Does artificial snow production affect soil and vegetation of ski pistes? A review

Rixen, Christian; Stoeckli, Veronika; Ammann, Walter

doi:10.1078/1433-8319-00036

Cited by 101 publications

(101 citation statements)

References 38 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…The standard snow cannons may take more than 1400 m 3 /h of water, and there are eight ski stations in the Bukowina Tatrzańska municipality that use such ways of extending ski season (Krąż 2012b). The above described problems are currently observed worldwide, as mountain hiking and winter tourism have become one of the most important economic sectors in various mountain areas, in different regions of the world (Rixen et al 2003). This is because the tourism and outdoor recreation are among the forms of intensive land use, with ski resort infrastructure being one of the main factors causing environmental degradation in various mountain regions of the world (Kangas et al 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrated management of ash from industrial and domestic combustion: a new sustainable approach for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from energy conversion

Benassi

Dalipi

Consigli

et al. 2017

Environ Sci Pollut Res

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This study was aimed to determine the anthropogenic and natural factors affecting spatial and temporal changes in the physicochemical parameters and bacterial indicators of water quality in the river Białka. The impact of intensive development of the tourist infrastructure on the quality of river water and the potential health threats to tourists was also assessed. Water samples were collected over a period of 2.5 years, once per each month in four sites along the river. Temperature, electrolytic conductivity, pH, and water level were measured onsite; flow rate data were acquired from the Institute of Meteorology and Water Management; chemical analyses allowed to determine the amount of fourteen ions, while microbiological indicators included total and thermotolerant coliforms, total and thermotolerant Escherichia coli, and mesophilic and psychrophilic bacteria. The combination of hydrological, hydrochemical, and microbiological methods generated large amount of data, which were processed by multivariate statistical analysis. A downstream cumulative effect was observed in the contamination of the river water. Fecal coliforms and E. coli were detected in all sites, suggesting the source of fecal contamination even in the protected areas. Intensive development of a ski resort and the related infrastructure, together with the need to accommodate numerous tourists in the examined region, has an evident environmental impact. The resulting deterioration of water quality poses health risks to tourists, as water from the Białka river is used for a variety of purposes, including as a raw drinking water or for artificial snowing of ski slopes. The seasonal changes in the physicochemical parameters mainly result from varying natural factors that shape the water quality in the studied region. The differences in the number of analyzed microorganisms result from seasonal variation in touristic activity and are affected mostly by point sources of sewage inflow.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrated management of ash from industrial and domestic combustion: a new sustainable approach for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from energy conversion

Benassi

Dalipi

Consigli

et al. 2017

Environ Sci Pollut Res

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Some studies have shown that seasonal snow cover largely alters local environmental conditions of alpine meadows, such as ground temperature (Rixen et al 2003(Rixen et al & 2004, edaphic water content (Taylor and Seastedt 1994), length of growing season (Molau 1993, Totland andAlatalo 2002), and microbial activity (Brooks et al 1996, Uchida et al 2005. In temperate alpine and arctic habitats, low temperature and reduced time for growth were thought to be two principal factors that limited the annual productivity of plants (Bliss 1962).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of snow-cover duration on plant species diversity of alpine meadows on the eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

Chen

et al. 2008

J. Mt. Sci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract:Although snow cover plays an important role in structuring plant diversity in the alpine zone, there are few studies on the relationship between snow cover and species diversity of alpine meadows on the eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. To assess the effect of snow cover on plant species diversity of alpine meadows, we used ten parallel transects of 60 m × 1 m for this study and described the changes in species diversity and composition associated with snow depth. With the division of snow depth into six classes, the highest species richness (S) and species diversity (H′) occurred with an intermediate snow depth, i.e., class III and class IV, showing a unimodal curve with the increase in snow depth. The relationship between snow depth and plant diversity (both richness and Shannon index) could be depicted by quadratic equations. There was no evident relationship between diversity (both S and H′) and soil water content, which implied that other more important factors influenced species diversity. The patterns of diversity found in our study were largely attributed to freeze-thaw alteration, length of growing season and disturbances of livestock grazing. Furthermore, snow depth affected species composition, as evaluated by the Sørensen's index of similarity. In addition, almost all species limited to one snow depth class were found only in class III and class IV, indicating that intermediate snow depth was suitable for the survival and growth of many alpine species.

show abstract

“…Snowmaking, however, comes along with its costs and consequences [39, [87][88][89]. Increasing energy burdens and costs and competition for common water resources, which are expected to get scarcer with climate change, are the top two concerns.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of Climate Change on Natural Snow Reliability, Snowmaking Capacities, and Wind Conditions of Ski Resorts in Northeast Turkey: A Dynamical Downscaling Approach

et al. 2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Many ski resorts worldwide are going through deteriorating snow cover conditions due to anthropogenic warming trends. As the natural and the artificially supported, i.e., technical, snow reliability of ski resorts diminish, the industry approaches a deadlock. For this reason, impact assessment studies have become vital for understanding vulnerability of ski tourism. This study considers three resorts at one of the rapidly emerging ski destinations, Northeast Turkey, for snow reliability analyses. Initially one global circulation model is dynamically downscaled by using the regional climate model RegCM4.4 for 1971-2000 and 2021-2050 periods along the RCP4.5 greenhouse gas concentration pathway. Next, the projected climate outputs are converted into indicators of natural snow reliability, snowmaking capacity, and wind conditions. The results show an overall decline in the frequencies of naturally snow reliable days and snowmaking capacities between the two periods. Despite the decrease, only the lower altitudes of one ski resort would face the risk of losing natural snow reliability and snowmaking could still compensate for forming the base layer before the critical New Year's week. On the other hand, adverse high wind conditions improve as to reduce the number of lift closure days at all resorts. Overall, this particular region seems to be relatively resilient against climate change.

show abstract

Does artificial snow production affect soil and vegetation of ski pistes? A review

Cited by 101 publications

References 38 publications

Integrated management of ash from industrial and domestic combustion: a new sustainable approach for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from energy conversion

Integrated management of ash from industrial and domestic combustion: a new sustainable approach for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from energy conversion

Effect of snow-cover duration on plant species diversity of alpine meadows on the eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

Impact of Climate Change on Natural Snow Reliability, Snowmaking Capacities, and Wind Conditions of Ski Resorts in Northeast Turkey: A Dynamical Downscaling Approach

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About