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The European Meteorological Society will hold its annual meeting 3-7 September 2018 in Budapest, Hungary. The OPCC (Pyrenees Climate Change Observatory), as co-conveners of the session 'Climate Change in Mountain Areas,' invites you to present an abstract of your work on this topic.
This session welcomes contributions in connection with mountain climate, climate change, changing climate-extreme events, natural disasters, and other climate-related socioeconomic impacts. Adaptation actions and best practices are also welcomed. The abstract submission deadline is 13 Apr 2018.
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This study forms part of a UK NERC-funded fellowship at Lancaster University, entitled ‘The resistance and resilience of mountain soils in the face of change’.
The primary focus of this call is to make the first global assessment of the response of alpine soil microbial communities to perturbations associated with climate extremes, and to use proximate controls (e.g. microhabitat, microbial community structure, soil organic matter quality, vegetation structure) as well as broader-scale controls (e.g. bioclimatic zone, geological attributes) to explain variance.
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Spring is in the air, and with it a fresh burst of energy and activity for us here at the MRI coordination office!
Earlier this month, the MRI’s Principle Investigators met with me in Bern to continue to develop and realign the MRI’s strategy for 2018/19 and beyond. We are now in the process of finalizing this and hope to be able to share it with you soon. There will be important announcements there on what we hope will be new ways to facilitate greater collaboration and participation within the mountain research community across the globe, and we look forward to your active engagement.
Towards the end of March, I was in Kathmandu, Nepal, meeting with colleagues at ICIMOD to discuss various ongoing collaborations such as our work on the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a framework for monitoring and reporting on sustainable mountain development, which we are undertaking in the context of the Swiss Development Cooperation's 'Promoting Sustainable Mountain Development for Global Change (SMD4GC)' program. While in Kathmandu, I also attended the International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation (UIAA) Management Committee Meeting, where I had the opportunity to present on the work of the UIAA's own Mountain Protection Commission and discuss with UIAA board members the strategic potential of linking to the mountain research community via MRI for their future projects and research needs. Finally, I was invited to give a talk at the Global Adventure and Mountaineering Conference and Expo (GAMCE) 2018, organised by the Nepal Tourism Board among others, where I had the opportunity to share ideas and link to new prospects for mountain research in the context of tourism and recreation. These prospects and ideas will be shared with the mountain research community by MRI at the upcoming Sustainable Summits Conference (SSC) 2018 in Chamonix, France, in June, and at the next SSC conference envisaged to take place in 2020 in Nepal.
We also continue to be actively involved in the high mountains chapter of the IPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate (SROCC), where significant progress is being made. We would like to take this opportunity to encourage your participation in the development of this key publication by sharing your relevant, peer-reviewed mountain literature with us. You can also play an important role in this process by providing an expert review of the report’s First Order Draft. Further details, including information on important deadlines and how to submit your literature, can be found in the article below.
Plus, read on to discover the latest stories, publications, and opportunities from across the global mountain research community.
Kind regards,
Carolina Adler,
Executive Director MRI
COMING UP ON THE MRI'S AGENDA IN APRIL/MAY
April:
- Swiss Polar Day, 4 April, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
- Mountain Partnership Steering Committee Meeting, 23-24 April, FAO Headquarters, Rome, Italy.
- UIAA and IFMGA Environmental Commissions Meeting, 26-27 April, Samnaun, Switzerland.
- Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) 3rd Data Providers Workshop, 2 May, ESA-Frascati, Italy.
- International Mountains Conference 2019 Scientific Steering Committee Meeting, 3-4 May, Innsbruck, Austria.
- UIAA Mountain Protection Commission Meeting, 18-19 May, Lake District, UK.
- MRI / GEO-Global Network for Observations and Information in Mountain Environments Workshop, 23-25 May, Bern, Switzerland.
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Welcome to the February edition of the MRI Global Newsletter.
This month we've been in Quito, Ecuador, where MRI Executive Director Carolina Adler participated in the second lead author meeting for the IPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate (SROCC). An intense few days of fruitful discussion concluded with an outreach event at which Dr. Adler spoke for mountains in a presentation to the media and wider public - more on that below.
And the mountain research community has been busy too! Read on to discover the latest stories, publications, and opportunities from across the global network.
COMING UP ON THE MRI'S AGENDA IN MARCH-APRIL
- Second meeting of the MRI Principal Investigators and MRI Strategy Meeting, 6 March, Bern, Switzerland.
- Management Committee and Executive Board meeting of the International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation (UIAA), 23-25 March, Kathmandu, Nepal.
- Mountain Partnership Steering Committee meeting, April, FAO Headquarters/Rome, Italy.
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The IPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate, or SROCC, came another step closer to being realized this month as authors met for an intensive few days in Quito – MRI Executive Director Dr. Carolina Adler among them.
The SROCC is one of three special reports that the IPCC, the leading body for assessing the science related to climate change, will be releasing over the next two years. Containing a careful assessment of changes in the ocean and cryosphere – the areas of the planet in which water is found in its solid state as ice or snow – the SROCC report aims to support policymakers in their understanding of the physical and social dimensions of climate change, the risks and challenges we face as a result, and our options for adapting to them.
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This article published in Ecohydrology identifies key knowledge gaps on vegetation distribution, functional traits, and ecohydrological processes and feedbacks in tropical montane ecosystems.
Montane ecosystems are known for their high numbers of endemic species, unique climate conditions, and wide variety of ecosystem services such as water supply and carbon storage. Although many ecohydrological and climatic studies of montane environments have been carried out in temperate and boreal regions, few have been done in Neotropical regions. Hence, the objective of this review is to synthesize the existing literature on the main factors (biotic and abiotic) that influence vegetation distribution, functional traits, and ecohydrological processes and feedbacks in tropical montane ecosystems and to identify key knowledge gaps. Most of the literature used includes work conducted in Neotropical montane rainforests, cloud forests, and grass/scrublands (e.g., páramos, punas, and campos de altitude/rupestres).
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This article published in Ecohydrology highlights the importance of studying ecohydrological in tropical systems.
Tropical ecosystems offer a unique setting for understanding ecohydrological processes, but to date, such investigations have been limited. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the importance of studying these processes—specifically, how they are being affected by the transformative changes taking place in the tropics—and to offer an agenda for future research.
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A new award seeks to promote the work of early-career researchers into mountain areas and cryospheric processes.
The Complutense University of Madrid's research group Physical Geography in High Mountains and the Guadarrama Monitoring Network have opened a call for applicants for the 'Young Researcher Innovation Award in Cryosphere Science and Mountain Areas.'
