Mountain Observatories: Status and Prospects for Enhancing and Connecting a Global Community
Mountainous regions are globally important, in part because they support large populations and are biodiverse. They are also characterized by enhanced vulnerability to anthropogenic pressures and sensitivity to climate change. This importance necessitates the development of a global reference networ...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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International Mountain Society
2021-05-01
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| Series: | Mountain Research and Development |
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| Online Access: | https://bioone.org/doi/10.1659/MRD-JOURNAL-D-20-00054.1 |
| _version_ | 1819070803636912128 |
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| author | Maria Shahgedanova Carolina Adler Aster Gebrekirstos H. Ricardo Grau Christian Huggel Robert Marchant Nicholas Pepin Veerle Vanacker Daniel Viviroli Mathias Vuille |
| author_facet | Maria Shahgedanova Carolina Adler Aster Gebrekirstos H. Ricardo Grau Christian Huggel Robert Marchant Nicholas Pepin Veerle Vanacker Daniel Viviroli Mathias Vuille |
| author_sort | Maria Shahgedanova |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Mountainous regions are globally important, in part because they support large populations and are biodiverse. They are also characterized by enhanced vulnerability to anthropogenic pressures and sensitivity to climate change. This importance necessitates the development of a global reference network of long-term environmental and socioeconomic monitoring—mountain observatories. At present, monitoring is limited and unevenly distributed across mountain regions globally. Existing thematic networks do not fully support the generation of multidisciplinary knowledge required to inform decisions, enact drivers of sustainable development, and safeguard against losses. In this paper, the Mountain Observatories Working Group, established by the Mountain Research Initiative (MRI) Science Leadership Council, identifies geographical and thematic gaps as well as recent advances in monitoring of relevant biophysical and socioeconomic variables in the mountains. We propose principles and ways of connecting existing initiatives, supporting emerging areas, and developing new mountain observatory networks regionally and, eventually, globally. Particularly in the data-poor regions, we aspire to build a community of researchers and practitioners in collaboration with the Global Network on Observations and Information in Mountain Environments, Group on Earth Observations (GEO) Mountains, a GEO Work Programme Initiative. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-21T17:11:45Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-fe0faf1866664c5a8ef5e498ddda59ae |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0276-4741 1994-7151 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-21T17:11:45Z |
| publishDate | 2021-05-01 |
| publisher | International Mountain Society |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Mountain Research and Development |
| spelling | doaj.art-fe0faf1866664c5a8ef5e498ddda59ae2022-12-21T18:56:24ZengInternational Mountain SocietyMountain Research and Development0276-47411994-71512021-05-01412A1A15https://doi.org/10.1659/MRD-JOURNAL-D-20-00054.1Mountain Observatories: Status and Prospects for Enhancing and Connecting a Global CommunityMaria Shahgedanova0Carolina Adler1Aster Gebrekirstos2H. Ricardo Grau3Christian Huggel4Robert Marchant5Nicholas Pepin6Veerle Vanacker7Daniel Viviroli8Mathias Vuille9Department of Geography and Environmental Science, University of Reading, Whiteknights, PO Box 217, Reading, RG6 6AH, Berkshire, UK; m.shahgedanova@reading.ac.uk Mountain Research Initiative, c/o Centre for Development and Environment (CDE), University of Bern, Mittelstrasse 43, 3012 Bern, SwitzerlandWorld Agroforestry (ICRAF), United Nations Avenue, Gigiri, PO Box 30677, Nairobi, 00100, KenyaInstituto de Ecología Regional (CONICET–Universidad Nacional de Tucumán), Cc 34–4107, Yerba Buena, Tucumán, ArgentinaDepartment of Geography, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zurich, SwitzerlandYork Institute for Tropical Ecosystems, Department of Environment and Geography, University of York, Heslington, York, YO10 5DD, UKSchool of the Environment, Geography and Geoscience, University of Portsmouth, Winston Churchill Avenue, Portsmouth, PO1 2UP, Hampshire, UKEarth and Life Institute, University of Louvain, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, BelgiumDepartment of Geography, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zurich, SwitzerlandDepartment of Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences, University at Albany, State University of New York, Albany, NY 12222, USAMountainous regions are globally important, in part because they support large populations and are biodiverse. They are also characterized by enhanced vulnerability to anthropogenic pressures and sensitivity to climate change. This importance necessitates the development of a global reference network of long-term environmental and socioeconomic monitoring—mountain observatories. At present, monitoring is limited and unevenly distributed across mountain regions globally. Existing thematic networks do not fully support the generation of multidisciplinary knowledge required to inform decisions, enact drivers of sustainable development, and safeguard against losses. In this paper, the Mountain Observatories Working Group, established by the Mountain Research Initiative (MRI) Science Leadership Council, identifies geographical and thematic gaps as well as recent advances in monitoring of relevant biophysical and socioeconomic variables in the mountains. We propose principles and ways of connecting existing initiatives, supporting emerging areas, and developing new mountain observatory networks regionally and, eventually, globally. Particularly in the data-poor regions, we aspire to build a community of researchers and practitioners in collaboration with the Global Network on Observations and Information in Mountain Environments, Group on Earth Observations (GEO) Mountains, a GEO Work Programme Initiative.https://bioone.org/doi/10.1659/MRD-JOURNAL-D-20-00054.1climate changedata networkselevation gradientsgeo mountainslong-term monitoringmountainspaleoenvironmentsremote sensing |
| spellingShingle | Maria Shahgedanova Carolina Adler Aster Gebrekirstos H. Ricardo Grau Christian Huggel Robert Marchant Nicholas Pepin Veerle Vanacker Daniel Viviroli Mathias Vuille Mountain Observatories: Status and Prospects for Enhancing and Connecting a Global Community Mountain Research and Development climate change data networks elevation gradients geo mountains long-term monitoring mountains paleoenvironments remote sensing |
| title | Mountain Observatories: Status and Prospects for Enhancing and Connecting a Global Community |
| title_full | Mountain Observatories: Status and Prospects for Enhancing and Connecting a Global Community |
| title_fullStr | Mountain Observatories: Status and Prospects for Enhancing and Connecting a Global Community |
| title_full_unstemmed | Mountain Observatories: Status and Prospects for Enhancing and Connecting a Global Community |
| title_short | Mountain Observatories: Status and Prospects for Enhancing and Connecting a Global Community |
| title_sort | mountain observatories status and prospects for enhancing and connecting a global community |
| topic | climate change data networks elevation gradients geo mountains long-term monitoring mountains paleoenvironments remote sensing |
| url | https://bioone.org/doi/10.1659/MRD-JOURNAL-D-20-00054.1 |
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