Mountain ecosystems are complex, dynamic and exceptionally
fragile. We are only beginning to understand the functional ecology of mountain
ecosystems, but international research already suggests that changing species communities
will be detrimental to the environment, to biodiversity and therefore to a
critical part of Earth’s life-support system. In this Scientists' warning, we outline major threats to mountains, which are particularly sensitive to global change. For example, climate change is modifying and will continue to modify the occurrence of
extreme events, the amount of precipitations (rain and snow), as well as freeze
and thaw cycles, with impacts on the onset of snow melt (and thus length of
growing season) and water temperatures, aggravating impacts from inappropriate
land use practices. Global change with all the different pressures outlined
above causes imbalances in the functioning of mountain ecosystems, which lead
to changes in vital biological, biochemical, and chemical processes, critically
reducing ecosystem health with repercussions for animal and human health. Because
mountain biodiversity is the basis for ecosystem functioning and the provision
of ecosystem services, changes in mountains will have far reaching impacts for
the human society. We therefore call for urgent consideration of mountain ecosystems and their protection in local, regional and global conservation legislation.
To reinforce our message, we kindly invite you to sign the article "Scientists' warning of threats to mountains". You can find the article at the link given below or you write an email to the lead author Dirk Schmeller (ds@die-schmellers.de) to receive a pdf.
Schmeller, D.S., Urbach, D., Bates, K., Catalan, J., Cogălniceanu, D., Fisher, M.C., Friesen, J., Füreder, L., Gaube, V., Haver, M., Jacobsen, D., Le Roux, G., Lin, Y.-P., Loyau, A., Machate, O., Mayer, A., Palomo, I., Plutzar, C., Sentenac, H., Sommaruga, R., Tiberti, R., Ripple, W.J., 2022. Scientists' warning of threats to mountains. Science of the Total Environment, 158611.
Read the full article
