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Accessibility and Altitudinal Zonation Models of Mountains

1986; International Mountain Society; Volume: 6; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.2307/3673384

1994-7151

Nigel J. R. Allan,

Wildlife Ecology and Conservation

The altitudinal zonation model, derived from biogeography, has been widely used as a vehicle for characterizing man's imprint on the mountain landscape. Patterns of human activity visible on the landscape have ranged from alpine pastures, forest, and agriculture in a low local relief Alpine model to a six-story model of a high local relief valley of 3,500 m in the Peruvian Andes. These models reflect successful human manipulation of the great range in environmental conditions found in mountain habitats. With the advent of road, track, and bridge construction, especially in the Alpine region of Europe, radical changes in land use have occurred. These changes are functionally related to the degree of accessibility between mountains and lowland areas. A similar process is now under way in the Hindukush-Karakorum-Himalaya where wheeled vehicle routes, many of them constructed for military strategic purposes, have exposed isolated, subsistence-oriented mountain communities to rapid surface communication. Evidence from these mountain communities indicates that major changes in cropping systems, pasturing, and economic integration into marketing networks are taking place. The altitudinal zonation model is no longer suitable for characterizing mountain ecosystems now that human activity is directed to new motorized transportation networks linked to a wider political economy and no longer dependent on altitude. A model incorporating accessibility features is proposed.