mountain where there is still an economical yield, mining becomes a historical issue
rather than a conservation problem. The historical heritage that mining may have
left on the mountain is an on-going research subject. Technological improvements
have usually lead to increased extraction and atmospheric pollution when resources
of economic value exists (Uglietti et al. 2015). Unfortunately, environmentally
careless mining keeps going in some ranges of the world nowadays (Pond et al.
2008; Wickham et al. 2013).
The increase in human populations and water demand, both for cities and
agriculture irrigation, has raised the value of mountains as water source. Large
regions, even whole countries, may depend on the precipitation in faraway
mountains [e.g., Himalayan region (Xu et al. 2009)]. Glaciers may provide a
year-long regular water supply to areas of marked seasonality in precipitation.
Some large cities in the Andes depend on reservoirs fed by such glaciers, which
shrinking and final disappearance may cause large societal problems (Carey et al.
2014). Probably, little can be done on glacier preservation at this stage of climatic
change (WGMS 2015; Zemp et al. 2015). Thus plans for long distance transport to
these cities are required, which may change hydrological regimes in other areas,
and challenge conservation of mountain ecosystems.
In some mountains, there has been a traditional management of water for irrigation purposes. An extraordinary example is the Sierra Nevada (Iberian Peninsula)
acequia system built during the medieval Muslim period (Martin Civantos 2014).
Thousands of kilometers of small channels bring water from the mountain (sierra)
to the irrigation fields (vega), starting at about 2000 m a.s.l. and modifying the
hydrological regime of the lower part of the mountains. Other channels at higher
altitude (i.e., careos) drive water towards groundwater to increase spring supply.
This change in the hydrology has to have altered natural vegetation. A large proportion of the modified area is now part of a National Park and nature reserve
surrounding it.
Hydrological extraction has been more recent in the mountains located farther
from areas requiring high amounts of water supply, mostly starting at early- or
mid-20th century and associated with the development of hydropower stations. In
this case, lakes and streams have been particularly exposed to alterations (Catalan
et al. 1997). Surface connectivity between lakes has been enhanced by undergrown
galleries that may even connect lakes in different watersheds. In some areas, little
control of water level regulation or failure of old valves have produced huge water
level oscillations in lakes, resulting in severe impacts. The temporal overlapping
between this kind of industrial exploitation of mountain resources and the declaration of some mountain parks have led to odd situations in which both coexist in
the same area (e.g., Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici National Park, Pyrenees).
Beyond obvious impacts on the most affected lakes and streams by seasonal desiccation or strong water oscillations, flow reduction and smoothening of the seasonal fluctuations tend to produce a banalisation of the aquatic biota. Landscape
visual impacts are usually scarcely compatible with conservation reserves. Yet the
ultimate goal should be the eradication of this extraction activity from natural
reserves, actions against light contamination and general visual impacts of buildings
1 The High Mountain Conservation in a Changing World
15
rather than a conservation problem. The historical heritage that mining may have
left on the mountain is an on-going research subject. Technological improvements
have usually lead to increased extraction and atmospheric pollution when resources
of economic value exists (Uglietti et al. 2015). Unfortunately, environmentally
careless mining keeps going in some ranges of the world nowadays (Pond et al.
2008; Wickham et al. 2013).
The increase in human populations and water demand, both for cities and
agriculture irrigation, has raised the value of mountains as water source. Large
regions, even whole countries, may depend on the precipitation in faraway
mountains [e.g., Himalayan region (Xu et al. 2009)]. Glaciers may provide a
year-long regular water supply to areas of marked seasonality in precipitation.
Some large cities in the Andes depend on reservoirs fed by such glaciers, which
shrinking and final disappearance may cause large societal problems (Carey et al.
2014). Probably, little can be done on glacier preservation at this stage of climatic
change (WGMS 2015; Zemp et al. 2015). Thus plans for long distance transport to
these cities are required, which may change hydrological regimes in other areas,
and challenge conservation of mountain ecosystems.
In some mountains, there has been a traditional management of water for irrigation purposes. An extraordinary example is the Sierra Nevada (Iberian Peninsula)
acequia system built during the medieval Muslim period (Martin Civantos 2014).
Thousands of kilometers of small channels bring water from the mountain (sierra)
to the irrigation fields (vega), starting at about 2000 m a.s.l. and modifying the
hydrological regime of the lower part of the mountains. Other channels at higher
altitude (i.e., careos) drive water towards groundwater to increase spring supply.
This change in the hydrology has to have altered natural vegetation. A large proportion of the modified area is now part of a National Park and nature reserve
surrounding it.
Hydrological extraction has been more recent in the mountains located farther
from areas requiring high amounts of water supply, mostly starting at early- or
mid-20th century and associated with the development of hydropower stations. In
this case, lakes and streams have been particularly exposed to alterations (Catalan
et al. 1997). Surface connectivity between lakes has been enhanced by undergrown
galleries that may even connect lakes in different watersheds. In some areas, little
control of water level regulation or failure of old valves have produced huge water
level oscillations in lakes, resulting in severe impacts. The temporal overlapping
between this kind of industrial exploitation of mountain resources and the declaration of some mountain parks have led to odd situations in which both coexist in
the same area (e.g., Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici National Park, Pyrenees).
Beyond obvious impacts on the most affected lakes and streams by seasonal desiccation or strong water oscillations, flow reduction and smoothening of the seasonal fluctuations tend to produce a banalisation of the aquatic biota. Landscape
visual impacts are usually scarcely compatible with conservation reserves. Yet the
ultimate goal should be the eradication of this extraction activity from natural
reserves, actions against light contamination and general visual impacts of buildings
1 The High Mountain Conservation in a Changing World
15