Zsfassung in dt. u. engl. Sprache.

Inhalt: P. Schuster, Preface; A. Borsdorf - J. Stotter - E. Veulliet, Managing Alpine Future - an introduction Environment and Natural HazardsM. F. Price, Maintaining mountain biodiversity in an era of climate change;M. Vetter, Aspects of differentiation of global and regional climate change effects in Alpine regions;Y. Kohler, An ecological network in the Alps - new space for nature: Overview on changing nature conservation practices in the Alps;M. Mauser - M. Muerth, GLOWA-Danube: climate change and the future of water in the Upper Danube Basin;D. Dawa - D. Geneletti, Environmental impact of trekking in Trans-Himalayan ecosystems - a study of a highly visited trail in Ladakh; The Future of Tourism in a Changing Alpine EnvironmentB. Abegg - R. Burki - H. Elsasser, Climate change and tourism in the Alps;Ph. Bourdeau, The Alps in the age of new style tourism: between diversification and post-tourism?;C. Gonseth, Do snowmaking investments improve the financial situation of the ski area operation companies in the perspective of climate change?;R. Steiger, The impact of poor winter seasons on ski tourism and the role of snowmaking as an adaptation strategy;T. Luthe - R. Roth - H. Elsasser, Vulnerability to global change and sustainable adaptation of ski tourism - an outlook on the study SkiSustain Mobility - a Need and a Problem at the Same TimeH. Knoflacher, The Alps: barriers of physical", but triggers for "intellectual" mobility in Europe; R. Schleicher-Tappeser, Prospects for transport and mobility in the Alps;T. Stoiber, Sustainability of Alpine railway tunnel projects - an analysis of the Brenner Base Tunnel; T. Behnen, Accelerated change of Alpine air transport;F. Braun - M. Fiebig - A. Muhar, Development of options for action to adapt the high Alpine trail network to consequences of climate change;V. Bua - A. Oberprantacher - P.P. Pasqualoni, Researching mobility of university graduates in an Alpine region Health - a Key Factor of Quality of Life in the MountainsW. Schobersberger, Climate change as a chance for Alpine health tourism?;A. Burnand - N. Litzistorf Spina - T. Diallo - J. Simos - N. Cantoreggi, Health impact assessment: a potential tool for managing health consequences of Alpine space policies;A. Exenberger - J. Nussbaumer, Historical remarks about the impact of global change on food supply in the Alpine area during the 20th century;S. Achleitner - C. Engelhard - S. De Toffol - I. Lek - U. Stegner - W. Rauch, Risk of traffic induced contamination of the water cycle: assessment of urban snow and soil in the Tyrolean region Water and Energy - Valuable Mountain Resources for the Future of MankindW. Feist, Energy efficiency and renewable energy - the key technologies for climate change mitigation;M. Schon - S. De Toffol - B. Wett - H. Insam - W. Rauch, Comparison of renewable energy resources in Alpine regions;D. Vanham - S. De Toffol - E. Fleischhacker - W. Rauch, Water demand for snowmaking under climate change conditions in an Alpine environment Culture - an Important Component of a Sustainable Future in the Alps W. Batzing, Alpine culture as a key factor for sustainable development in the Alps;E. Steinicke, The impact of current demographic transformation on ethno-linguistic minori-ties in the Alps;W. Pfefferkorn - S. Rauzi, "Future in the Alps: getting knowledge across - networking people Steering a Sustainable Future: Spatial Planning and Development L.A.G. Moss, Amenity-led change in mountain regions: maintaining ecological integrity of the distant brought nearby;G. Weber - W. Seher, Considerations on the future of agriculture in Austrian Alpine areas;C. Geitner - M. Tusch, Soil evaluation for planning procedures: providing a basis for soil protection in Alpine regions;K. Grunewald - J. Scheithauer, What can mountain regions in Southeast Europe learn from the Alps? Tourism vs. National Park in Bansko/Pirin, Bulgaria;M. Muerth - W. Mauser, Implications of a regional scale soil temperature and freezing model in the Upper Danube Basin for climate change scenarios;K. Grunewald -J. Scheithauer, Holocene climate and landscape history of the Pirin Mountains (Southwest Bulgaria

Mountain regions encompass nearly 24 percent of the total land surface of the earth and are home to approximately 12 percent of the world's population. Their ecosystems play a critical role in sustaining human life both in the highlands and the lowlands. During recent years, resource use in high mountain areas has changed mainly in response to the

Bringing together leaders in the fields of climate change ecology, wildlife population dynamics, and environmental policy, this title examines the impacts of climate change on populations of terrestrial vertebrates. It also includes chapters that assess the details of climate change ecology.

Landscape Development and Climate Change in Southwest Bulgaria aims to address some of the current limitations in our understanding of past Balkan climate and environment. High mountains and their ecosystems offer an outstanding opportunity for studies on the impact of climate change. The Balkan Mountains in Southeast Europe, situated at the transition between temperate and Mediterranean climate, are considered as very sensitive to historical and current global changes. The geoarchives lake sediment, peat and soil, long living trees and glaciers have been used to reconstruct the climatically-driven change of forest and treeline during the Holocene and the younger past. These processes are interrelated with complex ecological changes, as for example the seasonality of climate parameters. The landscape research approach with the analyses through multi-palaeo-geoecological proxies is new for the Balkans.

This book offers an interdisciplinary view of the biophysical issues related to climate change. Climate change is a phenomenon by which the long-term averages of weather events (i.e. temperature, precipitation, wind speed, etc.) that define the climate of a region are not constant but change over time. There have been a series of past periods of climatic change, registered in historical or paleoecological records. In the first section of this book, a series of state-of-the-art research projects explore the biophysical causes for climate change and the techniques currently being used and developed for its detection in several regions of the world. The second section of the book explores the effects that have been reported already on the flora and fauna in different ecosystems around the globe. Among them, the ecosystems and landscapes in arctic and alpine regions are expected to be among the most affected by the change in climate, as they will suffer the more intense changes. The final section of this book explores in detail those issues.