Greenhouse-gas Emissions from Temperate Mountain Forests

Berlin

Springer

2008

S. 41-60

Artikel aus einer ZeitschriftBandaufführung

152821

Managing Forest Ecosystems, S. 41-60

Mountain forests are home to a stunning diversity of animals and plants. They contribute if not define the scenic beauty of a landscape in a harsh environment Forests fulfil many environmental services. An example is the regulation of hydrologic processes that tames otherwise dangerous torrents and converts them into sources of drinking water and enables to transform the energy within hydrologic power stations. An only recently emerging issue is whether or not mountain forests can contribute to the sequestration of greenhouse gases (GHGs). Mountain regions are often covered by forests because site properties, environmental conditions and limited land accessibility impose difficulties to the agricultural land use. During the last 50 years, mountain forests probably underwent the most accentuated and significant change in their history. For centuries, timber extraction was the dominant aim of forestry and patches of land were cleared for pastures in order to seasonally expand the agricultural land from valleys into higher elevations. The different products of the management of mountain forests served a local market. The historical economical context of forestry between timber production and protection of infrastructure and settlement has changed since tourism exerts a steadily growing demand on land. Forestry as a part of the primary sector of economy is losing on relevance. The local economy no longer depends on locally produced timber. The high costs of timber production (silvicultural interventions plus cost of harvesting) in mountain regions further marginalize forestry. The traditional intensity of forestry in mountains is no longer economically viable and intermittent forms of forestry, i.e. brief episodes of active forest management and long intervals without interventions, are a realistic scenario (Broggi, 2002).