European Mountain Areas Research Articles

Reflecting on heritage and power: dynamics, strategies and appropriations in the Catalan Pyrenees and the French Alps

In this article we will explore the way in which different agents appropriate and use heritage to compete in specific power scenarios. We approach heritage discourses and practices as defining specific political arenas within which power relations are reconfigured. The protection of spaces and places as well as the processes of patrimonialisation that take place inside specific localities give rise to the emergence of new ways of exercising power. We will examine two ethnographic cases from South European mountain areas: the Parc National des Écrins in the French Alps and a Romanesque church in the Catalan Pyrenees. An analysis of both the protected area and the constructed heritage will enable us to focus on heritage as being produced, identified and valued within specific logics and value systems. We examine the dynamics that heritage and heritage policies produce in each context as well as the interest they promote. Heritage both organises different fields of forces and is appropriated by politicians, experts, and economic actors. We will discuss the entanglements, forces and dynamics that are activated and played out as a result of heritage processes in the larger process of contemporary political transformations.

Environmental and land use determinants of grassland patch diversity in the western and eastern Alps under agro-pastoral abandonment

Agro-pastoral decline in European mountain areas has recently caused changes to traditional landscapes with negative consequences on semi-natural grassland conservation and the associated biodiversity and ecosystem services. In the Italian Alps, grassland patches enclosed in a forest matrix are progressively disappearing. Two alpine valleys (Pesio and Pejo), having similar land-use history, were chosen as representative of management conditions of western and eastern Italian Alps, respectively. This study aims at interpreting the effect of abandonment on grassland patch plant diversity, considering land cover changes of the last 60 years, and assessing the role of ecological, topographic, management and landscape configuration on current grassland species richness. The total area of grassland patches has declined by 54 and 91 % at Pesio and at Pejo, respectively. Actual grassland patch species richness was mostly influenced by ecological factors, such as quantity of light, soil moisture and reaction, then by topographic features, especially slope, and finally by management intensity. Landscape factors exerted a slightly significant effect on plant diversity. In the two valleys, differences on management practices were detected. Even though in the western valley the conservation of several grazing activities contributed to slow down the process of patch reduction, many species-rich grasslands were generally under-grazed. Conversely, in the eastern valley, despite a denser road network, the stronger decline of grassland patch extension was linked to the hay making decline. At the same time, overuse of grassland patches near farms reduced plant species richness. As a conclusion, plant species richness was weakly related to the area of grassland patches and current and historical landscape configuration were of relatively lower importance than ecological, topographic and management factors, when evaluated at patch-level.

Book Review

The journal “eco.mont” – Journal of protected mountain areas research and management – was published for the first time in June 2009. The journal was founded as a joint initiative of the Alpine Network of Protected Areas (ALPARC), the International Scientific Committee on Research in the Alps (ISCAR), the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) and the University of Innsbruck. The journal aims to highlight research on and management issues in protected areas in the Alps without excluding other protected mountain areas in Europe or overseas. Its target audiences are scientists from all related disciplines, managers of protected areas and interested individuals including practitioners, visitors, teachers, etc. The journal presents peer-reviewed articles in English by authors who research protected mountain areas and management issues within these areas. It's published twice a year as a collaboration of the Austrian Academy of Sciences Press – responsible for the e-version – and Innsbruck University Press – responsible for the print version.

Using a new PDP modelling approach for land-use and land-cover change predictions: A case study in the Stubai Valley (Central Alps)

Due to the progressive forest expansion in European mountain areas triggered by agricultural abandonment, semi-natural meadows and pastures of great ecological and aesthetic value are disappearing. The aim of this study is to predict and analyse the future evolution of land use and land cover (LULC) in the Stubai Valley, Central Alps. We propose a computational Population Dynamics P system (PDP) model that incorporates the main LULC change processes like plant production, grazing, abandonment and reforestation. The advantages of our LULC-PDP model are: (1) the possibility to consider a large number of wild and domestic animals of different species and LULC, (2) the parallel and interdependent evolution of processes, animals and LULC, (3) the easy introduction of new processes and, hence, (4) the straightforward application of the model in other study areas. We simulate LULC changes from 2003 to 2033 in three different scenarios: (1) continuation of current land use, (2) slight reduction in land-use intensity and (3) strong reduction in land-use intensity. Furthermore, we use response-surface models that relate the response variable area and livestock annual variation, allowing better interpretation of LULC changes. The results show the accurate functioning of our model as a prediction tool. We see how agriculturally used grasslands progressively decrease, whereas the forest area increases in all simulated scenarios. The most likely zones to be abandoned are found in the intermediate altitudinal range between 1500 and 2150m, mostly on steep slopes (>30°). The reduction in the number of cattle is closely linked to the decrease in grazing land. As this tendency questions the conservation of traditional agricultural land, it is important to apply new strategies to preserve these cultural landscapes and the multiple ecosystem services for future generations before they disappear definitively.

Cooperative Systems in Mountain Regions: A Governance Instrument for Smallholder Entrepreneurs

This is the first time that The Journal of Alpine Research has released an issue on cooperative systems, their role, relevance, operational processes and resilience in European and African mountain areas. The six contributions assess the actual and past effects and functioning of rural and agricultural cooperatives operating in different sectors and geographical locations. The authors depict the way the territorial and social capital influence the development of cooperatives, the interrelatio...

Carbohydrates and thermal properties indicate a decrease in stable aggregate carbon following forest colonization of mountain grassland

In mountainous areas of Europe, the abandonment of grasslands followed by forest expansion is the dominant land-use change. Labile (i.e. easily decomposable) litter represents the major source for soil microbial products, which promote soil aggregation and long-term C stabilization. Our objective was to investigate changes in the content and origin of soil C components involved into aggregate stabilization (i.e. carbohydrates) following forest expansion on abandoned grassland in the Alps, where only few studies have been conducted.Changes in carbohydrates and thermally labile C were assessed along a land-use gradient in the Southern Alps (Italy) following analysis of carbohydrate monomers and thermal analysis of mineral soil and physical soil fractions. The land-use gradient comprised managed grassland, two transitional phases in which grassland abandonment led to colonization by Picea abies (L.) Karst., and an old forest dominated by Fagus sylvatica L. and P. abies.Grassland abandoned for 10 years tended to have higher levels of carbohydrate and thermally labile soil C than managed grassland and old forest, presumably caused by differences in the quality and amount of litter input. Carbohydrates and thermally labile C showed similar patterns in bulk soil, suggesting that thermal analysis can be used to complement chemical analysis although a straightforward relationship could not be established. Following forest expansion on abandoned grassland, ratios of microbially to plant-derived carbohydrates and thermally labile to resistant components decreased in bulk soil and soil fractions. Forest expansion entailed decreasing amounts of microbially derived compounds known to be important for aggregate stability, and corresponded to decreased soil C allocation to stable aggregates.The combination of carbohydrate and thermal analyses revealed a lower abundance of microbially derived C components after forest colonization on abandoned grasslands, thus resulting in lower physical protection of soil C considering that carbohydrates of microbial origin actively promote soil aggregation.

Delineation of mountains and mountain areas in Europe - a planning approach

Mountains are usually understood as high elevation areas, which are sparsely populated and where nature is preserved. The elevation above sea level is the most commonly taken as a criterion for mountain delineation, but the complexity of the task arises when definitions are compared in different national contexts, between projects and particularly when they are applied in decision-making process. Therefore, this paper aims to give a review of the existing palette of mountain definitions and mountain area delineations, to recognize some common criteria used in the definitions, as well as to review topics and situations in which the delineations are applied and used in spatial planning. Due to the diversity of cases, it was necessary to reduce scope of the topic; therefore the paper is limited to the European context and particularly to countries representing the largest European mountain massifs - Alps, Apennines, Pyrenees, Dinaric Alps and Carpathians.

Editorial - Related projects recorded in the European Mountain Pool

The journal “eco.mont” – Journal of protected mountain areas research and management – was published for the first time in June 2009. The journal was founded as a joint initiative of the Alpine Network of Protected Areas (ALPARC), the International Scientific Committee on Research in the Alps (ISCAR), the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) and the University of Innsbruck. The journal aims to highlight research on and management issues in protected areas in the Alps without excluding other protected mountain areas in Europe or overseas. Its target audiences are scientists from all related disciplines, managers of protected areas and interested individuals including practitioners, visitors, teachers, etc. The journal presents peer-reviewed articles in English by authors who research protected mountain areas and management issues within these areas. It's published twice a year as a collaboration of the Austrian Academy of Sciences Press – responsible for the e-version – and Innsbruck University Press – responsible for the print version.

News

The journal “eco.mont” – Journal of protected mountain areas research and management – was published for the first time in June 2009. The journal was founded as a joint initiative of the Alpine Network of Protected Areas (ALPARC), the International Scientific Committee on Research in the Alps (ISCAR), the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) and the University of Innsbruck. The journal aims to highlight research on and management issues in protected areas in the Alps without excluding other protected mountain areas in Europe or overseas. Its target audiences are scientists from all related disciplines, managers of protected areas and interested individuals including practitioners, visitors, teachers, etc. The journal presents peer-reviewed articles in English by authors who research protected mountain areas and management issues within these areas. It's published twice a year as a collaboration of the Austrian Academy of Sciences Press – responsible for the e-version – and Innsbruck University Press – responsible for the print version.

Book Review

The journal “eco.mont” – Journal of protected mountain areas research and management – was published for the first time in June 2009. The journal was founded as a joint initiative of the Alpine Network of Protected Areas (ALPARC), the International Scientific Committee on Research in the Alps (ISCAR), the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) and the University of Innsbruck. The journal aims to highlight research on and management issues in protected areas in the Alps without excluding other protected mountain areas in Europe or overseas. Its target audiences are scientists from all related disciplines, managers of protected areas and interested individuals including practitioners, visitors, teachers, etc. The journal presents peer-reviewed articles in English by authors who research protected mountain areas and management issues within these areas. It's published twice a year as a collaboration of the Austrian Academy of Sciences Press – responsible for the e-version – and Innsbruck University Press – responsible for the print version.

Content

The journal “eco.mont” – Journal of protected mountain areas research and management – was published for the first time in June 2009. The journal was founded as a joint initiative of the Alpine Network of Protected Areas (ALPARC), the International Scientific Committee on Research in the Alps (ISCAR), the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) and the University of Innsbruck. The journal aims to highlight research on and management issues in protected areas in the Alps without excluding other protected mountain areas in Europe or overseas. Its target audiences are scientists from all related disciplines, managers of protected areas and interested individuals including practitioners, visitors, teachers, etc. The journal presents peer-reviewed articles in English by authors who research protected mountain areas and management issues within these areas. It's published twice a year as a collaboration of the Austrian Academy of Sciences Press – responsible for the e-version – and Innsbruck University Press – responsible for the print version.

Editorial - Related projects recorded in the European Mountain Pool

The journal “eco.mont” – Journal of protected mountain areas research and management – was published for the first time in June 2009. The journal was founded as a joint initiative of the Alpine Network of Protected Areas (ALPARC), the International Scientific Committee on Research in the Alps (ISCAR), the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) and the University of Innsbruck. The journal aims to highlight research on and management issues in protected areas in the Alps without excluding other protected mountain areas in Europe or overseas. Its target audiences are scientists from all related disciplines, managers of protected areas and interested individuals including practitioners, visitors, teachers, etc. The journal presents peer-reviewed articles in English by authors who research protected mountain areas and management issues within these areas. It's published twice a year as a collaboration of the Austrian Academy of Sciences Press – responsible for the e-version – and Innsbruck University Press – responsible for the print version.

Editorial - Related projects recorded in the European Mountain Pool

The journal “eco.mont” – Journal of protected mountain areas research and management – was published for the first time in June 2009. The journal was founded as a joint initiative of the Alpine Network of Protected Areas (ALPARC), the International Scientific Committee on Research in the Alps (ISCAR), the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) and the University of Innsbruck. The journal aims to highlight research on and management issues in protected areas in the Alps without excluding other protected mountain areas in Europe or overseas. Its target audiences are scientists from all related disciplines, managers of protected areas and interested individuals including practitioners, visitors, teachers, etc. The journal presents peer-reviewed articles in English by authors who research protected mountain areas and management issues within these areas. It's published twice a year as a collaboration of the Austrian Academy of Sciences Press – responsible for the e-version – and Innsbruck University Press – responsible for the print version.

Book Review

The journal “eco.mont” – Journal of protected mountain areas research and management – was published for the first time in June 2009. The journal was founded as a joint initiative of the Alpine Network of Protected Areas (ALPARC), the International Scientific Committee on Research in the Alps (ISCAR), the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) and the University of Innsbruck. The journal aims to highlight research on and management issues in protected areas in the Alps without excluding other protected mountain areas in Europe or overseas. Its target audiences are scientists from all related disciplines, managers of protected areas and interested individuals including practitioners, visitors, teachers, etc. The journal presents peer-reviewed articles in English by authors who research protected mountain areas and management issues within these areas. It's published twice a year as a collaboration of the Austrian Academy of Sciences Press – responsible for the e-version – and Innsbruck University Press – responsible for the print version.

Late Pleistocene and Holocene landscape formation in a gully catchment area in Northern Hesse, Germany

Permanent gully channels under forest are common geomorphological features in Central European low mountain areas. In the Rehgraben/Fuchslöchergraben gully catchment in Northern Hesse, Germany the Late Pleistocene landscape formation is reconstructed based on periglacial cover beds. In addition, the Holocene landscape development and soil erosion history are investigated using anthropogenic soil sediments and alluvial fan sediments. Until now, a combination of these approaches has not been applied to a gully catchment to this extent. The distribution of the different Quaternary sediments enables the differentiation between Pleistocene and Holocene landforms. Radiocarbon and optically stimulated luminescence dating are applied to add numerical data to the relative ages of the sediments and landforms.The gully channels are oriented along Pleistocene depressions that are built up of periglacial cover beds and intercalated reworked loess. As the gully channels cut through the periglacial cover beds, especially the upper layer, the gully system is of Holocene age. At least two phases of gully erosion are identified in the alluvial fan sediments. The initial gully erosion is dated to the time span between the Late Bronze Age and Roman Times. A second gully erosion phase is dated to the 14th century and may be correlated to the severe precipitation events during this time. Gully erosion started during the Younger Holocene and is connected to human settlement and land use activity. The intense human impact hampers the application of the concept of periglacial cover beds to reconstruct landscape formation and limits it to areas where the periglacial upper layer is still preserved.

Landscapes of transhumance in Norway and Spain: Farmers' practices, perceptions, and value orientations

The mountain areas of Europe have been of vital importance in the system of summer farming whereby the movement of livestock between different altitudinal levels is a key element. However, summer farming has been downscaled considerably during the 20th century. The article describes two areas where summer farming is still practised: Forollhogna in Norway, and Asturias in Spain. The authors document the transhumance system in the two areas, and investigate how farmers view the summer farming system and landscape, how they relate to nature protection, and whether specific value orientations can be detected in their views. The findings show that the logic behind summer farming is the same in both areas: economic motivation and access to grazing grounds. With regard to nature and landscape protection, the opinion that wild nature is given priority and that ‘managed nature’ of transhumance is overlooked was found in both areas, although it was expressed more strongly in Asturias than in Forollhogna. Opinions and ideals related to ‘good farming’ were found in both contexts, and were reflected in well-kept fields and productive and healthy livestock.

Places beyond maps; integrating spatial map analysis and perception studies to unravel landscape change in a Mediterranean mountain area (NE Spain)

Landscape change is driven by a complex combination of physical, ecological and socio-cultural drivers. Because of their inherent complexity, integrative strategies that combine social and environmental data need to be developed in landscape change research, planning and management. This is particularly true for European mountain areas, where landscapes have undergone major changes through human history, tracing back over thousands of years of continuous human intervention. Within this context the purpose of this paper is twofold: to investigate the processes governing landscape change, and to demonstrate the value of an integrative approach to improve the understanding of such changes. In order to test our approach a Mediterranean mountain area in Northeast Spain was selected. As part of the research process, quantitative data of land cover changes were paired with qualitative social assessment based on local inhabitants' perceptions of changes and identification of driving forces. Findings support that the exploration of local perceptions in addition to the quantitative spatial assessment of land cover dynamics enhances the reliability of processes of interpretation and explanation of landscape change and improves the understanding of hidden dynamics and complex driving forces.

Atmospheric deposition of polybromodiphenyl ethers in remote mountain regions of Europe

Abstract. Polybromodiphenyl ethers (PBDEs) were analyzed in bulk atmospheric deposition collected in four European remote mountain areas over a period of two years (2004–2006): Lake Redon (Pyrenees, Catalonia, Spain), Gossenköllesee (Alps, Austria), Lochnagar (Grampian Mountains, Scotland) and Skalnate (Tatras, Slovakia). In all sites, the PBDE distributions were dominated by BDE209. BDE47 and BDE99 were the major low-brominated congeners, followed by BDE100 and BDE183. This composition is consistent with predominant inputs from the commercial mixtures decaBDE and pentaBDE. The total congener site-averaged fluxes ranged between 100 ng m−2 mo−1 (Alps) and 190 ng m−2 mo−1 (Tatras). Significant correlations between PBDE deposition and percent of North Atlantic backwards air mass trajectories in the collected samples of the westernmost sites, Lochnagar and Redon, suggested an impact of transcontinental transfer of these pollutants from North American sources into Europe. Skalnate, and to a lower extent Redon, recorded another main PBDE source from central Europe corresponding to secondary emissions of the pentaBDE commercial mixture. The fluxes of these secondary emissions were temperature dependent and correlated to total particle deposition and rainfall. Higher PBDE fluxes were observed at increasing temperature, particle deposition and precipitation. Another specific PBDE source was observed in United Kingdom and recorded in Lochnagar. Photolytic degradation during transport decreased the relative abundance of BDE209 and modified the emitted pentaBDE technical mixtures by depletion of the relative composition of BDE99 and, to a lower extent, BDE47. The transformations were more intense in the sites located above 2000 m (Redon and Gossenköllesee) and, particularly, during the warm periods.

Editorial

The journal “eco.mont” – Journal of protected mountain areas research and management – was published for the first time in June 2009. The journal was founded as a joint initiative of the Alpine Network of Protected Areas (ALPARC), the International Scientific Committee on Research in the Alps (ISCAR), the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) and the University of Innsbruck. The journal aims to highlight research on and management issues in protected areas in the Alps without excluding other protected mountain areas in Europe or overseas. Its target audiences are scientists from all related disciplines, managers of protected areas and interested individuals including practitioners, visitors, teachers, etc. The journal presents peer-reviewed articles in English by authors who research protected mountain areas and management issues within these areas. It's published twice a year as a collaboration of the Austrian Academy of Sciences Press – responsible for the e-version – and Innsbruck University Press – responsible for the print version.

News

The journal “eco.mont” – Journal of protected mountain areas research and management – was published for the first time in June 2009. The journal was founded as a joint initiative of the Alpine Network of Protected Areas (ALPARC), the International Scientific Committee on Research in the Alps (ISCAR), the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) and the University of Innsbruck. The journal aims to highlight research on and management issues in protected areas in the Alps without excluding other protected mountain areas in Europe or overseas. Its target audiences are scientists from all related disciplines, managers of protected areas and interested individuals including practitioners, visitors, teachers, etc. The journal presents peer-reviewed articles in English by authors who research protected mountain areas and management issues within these areas. It's published twice a year as a collaboration of the Austrian Academy of Sciences Press – responsible for the e-version – and Innsbruck University Press – responsible for the print version.