New research maps English-language scientific journal articles that analyze the climate change adaptation options planned or implemented in European mountain regions – and finds key knowledge gaps in academic literature that need to be addressed. MRI Executive Director Carolina Adler is among the authors. 

European mountain regions have already been impacted by climate change, and this is projected to increase in the future. These mountain regions experience rapid changes, which influence social-ecological systems in the lower-mountain and floodplain regions of Europe. However, there is scattered evidence across different strands of academic literature on the ways in which the impacts of changing climate in mountain regions are addressed and adaptive capacity is enhanced.

Using a systematic mapping review, new research published in Mountain Research and Development maps English-language scientific journal articles that analyze the climate change adaptation options that are planned or implemented in European mountain regions. In doing so, the researchers hope to enhance our understanding of how academic literature has investigated climate change adaptation – something that is critical for identifying key knowledge gaps and research foci.

Following the Reporting Standards for Systematic Evidence Syntheses in environmental research protocol, 72 scientific articles published between January 2011 and August 2019 were identified from a total of 702 scientific articles. In their analysis, the researchers find that existing academic literature has a strong focus on the western and southern European mountains: the European Alps, Pyrenees, and Sierra Nevada. Key climate impacts reported for the biophysical systems include reduction in forest carbon, soil erosion, changes in vegetation patterns, and changes in plant population and tree heights; in human systems, these include water availability, agricultural production, changes in viticulture, and impacts on tourism.

Key adaptation options reported in this article are wetland conservation options, changing cropping and cultivation cycles, tree species management strategies, and snow-making technology. The researchers found very few articles analyzing governance responses to planning and implementing adaptation, and that these had a strong bias toward techno-managerial responses. They conclude that, while climate impacts are substantial in European mountain regions, there are knowledge gaps in academic literature that need to be addressed.

This text was adapted from the article abstract as published in Mountain Research and Development.

Read more:  Vij, S., Biesbroek, R., Adler, C., and Muccione, V. 'Climate Change Adaptation in European Mountain Systems: A Systematic Mapping of Academic Research.' Mountain Research and Development (2021): https://doi.org/10.1659/MRD-JOURNAL-D-20-00033.1

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