Chapter 5
The Role of Environmental Geohistory
in High-Mountain Landscape
Conservation
Albert Pèlachs, Ramon Pérez-Obiol, Joan Manuel Soriano,
Raquel Cunill, Marie-Claude Bal and Juan Carlos García-Codron
Abstract Proper management of the perceived value of any geographic space
requires the capacity to interpret research results from spatial, temporal, and
environmental points of view, applying the principles of environmental geohistory.
Basic concepts such as baseline, threshold, or resilience are discussed from a
long-term ecological perspective, with examples that explain the dynamics of fir
forests as well as the changes in agricultural cover. Studying the changes in the
altitudinal limit of the forest and surveying the wetlands dynamics on the southern
slopes of the central Catalan Pyrenees have been shown to be effective tools to
develop appropriate management tasks. The arguments presented are useful to
enrich the public debate over management policies for natural protected spaces in
high-mountain areas.
Keywords Environmental geohistory Á Conservation Á Pyrenees Á Abies alba Á
Human perturbation Á Pedoanthracology Á Palynology Á Sedimentary charcoals
A. Pèlachs (&) Á J.M. Soriano Á R. Cunill
Facultat de Filosofia i Lletres, Department of Geography, Edifici B,
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès,
Bellaterra, Spain
e-mail: albert.pelachs@uab.cat
R. Pérez-Obiol
Botany Unit, Facultat de Biociències, Department of Animal Biology,
Plant Biology, and Ecology, Edifici C, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona,
08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Bellaterra, Spain
M.-C. Bal
Geolab UMR 6042 CNRS, Université de Limoges, 87000 Limoges, France
J.C. García-Codron
Department of Geography, Urban Studies and Land Planning,
Avenida de Los Castros s/n, Universidad de Cantabria, 39005 Santander, Spain
© The Author(s) 2017
J. Catalan et al. (eds.), High Mountain Conservation in a Changing World,
Advances in Global Change Research 62, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-55982-7_5
107
The Role of Environmental Geohistory
in High-Mountain Landscape
Conservation
Albert Pèlachs, Ramon Pérez-Obiol, Joan Manuel Soriano,
Raquel Cunill, Marie-Claude Bal and Juan Carlos García-Codron
Abstract Proper management of the perceived value of any geographic space
requires the capacity to interpret research results from spatial, temporal, and
environmental points of view, applying the principles of environmental geohistory.
Basic concepts such as baseline, threshold, or resilience are discussed from a
long-term ecological perspective, with examples that explain the dynamics of fir
forests as well as the changes in agricultural cover. Studying the changes in the
altitudinal limit of the forest and surveying the wetlands dynamics on the southern
slopes of the central Catalan Pyrenees have been shown to be effective tools to
develop appropriate management tasks. The arguments presented are useful to
enrich the public debate over management policies for natural protected spaces in
high-mountain areas.
Keywords Environmental geohistory Á Conservation Á Pyrenees Á Abies alba Á
Human perturbation Á Pedoanthracology Á Palynology Á Sedimentary charcoals
A. Pèlachs (&) Á J.M. Soriano Á R. Cunill
Facultat de Filosofia i Lletres, Department of Geography, Edifici B,
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès,
Bellaterra, Spain
e-mail: albert.pelachs@uab.cat
R. Pérez-Obiol
Botany Unit, Facultat de Biociències, Department of Animal Biology,
Plant Biology, and Ecology, Edifici C, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona,
08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Bellaterra, Spain
M.-C. Bal
Geolab UMR 6042 CNRS, Université de Limoges, 87000 Limoges, France
J.C. García-Codron
Department of Geography, Urban Studies and Land Planning,
Avenida de Los Castros s/n, Universidad de Cantabria, 39005 Santander, Spain
© The Author(s) 2017
J. Catalan et al. (eds.), High Mountain Conservation in a Changing World,
Advances in Global Change Research 62, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-55982-7_5
107