Pub Date : 2021-10-14DOI: 10.1659/MRD-JOURNAL-D-21-00033.1
G. McDowell, Madison E. Stevens, A. Lesnikowski, C. Huggel, A. Harden, J. DiBella, M. Morecroft, Praveen Kumar, E. Joe, I. Bhatt
Over 1 billion people are living at the frontlines of climate change in mountain areas, where warming rates outpace the global average and are driving significant changes in environments and ecosystem services. These changes are exacerbating socioeconomic difficulties faced by many mountain communities, and are already intensifying vulnerabilities across mountain areas globally. The situation is indicative of pervasive and consequential deficits in adaptation, and calls attention to the need for a better understanding of existing adaptation efforts, as well as the prospects for increasing the quantity and quality of adaptation action in mountain regions. In response, this MountainAgenda article introduces a conceptual framework for adaptation gaps. It then uses data from 2 major global-scale adaptation reviews to shed light on the nature and true magnitude of the adaptation gap in mountains. It reveals shortcomings in available adaptation options, deficits in the uptake of existing adaptation support, and a general lack of coherence between existing adaptations and keystone global agreements relevant to climate change adaptation. These shortcomings are largely related to soft limits to adaptation that constrain responses across mountain areas. In this article, we provide recommendations for closing the adaptation gap in mountains and suggest that this will require deeply collaborative efforts that are rooted in local needs, aspirations, and ways of knowing, but that are also supported by external capacity building and implementation resources. In many instances, this will resemble a transformative approach to adaptation. The conceptual framework presented here is broadly applicable and can also be utilized to identify and close adaptation gaps in social-ecological contexts beyond mountains.
{"title":"Closing the Adaptation Gap in Mountains","authors":"G. McDowell, Madison E. Stevens, A. Lesnikowski, C. Huggel, A. Harden, J. DiBella, M. Morecroft, Praveen Kumar, E. Joe, I. Bhatt","doi":"10.1659/MRD-JOURNAL-D-21-00033.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1659/MRD-JOURNAL-D-21-00033.1","url":null,"abstract":"Over 1 billion people are living at the frontlines of climate change in mountain areas, where warming rates outpace the global average and are driving significant changes in environments and ecosystem services. These changes are exacerbating socioeconomic difficulties faced by many mountain communities, and are already intensifying vulnerabilities across mountain areas globally. The situation is indicative of pervasive and consequential deficits in adaptation, and calls attention to the need for a better understanding of existing adaptation efforts, as well as the prospects for increasing the quantity and quality of adaptation action in mountain regions. In response, this MountainAgenda article introduces a conceptual framework for adaptation gaps. It then uses data from 2 major global-scale adaptation reviews to shed light on the nature and true magnitude of the adaptation gap in mountains. It reveals shortcomings in available adaptation options, deficits in the uptake of existing adaptation support, and a general lack of coherence between existing adaptations and keystone global agreements relevant to climate change adaptation. These shortcomings are largely related to soft limits to adaptation that constrain responses across mountain areas. In this article, we provide recommendations for closing the adaptation gap in mountains and suggest that this will require deeply collaborative efforts that are rooted in local needs, aspirations, and ways of knowing, but that are also supported by external capacity building and implementation resources. In many instances, this will resemble a transformative approach to adaptation. The conceptual framework presented here is broadly applicable and can also be utilized to identify and close adaptation gaps in social-ecological contexts beyond mountains.","PeriodicalId":49793,"journal":{"name":"Mountain Research and Development","volume":"41 1","pages":"A1 - A10"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2021-10-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48811720","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-09-28DOI: 10.1659/MRD-JOURNAL-D-20-00065.1
Emily J. Wilkins, H. Akbar, Tara C. Saley, R. Hager, Colten M. Elkin, P. Belmont, C. Flint, Jordan W. Smith
Climate change is a threat to ski resorts, the ski industry, and mountain communities that rely on ski tourism. Ski resorts may be able to mitigate some of the social and economic impacts caused by climate change with proactive adaptation strategies. Using historical weather data, future climate projections, and interviews with ski resort managers in Utah (United States), this research investigates the effects of climate change on ski resorts across the state. We examine temperature change at all resorts within the state from 1980–2018 and climate projections from 2021–2100 under different climate change scenarios (RCPs 2.6, 4.5, and 8.5). We also report on semistructured interviews with resort managers to provide insights into how resort leadership perceives the impacts of climate change, is implementing adaptation strategies, and is addressing barriers to adaptation. Many resorts in Utah are warming faster than global averages, and minimum temperatures are rising faster than maximum temperatures. By the end of the century, winter (December–March) minimum daily temperatures in Utah could warm an additional 6.0°C under the RCP 8.5 scenario near northern Utah resorts and 6.6°C near southern Utah resorts. Resort managers are concerned about shorter season lengths, shifting ski seasons, less snow cover, and poorer snow quality. Many resorts are already adapting, with the most common adaptations being snowmaking and diversifying outdoor recreation offerings (particularly during the summer and shoulder seasons). Barriers to adaptation reported by managers include financial costs, adequate water availability for snowmaking, and uncertainty about climate change projections. Climate change is already impacting Utah ski resorts, but adaptation practices can reduce the negative impacts to some degree at most resorts.
{"title":"Climate Change and Utah Ski Resorts: Impacts, Perceptions, and Adaptation Strategies","authors":"Emily J. Wilkins, H. Akbar, Tara C. Saley, R. Hager, Colten M. Elkin, P. Belmont, C. Flint, Jordan W. Smith","doi":"10.1659/MRD-JOURNAL-D-20-00065.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1659/MRD-JOURNAL-D-20-00065.1","url":null,"abstract":"Climate change is a threat to ski resorts, the ski industry, and mountain communities that rely on ski tourism. Ski resorts may be able to mitigate some of the social and economic impacts caused by climate change with proactive adaptation strategies. Using historical weather data, future climate projections, and interviews with ski resort managers in Utah (United States), this research investigates the effects of climate change on ski resorts across the state. We examine temperature change at all resorts within the state from 1980–2018 and climate projections from 2021–2100 under different climate change scenarios (RCPs 2.6, 4.5, and 8.5). We also report on semistructured interviews with resort managers to provide insights into how resort leadership perceives the impacts of climate change, is implementing adaptation strategies, and is addressing barriers to adaptation. Many resorts in Utah are warming faster than global averages, and minimum temperatures are rising faster than maximum temperatures. By the end of the century, winter (December–March) minimum daily temperatures in Utah could warm an additional 6.0°C under the RCP 8.5 scenario near northern Utah resorts and 6.6°C near southern Utah resorts. Resort managers are concerned about shorter season lengths, shifting ski seasons, less snow cover, and poorer snow quality. Many resorts are already adapting, with the most common adaptations being snowmaking and diversifying outdoor recreation offerings (particularly during the summer and shoulder seasons). Barriers to adaptation reported by managers include financial costs, adequate water availability for snowmaking, and uncertainty about climate change projections. Climate change is already impacting Utah ski resorts, but adaptation practices can reduce the negative impacts to some degree at most resorts.","PeriodicalId":49793,"journal":{"name":"Mountain Research and Development","volume":"41 1","pages":"R12 - R23"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2021-09-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44219567","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-09-25DOI: 10.1659/MRD-JOURNAL-D-20-00081.1
Jin-Hyoung Kang, Jie Wei, Fengling Gan, Jin-lin Li
The shear strength of topsoil indicates the resistance of surface land to external erosive forces and represents a key variable for inferring the extent and rate of soil erosion. However, the influence of land use on topsoil shear strength is poorly understood. This study aims to examine topsoil shear strength under different land uses in the purple-soiled region of the Three Gorges Reservoir area in China and explore the related factors that control the observed variability. Direct shear tests were performed to determine the shear strength of topsoil in terms of internal friction angle (φ) and cohesion (c) under 5 typical land use systems. The results showed that the topsoil shear stress increases with increasing shear displacement from 0 to 6 mm; thereafter, it remains relatively stable over a further increase of shear displacement from 6 to 10 mm. The shear stress–shear displacement curves display a hardening strain trend. Land use exerts a strong effect on the shear strength through differentiation of soil physicochemical properties. In general, topsoil from orchard land has the highest mean values for clay fraction, φ, and c and the lowest mean values for sand fraction and water content. The topsoil in abandoned land shows the highest mean values for bulk density and silt content. The bulk density and the clay and silt content are the main direct factors controlling the difference in shear strength of the purple topsoil. Organic matter content, total porosity, and sand content represent important indirect factors that contribute to the variability in c and φ values of the studied soils.
{"title":"Shear Strength of Purple Topsoil Under Different Land Uses in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area, China","authors":"Jin-Hyoung Kang, Jie Wei, Fengling Gan, Jin-lin Li","doi":"10.1659/MRD-JOURNAL-D-20-00081.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1659/MRD-JOURNAL-D-20-00081.1","url":null,"abstract":"The shear strength of topsoil indicates the resistance of surface land to external erosive forces and represents a key variable for inferring the extent and rate of soil erosion. However, the influence of land use on topsoil shear strength is poorly understood. This study aims to examine topsoil shear strength under different land uses in the purple-soiled region of the Three Gorges Reservoir area in China and explore the related factors that control the observed variability. Direct shear tests were performed to determine the shear strength of topsoil in terms of internal friction angle (φ) and cohesion (c) under 5 typical land use systems. The results showed that the topsoil shear stress increases with increasing shear displacement from 0 to 6 mm; thereafter, it remains relatively stable over a further increase of shear displacement from 6 to 10 mm. The shear stress–shear displacement curves display a hardening strain trend. Land use exerts a strong effect on the shear strength through differentiation of soil physicochemical properties. In general, topsoil from orchard land has the highest mean values for clay fraction, φ, and c and the lowest mean values for sand fraction and water content. The topsoil in abandoned land shows the highest mean values for bulk density and silt content. The bulk density and the clay and silt content are the main direct factors controlling the difference in shear strength of the purple topsoil. Organic matter content, total porosity, and sand content represent important indirect factors that contribute to the variability in c and φ values of the studied soils.","PeriodicalId":49793,"journal":{"name":"Mountain Research and Development","volume":"41 1","pages":"R1 - R11"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2021-09-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67436390","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-09-14DOI: 10.1659/MRD-JOURNAL-D-21-00015.1
Audrey Joslin
Páramo is a biodiverse, high-elevation humid grassland ecosystem mainly found in the northern Andes. Since Spanish colonization, páramo lands in Ecuador have been used locally for grazing cattle that roam freely, known as ganado bravo. At present, much of the ecosystem in Ecuador's northern Andes is managed collectively by indigenous communities that gained property rights to expropriated hacienda lands during historic agrarian reform measures. Scholars and conservation practitioners now recognize páramo lands as important for regional hydrological systems that are vital to sustaining the water needs of montane communities and urban areas. As such, several initiatives focusing on páramo conservation have begun offering incentives to local communities to remove ganado bravo. In a case study situated on the slopes of the Cayambe volcano in Ecuador, I examine the local contextual factors, aside from conservation agreements, that have affected the community dynamics of maintaining cattle in the páramo. Many communities have reduced the number of cattle in the páramo but are reluctant to pursue their complete removal. This article highlights the importance of recognizing how local cultural practices intersect with conservation initiatives and outlines the implications of removing ganado bravo for the sustainable management of páramo grasslands.
{"title":"Intersections of Conservation, Cattle, and Culture in Ecuador's Páramo Grasslands","authors":"Audrey Joslin","doi":"10.1659/MRD-JOURNAL-D-21-00015.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1659/MRD-JOURNAL-D-21-00015.1","url":null,"abstract":"Páramo is a biodiverse, high-elevation humid grassland ecosystem mainly found in the northern Andes. Since Spanish colonization, páramo lands in Ecuador have been used locally for grazing cattle that roam freely, known as ganado bravo. At present, much of the ecosystem in Ecuador's northern Andes is managed collectively by indigenous communities that gained property rights to expropriated hacienda lands during historic agrarian reform measures. Scholars and conservation practitioners now recognize páramo lands as important for regional hydrological systems that are vital to sustaining the water needs of montane communities and urban areas. As such, several initiatives focusing on páramo conservation have begun offering incentives to local communities to remove ganado bravo. In a case study situated on the slopes of the Cayambe volcano in Ecuador, I examine the local contextual factors, aside from conservation agreements, that have affected the community dynamics of maintaining cattle in the páramo. Many communities have reduced the number of cattle in the páramo but are reluctant to pursue their complete removal. This article highlights the importance of recognizing how local cultural practices intersect with conservation initiatives and outlines the implications of removing ganado bravo for the sustainable management of páramo grasslands.","PeriodicalId":49793,"journal":{"name":"Mountain Research and Development","volume":"41 1","pages":"R1 - R7"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2021-09-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42932808","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-09-14DOI: 10.1659/MRD-JOURNAL-D-20-00073.1
B. Pasakhala, R. Ghate, K. Phuntsho, Popular Gentle, J. Gurung, A. Shrestha, K. Gurung, S. Thapa
Transhumant pastoralism, with its cultural, ecological, and socioeconomic significance, is an important livelihood strategy for mountain communities. Despite its importance, transhumant pastoralism is declining in the Hindu Kush Himalayan region. This study examines the drivers of change experienced by transhumant herders in Bajhang, western Nepal, in order to understand future implications for transhumant pastoralism in the region. Here, animals are raised to transport goods to remote villages and to earn supplemental income through the sale of milk, meat, and livestock. The study found that herders are experiencing multiple drivers of changes—including socioeconomic, political, institutional, ecological, and climatic—which have both positive and negative implications for their livelihoods. Herders have responded to these changes by altering their transhumance routes and by reducing the variety and numbers of animals raised. The increasing market demand for meat from freely grazed animals and limited road access are current factors contributing to the perpetuation of transhumant herding in Bajhang. Meanwhile, the institutional mechanisms provisioned in the National Rangeland Policy are neither functional in the study area nor able to resolve issues of the herders. The study recommends developing an incentive-based mechanism involving herders and other stakeholders to address the challenges faced by herders.
{"title":"Against the Tide: The Future of Transhumant Herders in the Kailash Sacred Landscape of Nepal","authors":"B. Pasakhala, R. Ghate, K. Phuntsho, Popular Gentle, J. Gurung, A. Shrestha, K. Gurung, S. Thapa","doi":"10.1659/MRD-JOURNAL-D-20-00073.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1659/MRD-JOURNAL-D-20-00073.1","url":null,"abstract":"Transhumant pastoralism, with its cultural, ecological, and socioeconomic significance, is an important livelihood strategy for mountain communities. Despite its importance, transhumant pastoralism is declining in the Hindu Kush Himalayan region. This study examines the drivers of change experienced by transhumant herders in Bajhang, western Nepal, in order to understand future implications for transhumant pastoralism in the region. Here, animals are raised to transport goods to remote villages and to earn supplemental income through the sale of milk, meat, and livestock. The study found that herders are experiencing multiple drivers of changes—including socioeconomic, political, institutional, ecological, and climatic—which have both positive and negative implications for their livelihoods. Herders have responded to these changes by altering their transhumance routes and by reducing the variety and numbers of animals raised. The increasing market demand for meat from freely grazed animals and limited road access are current factors contributing to the perpetuation of transhumant herding in Bajhang. Meanwhile, the institutional mechanisms provisioned in the National Rangeland Policy are neither functional in the study area nor able to resolve issues of the herders. The study recommends developing an incentive-based mechanism involving herders and other stakeholders to address the challenges faced by herders.","PeriodicalId":49793,"journal":{"name":"Mountain Research and Development","volume":"41 1","pages":"R8 - R15"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2021-09-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42921964","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Stepping out across the treeless tundra under the evening sun of the Yukon midsummer, I am struck as always by the swaths of brilliant, colorful flowers. My admiring gaze draws me down on my knees beside a little rosette of alpine bluebell (Campanula lasiocarpa), where I admire the sheer hugeness of a single, sky-blue flower that almost completely obscures the parent plant below. I marvel at how such reproductive extravagance is even possible on this alpine ridge amidst a life dominated by cold, ice, and snow. Apparently, Dr Christian K€ orner has also pondered this phenomenon during his years of research on alpine vegetation. His recently revised book, Alpine Plant Life (3rd edition, 2021), evaluates the empirical evidence regarding the relative size or allometry of alpine flowers, and not only vindicates my intuition that these flowers really are remarkably large, but gives me a much deeper understanding of how and why such patterns can arise. Clearly an admirer of the natural beauty and fortitude of tundra plants, K€ orner presents a book with enough depth and charm to transform an informative compendium of knowledge into an unfolding treatise on the wonders and mysteries of alpine plant life. Alpine Plant Life is an authoritative description of the adaptations and biological processes that support life beyond the limit of tree growth. K€ orner delves deeply into how such processes occur within the strict limitations of severe alpine and arctic tundra environments, identifying and illustrating many mysteries along the way. His exploration of the importance of microclimate in supporting plant life on the tundra helps to unravel what seems to be a miracle of plant life and transforms it into understandable mechanisms that simply exist at scales we often ignore. The book abounds with detailed scientific illustrations of how alpine plants have capitalized on and adapted to the constraints of life in cold environments. Examples draw heavily from K€ orner’s professional intimacy with life in the European Alps, but also pull from the global scientific literature to highlight examples from tundra vegetation on every continent. The book is well illustrated with scientific figures and carefully selected photos of alpine plants that capture an amazing diversity of life around the world. Although not all of the scientific figures allow full interpretation of the information they present, the curious reader can follow up using the detailed bibliographies that accompany each chapter. In our modern age of easy digital access only to recent work, it is valuable to see reproductions of seminal scientific ideas and figures produced a century or more ago. The long arm of human interest in alpine plants clearly extends deeply into the past, and K€ orner does homage to the many thinkers who laid the groundwork for our current scientific understanding of these systems. Each chapter in the book develops a comprehensive assessment of the dominant mechanisms supportin
{"title":"Alpine Plant Life: Functional Plant Ecology of High Mountain Ecosystems. By Christian Körner","authors":"J. Johnstone","doi":"10.1659/mrd.mm265.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1659/mrd.mm265.1","url":null,"abstract":"Stepping out across the treeless tundra under the evening sun of the Yukon midsummer, I am struck as always by the swaths of brilliant, colorful flowers. My admiring gaze draws me down on my knees beside a little rosette of alpine bluebell (Campanula lasiocarpa), where I admire the sheer hugeness of a single, sky-blue flower that almost completely obscures the parent plant below. I marvel at how such reproductive extravagance is even possible on this alpine ridge amidst a life dominated by cold, ice, and snow. Apparently, Dr Christian K€ orner has also pondered this phenomenon during his years of research on alpine vegetation. His recently revised book, Alpine Plant Life (3rd edition, 2021), evaluates the empirical evidence regarding the relative size or allometry of alpine flowers, and not only vindicates my intuition that these flowers really are remarkably large, but gives me a much deeper understanding of how and why such patterns can arise. Clearly an admirer of the natural beauty and fortitude of tundra plants, K€ orner presents a book with enough depth and charm to transform an informative compendium of knowledge into an unfolding treatise on the wonders and mysteries of alpine plant life. Alpine Plant Life is an authoritative description of the adaptations and biological processes that support life beyond the limit of tree growth. K€ orner delves deeply into how such processes occur within the strict limitations of severe alpine and arctic tundra environments, identifying and illustrating many mysteries along the way. His exploration of the importance of microclimate in supporting plant life on the tundra helps to unravel what seems to be a miracle of plant life and transforms it into understandable mechanisms that simply exist at scales we often ignore. The book abounds with detailed scientific illustrations of how alpine plants have capitalized on and adapted to the constraints of life in cold environments. Examples draw heavily from K€ orner’s professional intimacy with life in the European Alps, but also pull from the global scientific literature to highlight examples from tundra vegetation on every continent. The book is well illustrated with scientific figures and carefully selected photos of alpine plants that capture an amazing diversity of life around the world. Although not all of the scientific figures allow full interpretation of the information they present, the curious reader can follow up using the detailed bibliographies that accompany each chapter. In our modern age of easy digital access only to recent work, it is valuable to see reproductions of seminal scientific ideas and figures produced a century or more ago. The long arm of human interest in alpine plants clearly extends deeply into the past, and K€ orner does homage to the many thinkers who laid the groundwork for our current scientific understanding of these systems. Each chapter in the book develops a comprehensive assessment of the dominant mechanisms supportin","PeriodicalId":49793,"journal":{"name":"Mountain Research and Development","volume":" ","pages":"M1 - M2"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2021-09-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43466283","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-08-27DOI: 10.1659/MRD-JOURNAL-D-21-00038.1
V. R. Clark, G. Mukwada, Melissa Hansen, S. Adelabu, Grey Magaiza, A. le Roux, E. Bredenhand, P. Otomo, Sandy‐Lynn Steenhuisen, A. Franke, J. V. van Tol, Neo Mathinya, R. Makombe
Research to inform a sustainable future for southern African mountains as social–ecological systems requires major investment. This is needed to strengthen existing relationships, build new relationships among academia, policy, and practice, and drive a robust research capacity program. This is particularly important in disciplines where there is currently limited capacity for mountain-related research in the region. For many pertinent issues in southern African mountains, the urgent need for foundational research is a reality; without this, it is impossible to build toward multidisciplinary outcomes and to drive transdisciplinary efforts. Keys to strengthening solution-oriented research are improved coordination between actors in similar disciplines (eg water security), strong relationships to achieve maximum synergy instead of competition, and major investment in emerging young researchers. The Afromontane Research Unit is leading the way for southern African mountains.
{"title":"The Afromontane Research Unit: Driving Connections and Capacity Building for the Sustainable Development of Southern African Mountains","authors":"V. R. Clark, G. Mukwada, Melissa Hansen, S. Adelabu, Grey Magaiza, A. le Roux, E. Bredenhand, P. Otomo, Sandy‐Lynn Steenhuisen, A. Franke, J. V. van Tol, Neo Mathinya, R. Makombe","doi":"10.1659/MRD-JOURNAL-D-21-00038.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1659/MRD-JOURNAL-D-21-00038.1","url":null,"abstract":"Research to inform a sustainable future for southern African mountains as social–ecological systems requires major investment. This is needed to strengthen existing relationships, build new relationships among academia, policy, and practice, and drive a robust research capacity program. This is particularly important in disciplines where there is currently limited capacity for mountain-related research in the region. For many pertinent issues in southern African mountains, the urgent need for foundational research is a reality; without this, it is impossible to build toward multidisciplinary outcomes and to drive transdisciplinary efforts. Keys to strengthening solution-oriented research are improved coordination between actors in similar disciplines (eg water security), strong relationships to achieve maximum synergy instead of competition, and major investment in emerging young researchers. The Afromontane Research Unit is leading the way for southern African mountains.","PeriodicalId":49793,"journal":{"name":"Mountain Research and Development","volume":"41 1","pages":"P1 - P5"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2021-08-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42806035","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The publisher’s policy likely determined the string of terms chosen as the book’s title instead of more clearly stating its subject matter, which is nothing less than a new conception of mountain area research. This conception is based on the Andes as a reference that shows the specificity of the relationship between global North and South. In defense of the title, one may argue that mountain regions are only a context for the concept of sustainability, but here it is the other way around: The impact of globalization, which is more visible in mountain regions than elsewhere, serves as the starting point for conceptualizing place, scale, and time. Divided into 26 chapters in 6 parts, and written by practitioners and academics, the book presupposes knowledge on sustainability. Instead of the boring 3 pillars discourse, sustainability is enriched with the discussion of scale (and its change over time) and the need for a transdisciplinary approach. The necessarily normative character of sustainability becomes visible in supporting the concerns of the global South, indigenous populations, and self-determination in the food cycle. Trade-offs are discussed, but mainly on the conceptual level, using the different aspects of scaling and framing. This is illustrated by binaries (one may also say dichotomies) concerning the actor relationships in a given social field. The binaries denote the extremes, but what really matters is the in-between: At what point are higher mortality rates ‘‘normal,’’ and at what point are they extinction, for example, of an animal or plant species? This creates the context for thinking in terms of the relationships among the stakeholders of a society. Transdisciplinarity is seen as a prerequisite for sustainability. Selecting contributions from the global North and South, the book meets the claim of bridging codified knowledge of the North and tacit knowledge of the Andes in the South. In the conceptual part I, Fausto Sarmiento (chapter 1) develops montology as critical geographical research. The concept introduces a bundle of new terminologies starting from the Andean research experience, including the interrelationships among the 3 subsystems of Andeanness (sociocultural), Andeanitude (mental imaginaries), and Andeanity (biophysical). Its value lies in the elaboration of a framework to place mountain issues with all their complexity on the international agenda. Esmeralda Guevara and Larry Frolich (chapter 2) develop a ‘‘geography of sustainability for a high-energy, urbanizing, digitalized human species’’ (p 31). This is done by means of a series of binaries (poor versus rich, North versus South, urban versus rural), not focusing on the rarely appearing extremes but on the in-between. This corresponds roughly to the various concepts of social compromises or the rapports sociaux in the French tradition of regulation studies. Bernard Debarbieux and J€ org Balsiger (chapter 3) place sustainability in a coordinate system of scale
{"title":"The Elgar Companion to Geography, Transdisciplinarity and Sustainability. Edited by Fausto O. Sarmiento and Larry M. Frolich","authors":"M. Perlik","doi":"10.1659/mrd.mm263.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1659/mrd.mm263.1","url":null,"abstract":"The publisher’s policy likely determined the string of terms chosen as the book’s title instead of more clearly stating its subject matter, which is nothing less than a new conception of mountain area research. This conception is based on the Andes as a reference that shows the specificity of the relationship between global North and South. In defense of the title, one may argue that mountain regions are only a context for the concept of sustainability, but here it is the other way around: The impact of globalization, which is more visible in mountain regions than elsewhere, serves as the starting point for conceptualizing place, scale, and time. Divided into 26 chapters in 6 parts, and written by practitioners and academics, the book presupposes knowledge on sustainability. Instead of the boring 3 pillars discourse, sustainability is enriched with the discussion of scale (and its change over time) and the need for a transdisciplinary approach. The necessarily normative character of sustainability becomes visible in supporting the concerns of the global South, indigenous populations, and self-determination in the food cycle. Trade-offs are discussed, but mainly on the conceptual level, using the different aspects of scaling and framing. This is illustrated by binaries (one may also say dichotomies) concerning the actor relationships in a given social field. The binaries denote the extremes, but what really matters is the in-between: At what point are higher mortality rates ‘‘normal,’’ and at what point are they extinction, for example, of an animal or plant species? This creates the context for thinking in terms of the relationships among the stakeholders of a society. Transdisciplinarity is seen as a prerequisite for sustainability. Selecting contributions from the global North and South, the book meets the claim of bridging codified knowledge of the North and tacit knowledge of the Andes in the South. In the conceptual part I, Fausto Sarmiento (chapter 1) develops montology as critical geographical research. The concept introduces a bundle of new terminologies starting from the Andean research experience, including the interrelationships among the 3 subsystems of Andeanness (sociocultural), Andeanitude (mental imaginaries), and Andeanity (biophysical). Its value lies in the elaboration of a framework to place mountain issues with all their complexity on the international agenda. Esmeralda Guevara and Larry Frolich (chapter 2) develop a ‘‘geography of sustainability for a high-energy, urbanizing, digitalized human species’’ (p 31). This is done by means of a series of binaries (poor versus rich, North versus South, urban versus rural), not focusing on the rarely appearing extremes but on the in-between. This corresponds roughly to the various concepts of social compromises or the rapports sociaux in the French tradition of regulation studies. Bernard Debarbieux and J€ org Balsiger (chapter 3) place sustainability in a coordinate system of scale ","PeriodicalId":49793,"journal":{"name":"Mountain Research and Development","volume":"41 1","pages":"M4 - M5"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2021-08-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42752683","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
When I started my scholarly journey toward a better understanding of urban development in mountains more than a decade ago, I noticed that (1) relatively little was then published on the relationship between cities and mountains and (2) a surprisingly large share of those publications was in Chinese. Therefore, I am happy to see one of the principal Chinese œuvres on mountain cities (Huang 2006) in English. The monograph Theory of Mountainurbanology is by Guangyu Huang (1935–2006), who was an eminent urban planner at Chongqing University. His book has a regional focus on China and aims to ‘‘emphasize the multi-discipline study on mountain cities, promote the ecological theory, and innovative thoughts on urban science research, in order to better direct mountain human settlement, balance human beings, and nature’’ (p vii). It also targets ‘‘planning and design professionals, decision-makers, college faculties, and students’’ (p xi). These intentions are shown by the 12 main chapters: ‘‘Introduction,’’ ‘‘Investigation,’’ ‘‘Site Selection,’’ ‘‘Typology,’’ ‘‘Planning,’’ ‘‘Design,’’ ‘‘Architecture,’’ ‘‘Transportation,’’ ‘‘Ecology,’’ ‘‘Disasters,’’ ‘‘Aesthetics,’’ and ‘‘Governance.’’ In chapter 1 (‘‘Introduction’’), the reader is introduced to basic definitions. ‘‘Mountains’’ are divided into different categories (mainly based on altitude), ranging from ‘‘hills’’ to ‘‘extremely high mountains.’’ Then the author briefly describes the character of ‘‘mountain cities,’’ rejecting simplistic visions that ignore the manifold relations between urban settlements (‘‘cities’’) and their surroundings (‘‘mountains’’). To underline the latter’s importance for urban construction, Huang lists several locational advantages and disadvantages of Chinese mountain cities. Chapter 1 continues with a definition of what the author calls mountainurbanology (why not mountain urbanology?): a holistic research approach to urban mountain settlements that explicitly includes the humanities (eg urban philosophy) and applied sciences such as engineering ecology as well as folk science (eg Chinese geomancy or [fēngshuı̌]). This attempt sounds intriguing, yet, at some point, I got confused by the comprehensiveness of the concept, and the redundant and inconsistent Table 3 might indicate that the author (or the translator) did not fully distinguish the spectrum of and relation between disciplines (eg montology is 1 of 3 pillars of mountainurbanology, and at the same time both montology and mountainurbanology appear again as elements of montology). The first part of the book concludes with thoughts on the complexity, diversity, vulnerability, and sensitivity of natural/artificial ‘‘mountainurban’’ ecosystems, integrating the concepts of landscape ecology and ecosystem services. The subsequent chapters 2 (‘‘Investigation’’) and 3 (‘‘Site Selection’’) focus on conditions to be understood and approaches to be applied to get a feel for a region and select appropriate sites to build cities i
{"title":"Theory of Mountainurbanology. By Guangyu Huang","authors":"Andreas Haller","doi":"10.1659/mrd.mm264.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1659/mrd.mm264.1","url":null,"abstract":"When I started my scholarly journey toward a better understanding of urban development in mountains more than a decade ago, I noticed that (1) relatively little was then published on the relationship between cities and mountains and (2) a surprisingly large share of those publications was in Chinese. Therefore, I am happy to see one of the principal Chinese œuvres on mountain cities (Huang 2006) in English. The monograph Theory of Mountainurbanology is by Guangyu Huang (1935–2006), who was an eminent urban planner at Chongqing University. His book has a regional focus on China and aims to ‘‘emphasize the multi-discipline study on mountain cities, promote the ecological theory, and innovative thoughts on urban science research, in order to better direct mountain human settlement, balance human beings, and nature’’ (p vii). It also targets ‘‘planning and design professionals, decision-makers, college faculties, and students’’ (p xi). These intentions are shown by the 12 main chapters: ‘‘Introduction,’’ ‘‘Investigation,’’ ‘‘Site Selection,’’ ‘‘Typology,’’ ‘‘Planning,’’ ‘‘Design,’’ ‘‘Architecture,’’ ‘‘Transportation,’’ ‘‘Ecology,’’ ‘‘Disasters,’’ ‘‘Aesthetics,’’ and ‘‘Governance.’’ In chapter 1 (‘‘Introduction’’), the reader is introduced to basic definitions. ‘‘Mountains’’ are divided into different categories (mainly based on altitude), ranging from ‘‘hills’’ to ‘‘extremely high mountains.’’ Then the author briefly describes the character of ‘‘mountain cities,’’ rejecting simplistic visions that ignore the manifold relations between urban settlements (‘‘cities’’) and their surroundings (‘‘mountains’’). To underline the latter’s importance for urban construction, Huang lists several locational advantages and disadvantages of Chinese mountain cities. Chapter 1 continues with a definition of what the author calls mountainurbanology (why not mountain urbanology?): a holistic research approach to urban mountain settlements that explicitly includes the humanities (eg urban philosophy) and applied sciences such as engineering ecology as well as folk science (eg Chinese geomancy or [fēngshuı̌]). This attempt sounds intriguing, yet, at some point, I got confused by the comprehensiveness of the concept, and the redundant and inconsistent Table 3 might indicate that the author (or the translator) did not fully distinguish the spectrum of and relation between disciplines (eg montology is 1 of 3 pillars of mountainurbanology, and at the same time both montology and mountainurbanology appear again as elements of montology). The first part of the book concludes with thoughts on the complexity, diversity, vulnerability, and sensitivity of natural/artificial ‘‘mountainurban’’ ecosystems, integrating the concepts of landscape ecology and ecosystem services. The subsequent chapters 2 (‘‘Investigation’’) and 3 (‘‘Site Selection’’) focus on conditions to be understood and approaches to be applied to get a feel for a region and select appropriate sites to build cities i","PeriodicalId":49793,"journal":{"name":"Mountain Research and Development","volume":"41 1","pages":"M2 - M3"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2021-08-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45035564","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
In this well-written and well-structured work, anthropologist Emilia Roza Sulek takes the reader inside the world of the caterpillar fungus (Ophiocordyceps sinensis) boom in Eastern Tibet during the first 10 years of this millennium. She spent 11 months, from 2007 to 2010, in the parts of Golok that are now included in Qinghai Province in northwestern China. Using participant observation, interviews, and her ability to connect with people, she comes close to the pastoralists who collect—or dig, in her terminology—the extremely highvalue fungus–larvae complex known as yartsa gumbu in Tibetan. Interviews also included traders and a string of other actors that throw light, from different angles, on the practice and importance of the caterpillar fungus in Golok, such as shopkeepers, monks, and local state officials. She also developed and implemented a household survey (n 1⁄4 50) focused on the economy of the pastoral households. The book is logically structured in 9 chapters; we move with the pastoralists from their regulated collection areas to the local markets and learn how they function, including a detailed assessment of government interventions. The focus includes the study area, the process of and income from collection and land leasing to outside collectors, the trade and the market, official interventions, and the changes to pastoral livelihoods in the wake of rapidly rising incomes. Sulek places the nuanced findings within a broader study area context; she discusses cultural changes to pastoral life following from the substantial yartsa gumbu income, including in relation to livestock management and the development of physical infrastructure such as houses. Sulek argues that the pastoralists ‘‘are the creators and sponsors of the transformation of their own socio-economic lives, which they accomplish with the money they earn from the caterpillar fungus economy’’ (p 258). The transformative power of the caterpillar fungus has received much recent attention throughout its range in Tibet and the Himalayas (eg Winkler 2008; Laha et al 2015; Pouliot et al 2018; Timmermann and Smith-Hall 2019), typically in shorter articles focused on specific aspects of livelihoods, trade, and conservation. Sulek’s effort is the first comprehensive analysis of the boom, covering historical developments and a wider range of issues than that of the articles. This includes rich details on bargaining in the marketplace; how conflicts related to access are moderated (or not); the duplicity of actors, including the government; and the necessity to distinguish the licit from the legal: some practices may be accepted, even if not officially allowed. If freedom is the ability ‘‘of people to lead the kind of lives they have reason to value’’ (Sen 1999: 10), Sulek’s book provides evidence that Tibetan pastoralists are using the opportunity of the caterpillar fungus to transform their livelihoods and develop their region in ways they themselves decide, offering ‘‘a chance
人类学家埃米莉亚·罗扎·苏勒克在这部文笔优美、结构优美的作品中，带读者走进了本世纪头10年西藏东部虫草（Ophiocordychristensis）繁荣的世界。从2007年到2010年，她在现在中国西北部青海省的果洛地区度过了11个月。通过参与者的观察、采访和与人联系的能力，她接近了那些收集——或者用她的术语来说——价值极高的真菌幼虫复合体——在藏语中被称为yartsa gumbu的牧民。采访还包括贸易商和一系列其他参与者，他们从不同角度揭示了果洛虫草的做法和重要性，如店主、僧侣和地方政府官员。她还制定并实施了一项家庭调查（n 1/4 50），重点关注牧民家庭的经济。这本书按逻辑分为9章；我们与牧民一起从受监管的采集区转移到当地市场，了解他们的运作方式，包括对政府干预措施的详细评估。重点包括研究领域、收集和向外部收藏者出租土地的过程和收入、贸易和市场、官方干预以及收入快速增长后牧民生计的变化。Sulek将细致入微的发现放在更广泛的研究领域背景下；她讨论了雅尔察·古姆布大量收入后田园生活的文化变化，包括牲畜管理和房屋等有形基础设施的发展。苏莱克认为，牧民“是他们自己社会经济生活转变的创造者和赞助者，他们用从虫草经济中赚来的钱来实现这一转变”（第258页）。虫草的变革力量最近在西藏和喜马拉雅山脉的整个范围内受到了广泛关注（例如，Winkler 2008；Laha等人2015；Pouliot等人2018；Timmermann和Smith Hall 2019），通常发表在关注生计、贸易和保护特定方面的较短文章中。苏雷克的努力是对繁荣的第一次全面分析，涵盖了历史发展和比文章更广泛的问题。这包括市场上讨价还价的丰富细节；如何缓和（或不缓和）与访问相关的冲突；包括政府在内的行为者口是心非；以及区分合法与合法的必要性：有些做法可能会被接受，即使官方不允许。如果自由是“人们过上他们有理由珍视的生活的能力”（Sen 1999:10），苏勒克的书提供了证据，证明西藏牧民正在利用虫草的机会改变他们的生计，并以他们自己决定的方式发展他们的地区，为“农村藏人提供了一个以前所未有的规模利用土地资源的机会”（p 256）。她的书的丰富性使它能够为正在进行的讨论提供素材，而这些讨论对Golok和虫草都一无所知。这包括关于非污染环境产品在农村家庭脱贫中的作用的辩论。这本书也可以使用其他框架来解读，如可持续生计方法，它提供了一个令人兴奋的例子，说明了自然资产转化为金融（如银行储蓄）和实物（如农村道路）资本的过程。它还允许间接识别秋葵生产网络中仍有待详细解决的部分，尤其是缺乏不同消费品和消费类型相对重要性的确凿证据：谁食用真菌-幼虫复合体，以何种形式食用，为什么食用？这本书是对有关虫草的文献的宝贵补充。它有助于我们了解发展、畜牧业和环境资源。特别是，对于对生计和高价值环境产品感兴趣的更广泛的研究人员和学生来说，这是一本有价值的读物，因为它分享了社会经济转型过程的罕见细节。
{"title":"Trading Caterpillar Fungus in Tibet: When Economic Boom Hits Rural Area. By Emilia Roza Sulek","authors":"C. Smith-Hall","doi":"10.1659/mrd.mm262.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1659/mrd.mm262.1","url":null,"abstract":"In this well-written and well-structured work, anthropologist Emilia Roza Sulek takes the reader inside the world of the caterpillar fungus (Ophiocordyceps sinensis) boom in Eastern Tibet during the first 10 years of this millennium. She spent 11 months, from 2007 to 2010, in the parts of Golok that are now included in Qinghai Province in northwestern China. Using participant observation, interviews, and her ability to connect with people, she comes close to the pastoralists who collect—or dig, in her terminology—the extremely highvalue fungus–larvae complex known as yartsa gumbu in Tibetan. Interviews also included traders and a string of other actors that throw light, from different angles, on the practice and importance of the caterpillar fungus in Golok, such as shopkeepers, monks, and local state officials. She also developed and implemented a household survey (n 1⁄4 50) focused on the economy of the pastoral households. The book is logically structured in 9 chapters; we move with the pastoralists from their regulated collection areas to the local markets and learn how they function, including a detailed assessment of government interventions. The focus includes the study area, the process of and income from collection and land leasing to outside collectors, the trade and the market, official interventions, and the changes to pastoral livelihoods in the wake of rapidly rising incomes. Sulek places the nuanced findings within a broader study area context; she discusses cultural changes to pastoral life following from the substantial yartsa gumbu income, including in relation to livestock management and the development of physical infrastructure such as houses. Sulek argues that the pastoralists ‘‘are the creators and sponsors of the transformation of their own socio-economic lives, which they accomplish with the money they earn from the caterpillar fungus economy’’ (p 258). The transformative power of the caterpillar fungus has received much recent attention throughout its range in Tibet and the Himalayas (eg Winkler 2008; Laha et al 2015; Pouliot et al 2018; Timmermann and Smith-Hall 2019), typically in shorter articles focused on specific aspects of livelihoods, trade, and conservation. Sulek’s effort is the first comprehensive analysis of the boom, covering historical developments and a wider range of issues than that of the articles. This includes rich details on bargaining in the marketplace; how conflicts related to access are moderated (or not); the duplicity of actors, including the government; and the necessity to distinguish the licit from the legal: some practices may be accepted, even if not officially allowed. If freedom is the ability ‘‘of people to lead the kind of lives they have reason to value’’ (Sen 1999: 10), Sulek’s book provides evidence that Tibetan pastoralists are using the opportunity of the caterpillar fungus to transform their livelihoods and develop their region in ways they themselves decide, offering ‘‘a chance ","PeriodicalId":49793,"journal":{"name":"Mountain Research and Development","volume":"41 1","pages":"M1 - M1"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2021-08-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43459840","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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