversity and protected areas, c) gradual and rapid change in mountain landscapes, d) climatic oscillations and extreme events. Long-term and co-ordinated monitoring is vital for both understanding and management of global change. The development of inventories of data and information sharing must be priorities. Central and Eastern Europe is an area of particular attention. Global change research in mountain regions must be interdisciplinary. Partnership of natural and societal scientists from diverse disciplines are crucial, as is the direct involvement of local people in all stages of research and its application.

Climate change in mountain regions: a marginal issue?

Mountain regions comprise one-fifth of the world's land surface. They are home to a tenth and important in the lives of half of humankind. Yet mountains are often regarded as physically, politically and economically marginal; their importance has only recently been globally recognized. The potential impacts of climate change in mountain regions will vary considerably between different types of regions. These are briefly described, as an introduction to an evaluation of the potential impacts with regard to agriculture, forestry, water resources, tourism, energy, transport and health. It is concluded that climate change cannot be considered a marginal issue and that the ability of mountain and ‘downstream’ people to adapt and respond in the long term will require attention to the maintenance and use of local knowledge and cooperative social networks, as well as considerable scientific research.

Mountain Climatology and Past and Potential Future Climatic Changes in Mountain Regions: A Review

Climatic knowledge of mountain regions is limited by paucity of observations and insufficient theoretical attention to processes within these regions. This review article discusses the basic controls of mountain climate and the scales of climatic features, and illustrates data availability in several mountainous regions. Areas where our understanding is incomplete include orographic precipitation, especially extreme events, pollutant transport and deposition, and effects of forest cover on evapotranspiration and runoff. Sources of evidence for past climatic conditions in mountain areas are surveyed and particular aspects of mountain-lowland climate differences during the last glacial maximum, the Little Ice Age, and the 100-year observational record are noted. Finally, analogue and modeling approaches to assessing potential future climatic states are discussed in the context of mountain areas. The significance of such states in terms of snow cover and snowmelt runoff is described. The survey concludes with a series of recommendations for necessary actions.

Man-Made Altitudinal Belts in the Mountains: The Result of Plain-Mountain Interactions

In Allan's article, Accessibility and Altitudinal Zonation Models of Mountains, a model is presented that expresses the complex of relationships between mountains and plains, with an emphasis on their accessibility. The accessibility between these two physical units, the author argues, has in the past generation led to many changes in mountainous regions. Although Allan's conclusion that the changes are functionally related to the degree of accessibility between mountain and lowland areas is acceptable, it does not go far enough. Emphasis should also be placed on the fact that this is principally a unidirectional penetration, from the plain to the mountain, and that it creates the changes on the mountain. As for the model that Allan presents, its main interest lies in the changes experienced by the mountain inhabitants on account of increased accessibility, while in fact it should be shown that this accessibility brought about two processes that occurred simultaneously: first, changes among the indigenous mountain people, which does appear in the Allan model; second, penetration of land uses from the lowlands or through the inhabitants of the plains (such as organizational and tourist penetration), and this is not found in the model.