1.3 Mountain Exposure to Regional Changes
Economic globalization has brought many changes to the local and regional
socio-economical context of mountains. Low cost of transport has modified commercial yields in forestry, mining and mountain pasturing. On the other hand,
mountain activities for leisure are exponentially increasing. Conservation faces
global change hazards exposed to regional socio-economic changes, which ultimately will also be conditioned by climate change.
1.3.1 Pasture Shifting Systems
Mountain pasturing dates from several millennia ago in some ranges (Schmidt et al.
2002; Pèlachs et al. 2017). Depending on the socio-economic context of the
mountains the intensity and type of pasturing have been fluctuating across time.
Mountain archaeology has provided evidence of the early Neolithic use of rock
shelters and caves used as protections for sheep and goats in European mountains
(Gassiot Ballbè et al. 2017). No signs of ecological impact have been associated with
them yet. The opening of extensive pasturing areas at altitude during the Bronze Age
is clearly documented by archaeological sites and palaeoecological records from
lakes, bogs, and stone fences and shelters (Fig. 1.3). This use of high-mountain
meadows during millennia cannot have been ecologically innocuous; indeed, it may
even have constituted a selection factor favoring particular plant treats, species and
assemblages. This is a scarcely studied subject, as mountain pasturing has usually
been seen by ecologists as a traditional activity rooted in medieval times. Also, the
biogeochemical cycles in mountain meadows have been probably accelerated by
large herds pasturing during a portion of the year, whose winter survival is assured
by migration to much lower altitudes or far-away locations. This has led to much
higher herbivorism at the high mountain than in non-herding situations, where much
smaller wild herbivore populations survived resisting winter conditions with short
altitudinal migrations. With the development of high mountain pastures, the C/N
ratio distinctly declined in sediments of the lakes in the catchment, probably
reflecting changes in soil conditions (Schmidt et al. 2002).
The way to manage pasturing is different from range to range (even from valley
to valley), and it has been shifting through time according to societal changes
(Berrocal et al. 2014). A general tendency seems to have been increasing the
number of animals per field shepherd by joining several small herds into a large one
during summer pasturing; even that the ownership was maintained by many individuals. This seems to have been a tendency as societies have become more
complex from the Bronze to Middle Ages and modern times. Many protected areas
include large pasturing meadows, whose management has been a matter of debate.
Arguments in favor of maintaining traditional practices are not probably aware of
the real extent of this adjective. Ironically, relatively recent shifting from sheep to
1 The High Mountain Conservation in a Changing World
11
Economic globalization has brought many changes to the local and regional
socio-economical context of mountains. Low cost of transport has modified commercial yields in forestry, mining and mountain pasturing. On the other hand,
mountain activities for leisure are exponentially increasing. Conservation faces
global change hazards exposed to regional socio-economic changes, which ultimately will also be conditioned by climate change.
1.3.1 Pasture Shifting Systems
Mountain pasturing dates from several millennia ago in some ranges (Schmidt et al.
2002; Pèlachs et al. 2017). Depending on the socio-economic context of the
mountains the intensity and type of pasturing have been fluctuating across time.
Mountain archaeology has provided evidence of the early Neolithic use of rock
shelters and caves used as protections for sheep and goats in European mountains
(Gassiot Ballbè et al. 2017). No signs of ecological impact have been associated with
them yet. The opening of extensive pasturing areas at altitude during the Bronze Age
is clearly documented by archaeological sites and palaeoecological records from
lakes, bogs, and stone fences and shelters (Fig. 1.3). This use of high-mountain
meadows during millennia cannot have been ecologically innocuous; indeed, it may
even have constituted a selection factor favoring particular plant treats, species and
assemblages. This is a scarcely studied subject, as mountain pasturing has usually
been seen by ecologists as a traditional activity rooted in medieval times. Also, the
biogeochemical cycles in mountain meadows have been probably accelerated by
large herds pasturing during a portion of the year, whose winter survival is assured
by migration to much lower altitudes or far-away locations. This has led to much
higher herbivorism at the high mountain than in non-herding situations, where much
smaller wild herbivore populations survived resisting winter conditions with short
altitudinal migrations. With the development of high mountain pastures, the C/N
ratio distinctly declined in sediments of the lakes in the catchment, probably
reflecting changes in soil conditions (Schmidt et al. 2002).
The way to manage pasturing is different from range to range (even from valley
to valley), and it has been shifting through time according to societal changes
(Berrocal et al. 2014). A general tendency seems to have been increasing the
number of animals per field shepherd by joining several small herds into a large one
during summer pasturing; even that the ownership was maintained by many individuals. This seems to have been a tendency as societies have become more
complex from the Bronze to Middle Ages and modern times. Many protected areas
include large pasturing meadows, whose management has been a matter of debate.
Arguments in favor of maintaining traditional practices are not probably aware of
the real extent of this adjective. Ironically, relatively recent shifting from sheep to
1 The High Mountain Conservation in a Changing World
11