Understanding Soils of Mountainous Landscapes: Sustainable Use of Soil
Ecosystem Services and Management focuses on the patterns and processes
of mountainous soils, including threats due to the fragile nature of
mountain ecosystems, and the conservation and management of soil
ecosystem services and restoration processes. The book covers a balanced
approach to land and resource management, ensuring that environmentally
and socio-culturally sound interventions are developed and applied in
the complex geophysical, ecological, and social landscapes of the
world's mountain systems. The book provides holistic understanding of
mountain soils to help environmental and soil scientists gain insight
and develop new problem-solving approaches.
With obvious up- and downstream linkages (e.g., a large proportion of
urban canters globally depend on water that originates in the mountains)
as well as globalization (e.g., continental-scale impacts of air
pollution and climate change on glaciers), the long-range success of
conservation measures in mountain regions requires that the following
discrete but interconnected interventions be pursued concurrently: (1)
the protection of biodiversity and ecosystem services, (2) empowerment
of mountain communities (including family farming), and (3) elaboration
of more thoughtful, context-specific policy environments for sustainable
mountain development.
