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Articles in this open issue examine the workings of the 'smart village' concept in the Holy Cross Mountains in Poland; the role of local food products in fostering mountain tourism in the Italian Alps; the benefits of wild plants’ ecosystem services for local livelihoods in the Polish Pieniny Mountains; and rural residents’ sense of place in an ecological restoration area in the mountains of Guizhou, China.
This issue of Mountain Research and Development also contains a synthesis of the outcomes of sessions and recommendations for future research in mountain areas from the International Mountain Conference (IMC), held in Innsbruck, Austria, in September 2019. MRI Executive Director Carolina Adler is among the authors.
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In April 2022, the Mountain Research Initiative (MRI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding to partner with the TEAMx Programme. This partnership aims to support scientific exchange and collaboration between the two organizations' respective communities.
The TEAMx Programme (Multi-Scale Transport and Exchange Processes in the Atmosphere Over Mountains) is an international research programme that seeks to improve understanding of atmospheric processes over mountainous terrain. Several members of the MRI Elevation Dependent Climate Change Working Group are also part of the TEAMx Programme, and were instrumental in encouraging this Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in order to support closer links between the two organizations.
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The Stoney Nakoda First Nations are combining traditional knowledge with Western science, through the process of "biculturalism," to create a more holistic understanding of the bison reintroduction in Mînî Rhpa Mâkoche, also known as Banff National Park.
In 2017, 16 bison were released in the northeast section of Banff National Park. This herd has since grown to over 60 animals roaming throughout the reintroduction area. Although Parks Canada has been monitoring the ecological impacts of this reintroduction, there has been little to no cultural monitoring data until now. Cultural monitoring can be used to better understand bison herd dynamics, predator-prey relationships, and to better describe the renewed connection to the land by the Stoney Nakoda Nations.
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A new tool can better assess an important but overlooked indicator of global warming: the variety of bugs, worms, and snails living in high mountain streams.
Water-based invertebrates are especially vulnerable when the climate swings from historic droughts to massive floods. Because they serve as food for other forms of alpine life, such as birds, bats, frogs, and fish, ecologists worry about the insects’ ability to thrive.
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The 2021 Global Mountain Waste Survey was created with the objective of trying to fill a knowledge gap regarding the types and quantity of waste present in remote mountain areas globally.
Based on 1,753 responses originating from 74 different nationalities (initial results, June 4th 2021), the survey gives mountain dwellers and visitors, who are familiar with the environment, a chance to speak up and share their insights on waste. This publication now features improved analysis with a perspective on waste at the continental level, quotes and photos from respondents, and updated infographics.
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In 2010-2019 average annual global greenhouse gas emissions were at their highest levels in human history, but the rate of growth has slowed. Without immediate and deep emissions reductions across all sectors, limiting global warming to 1.5°C is beyond reach. However, there is increasing evidence of climate action, said scientists in the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report released today.
Since 2010, there have been sustained decreases of up to 85% in the costs of solar and wind energy, and batteries. An increasing range of policies and laws have enhanced energy efficiency, reduced rates of deforestation and accelerated the deployment of renewable energy.
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Using lake sediment in the Tibetan Plateau, a team of researchers was able to show that permafrost at high elevations is more vulnerable than arctic permafrost under projected future climate conditions.
From the ancient sludge of lakebeds in Asia's Tibetan Plateau, scientists can decipher a vision of Earth's future. That future, it turns out, will look very similar to the mid-Pliocene warm period – an epoch 3.3 million to 3 million years ago when the average air temperature at mid-latitudes rarely dropped below freezing. It was a time when permanent ice was just beginning to cling to the northern polar regions, and mid-latitude alpine permafrost – or perpetually frozen soil – was much more limited than today.
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Much of a centuries-old debate over where and how new bird species form has now been resolved. Researchers at the University of Copenhagen have provided evidence that birds in mountainous areas – where the vast majority of the planet’s species live – have left lowland habitats for higher and higher mountain elevations throughout their evolution. Millions of years of climatic fluctuations have contributed to pushing bird species upslope – as is probably happening now.
One of the fundamental questions in biology, and a centuries-old academic debate, is: How do new species form? And, how do species end up on mountain tops several kilometers high? Indeed, 85% of the world's vertebrates – birds included – live in mountainous areas where lowland habitats isolate animal species and populations from one another.
