An Introduction to Mountains - Mountain Geography: Physical and Human Dimensions - page 11

(Jodha 1997; Hamilton and Bruijnzeel 1997; Körner 2003). Their steep slopes and
young, thin soils make them particularly susceptible to accelerated soil erosion, gully
formation, landslides, desertification, and downstream river siltation, particularly if the
vegetation cover that protects their slopes is disturbed. Improper forest harvesting
practices, overgrazing, mass tourism, the construction of ill-designed transport roads,
and mining are the most frequent forms of land use leading to these advanced states of
degradation and habitat destruction in the mountains. Particularly at higher elevations,
off-road vehicle tracks, overgrazing, and the impacts of burning can take many decades
to heal (Byers 2005; Spehn et al. 2006). Knowledge—both scientific and traditional—of
how to limit such damage and mitigate its consequences is often available but is not
used effectively, if at all (Hamilton and Bruijnzeel 1997). The wide dissemination of case
studies of good practice is therefore essential (Stocking et al. 2005).
The impacts of climate change on mountain ecosystems, especially regarding the re-
treat of most of the world's glaciers that has occurred over the past century and im-
pacts on the world's freshwater supplies, has received considerable attention in the past
decade (Barry and Thian 2011; National Research Council 2012). As temperatures in-
crease, many alpine plants and animals may be at risk because of loss of habitat, or
because they are not able to migrate upslope fast enough to cooler, more suitable hab-
itats similar to those in which they evolved; thus, in particular, the design and location
of protected areas may have to be reconsidered (Price 2008; Worboys et al. 2010). The
melting of permafrost; increased risk of other high-magnitude events such as debris
flows and landslides; accelerated erosion from increased glacial runoff; changes in agri-
cultural patterns; the predicted depletion of glacier-fed freshwater for hydropower, ag-
riculture, and drinking water; negative impacts of climate change on mountain tourism;
and an increase in infectious diseases previously confined to the lowlands—all are real
or predicted impacts of climate change in the mountains that are receiving increasing
study and attention (Price and Barry 1997; Huber et al. 2005; Singh et al. 2011; this
volume, Chapters 3, 4, 7, and 12). Finally, the impacts of acid rain, smog, and metal
deposition from precipitation, all of which have lowland industrial sources, are often
seen first in mountain regions. Some believe that mountains are “canaries in the coal
mine” and among the most sensitive barometers of global climate change in the world
(Hamilton 1997).
For these and other reasons, many geographers, development workers, and govern-
ment officials feel that the future of the world's mountains, and the significant propor-
tion of the global population who depend on them, will depend largely on achieving
the same levels of international recognition and conservation efforts given to oceans,
rainforests, wetlands, and deserts (Ives and Messerli 1997; Debarbieux and Price 2008;
Rudaz 2011). Notable progress has been made during the past two decades to increase
local and global awareness for the importance of mountain environments and their
peoples (this volume, Chapter 12), but much remains to be done, particularly with re-
gard to the concept of ecosystem services provided by mountain areas to wider pop-
ulations. While this is increasingly being used as an argument for investing in moun-
tain areas (e.g., Rasul et al. 2011), there is still debate about the utility of the concept
(Gret-Regamey et al. 2012). Education will be key to this process of awareness raising,
and the objective of this topic, an updated and expanded version of Larry Price's superb
mountain geography textbook of 1981, is to facilitate the awareness-building process