Up until now, mountain ecosystems have not been closely studies by
social scientists as they do not offer a readily defined set of problems
for human exploitation as, do for instance, tropical forests or arctic
habitats. But the archaeological evidence had shown that humans have
been living in this type of habitat for thousands of year.
From this evidence we can also see that mountainous regions are often
frontier zones of competing polities and form refuge areas for dissident
communities as they often are inherently difficult to control by
centralized authorities. As a consequence they fuel or contribute
disproportionately to political violence. But we are now witnessing
changes and increasing vulnerability of mountain ecosystems caused by
human activities.
Human adaptability to mountain ecosystems This volume presents an
international and interdisciplinary account of the exploitation of--and
human adaptation to--mountainous regions over time. The contributions
discuss human cultural responses to key physical and cultural stressors
associated with mountain ecosystems, such as aridity, quality of soils,
steep slopes, low productivity, as well as transient phenomena such as
changing weather patterns, deforestation and erosion, and the possible
effects of climate change.
This volume will be of interest to anthropologists, ecologists and
geologists as mountainous landscapes change fast and cultures disappear
and they need to be recorded, and mountain regions are of interest for
studies on environmental change and cultural responses of mountain
populations provide clues for us all. Critical to understanding mountain
adaptations is our comprehension of human decision-making and how people
view short- and long-term outcomes.
