Mountains Under Climate and Global Change Conditions – Research Results in the Alps

Bender, Oliver; Borsdorf, Axel; Fischer, Andrea; Stötter, Johann

doi:10.5772/24574

Cited by 10 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…Focusing on the Italian Alps, the research undertaken so far ranges from identifying changes to the forest cover [18], land abandonment [19], the main drivers of land cover change [11], the role of socio-economic and natural characteristics [7] and the consequences of land cover changes on biodiversity [10]. However, there is a lack of research investigating the consequences for land cover of the significant socio-economic changes linked to the industrialization of Europe: migrations to the lowlands and the expansion of traffic routes due to mechanization [16,20]. Our Alpine study area lies in the Eastern Italian Alps, which have been experiencing the highest depopulation rates and decreases in economic activities in the last three decades [21].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding Land Cover Changes in the Italian Alps and Romanian Carpathians Combining Remote Sensing and Stakeholder Interviews

Malek

Scolobig

Schröter

2014

Land

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In the last two decades, socio-economic changes in Europe have had a significant effect on land cover changes, but it is unclear how this has affected mountain areas. We focus on two mountain areas: the eastern Italian Alps and the Romanian Curvature Carpathians. We classified land cover from Earth observation data after 1989 by using applied remote sensing techniques. We also analyzed socio-economic data and conducted semi-structured interviews with local stakeholders. In Italy, most of the land conversion processes followed long-term trends. In Romania, they took off with the sudden political changes after 1989. In both areas, forest expansion was the biggest, but potentially not the most consequential change. More consequential changes were urbanization in Italy and small-scale deforestation in Romania, since both increased the risk of hydro-meteorological hazards. Stakeholders' views were an added value to the spatial analysis and vice versa. For example, stakeholders' explanations resolved the seeming contradiction of decreased economic activity and increased urbanization (Italian site), as a consequence of secondary home building. Furthermore, spatial analysis revealed that OPEN ACCESS Land 2014, 3 53 urbanization in Romania was less significant with regard to consequences for the wider human-environment system than many stakeholders thought.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding Land Cover Changes in the Italian Alps and Romanian Carpathians Combining Remote Sensing and Stakeholder Interviews

Malek

Scolobig

Schröter

2014

Land

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“…This phenomenon often caught those responsible for natural resources policy and management totally unprepared. The results of such change are clearly observable in the transformation of the landscape that characterises our times [15][16][17][18][19].…”

Section: The Alpine Region: a Rapidly Changing Environmentmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…Suggestions have been made that the effects of climate change on the provision of goods and services may be multi-faceted [17,28,29], with their impacts depending on location and services [30][31][32][33]. It is also thought that demand for certain services might increase [34], causing discrepancies between supply and demand.…”

Section: A Problem Of Governancementioning

confidence: 99%

Balancing Economic Development and Environmental Conservation for a New Governance of Alpine Areas

Cantiani

Geitner

Haida³

et al. 2016

Sustainability

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Abstract:In the Alpine environment, Man has always been directly dependent on mountain ecosystems. Social mechanisms have created specific models of governance, capable of assuring the persistence of ecosystems and their capacity to provide essential goods and services. In recent decades, however, dramatic changes have occurred, such as climate change and changes in land use. The complexity common to all linked human-natural environment systems is extremely marked in the Alpine areas and this makes it difficult to understand how resilient these systems may be. Many research questions arise, in particular as to the comprehension and quantification of the impact of changes on the capacity of ecosystems to produce goods and services in a sustainable way, and the possibility of local mechanisms of governance to adapt to both current and future changes. Reasons and effects of change are analysed from the perspective of the specific issues of governance. The importance of the Ecosystems Services (ESs) concept is acknowledged and the necessity for a dynamic assessment of ESs, taking into account people's values and expectations, is particularly stressed. Through a careful analysis of selected papers and case studies, the main gaps in current knowledge are identified and directions for further research are provided.

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“…Summer tourism in the European Alps is negatively affected by changes in the landscape, melting glaciers, thawing permafrost, drought, and water scarcity as well as the prospective rise in the risk of natural hazards . Various mitigation measures have been taken in different parts of the Alps.…”

Section: Valuation Of Glaciersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Glaciers and society: attributions, perceptions, and valuations

Gagné

Rasmussen

Orlove

2014

WIREs Climate Change

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As icons of a world set in motion by human action, glaciers are often highlighted as quintessential evidences of global climate change. Although there is a general agreement among scientists that glaciers around the world are receding, much of the discussions on the subject tend to be oriented toward technological methodologies. Yet, as elements of the landscape, glaciers are strongly integrated to various societies around the world in ways that exceed their role as provider of fundamental sources of water. The relation between glaciers and societies is therefore marked by processes of attribution, perception, and valuation by local and distant actors. As a consequence, as they recede, glaciers often become the loci of interactions between actors of various scales. But besides melting, glaciers also transform from being objects of local to national and global concern. This is particularly true when esthetic and economic values are assigned to glaciers. Real and perceived changes in the form, reach and out‐flow of water impact the local populations, and shape the kinds of action undertaken by communities, local actors, state authorities, and international organizations. The paper concludes by arguing that place‐based research is fundamental to discuss a global environmental phenomenon such as glacier recession. WIREs Clim Change 2014, 5:793–808. doi: 10.1002/wcc.315 This article is categorized under: Climate, History, Society, Culture > Ideas and Knowledge Vulnerability and Adaptation to Climate Change > Learning from Cases and Analogies Social Status of Climate Change Knowledge > Sociology/Anthropology of Climate Knowledge

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Mountains Under Climate and Global Change Conditions – Research Results in the Alps

Cited by 10 publications

References 31 publications

Understanding Land Cover Changes in the Italian Alps and Romanian Carpathians Combining Remote Sensing and Stakeholder Interviews

Understanding Land Cover Changes in the Italian Alps and Romanian Carpathians Combining Remote Sensing and Stakeholder Interviews

Balancing Economic Development and Environmental Conservation for a New Governance of Alpine Areas

Glaciers and society: attributions, perceptions, and valuations

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