Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Mediterranean mountains as well as the adaptations of biota to high-altitude envi-
ronmental conditions. In addition the pressures on mountain biodiversity and the
efforts at national and international level for its protection are discussed.
Throughout the Mediterranean Basin, human identities and cultures in moun-
tain areas are diverse both historically and currently. Mountains provide refuge not
only to plant and animal species but also to people trying to escape from invaders,
and they form a distinctive component of many peoples' cultural identity. In the
interior mountains of each Mediterranean country, human populations are still ex-
traordinarily distinct linguistically and behaviourally (McNeill, 1992). People have
always had spiritual connections with and cultural roots in the most imposing mas-
sifs of the Mediterranean, while traditional management systems have resulted in
cultural landscapes with unique biodiversity, cultural and socioeconomic values.
The link between culture and Mediterranean mountain environments is dealt with
in
Chapter 7
.
Environmental and economic change is no stranger to the Mediterranean moun-
tain environments (for the role of natural forces see Chapters 3, 4 and 5). In their
quest for timber, fuel and minerals, humans have left their irreversible mark on
these mountains. The increasing reliance of human communities on mountains for
various services has led to a magnitude and rate of change that threatens to over-
whelm mountain ecosystems and hence the communities they support. Currently
Mediterranean mountain environments, and the human communities that live and
work there, face unprecedented threats from social, economic and environmental
forces of change. These same forces also bring exciting opportunities for the inte-
gration of knowledge and expertise to achieve sustainable solutions for future de-
velopment of these areas. The first part of
Chapter 8
provides a historical analysis
of land uses (grazing, transhumance, terrace cultivations), the drivers (economic,
social and environmental) that determine the pattern of change, and how those vary
across the Mediterranean mountains. The second part provides a description of the
current situation in some of the most mountainous countries in the Mediterranean
and discusses the impacts of land use change and future challenges.
Climate change poses a number of potential risks to ecosystems globally. Al-
though the impacts cannot as yet be predicted with certainty, mountain systems
are particularly sensitive to changes in climate, supported by past evidence (geo-
logical era) of vegetation zone shifts (Beniston, 2000). Mediterranean mountains
are under threat from climate change, which affects directly or indirectly different
key features, such as biodiversity, snow cover, glaciers, run-off processes and water
availability.
Chapter 9
reviews recent and future trends in Mediterranean mountain
climate. It provides an assessment of temperature, precipitation, and spring precip-
itation changes in Mediterranean mountains under different emission scenarios and
Atmosphere-Ocean-Coupled General Circulation Models. The implications of pre-
dicted climate change for both human and physical features and synergies with other
pressures on mountain environments are discussed, focusing on the cryosphere, hy-
drosphere and biodiversity.
