Climate change and the Rocky Mountains

By: , and 

Links

Abstract

Rural landscapes in the Andes are characterized by an impressive diversity of natural environments and by multiple resource assets. This is particularly the case in the tropical realm where the ecological altitudinal zones of the tierra caliente, the tierra templada, the tierra fria and the tierra helada

offer a remarkable range of agricultural potential. This is complemented by a multitude of topographic, hydrographic and climatic niches. The landscape is further overlaid by a cultural mosaic and by the recent impact of political ecology parameters. These agricultural ‘archipelagos’ and ‘overlapping patchworks’ (Zimmerer 1999) of human utilization also represent fragile and potentially vulnerable regions exposed to environmental risks and to socioeconomic or political threats. The external natural and human stimulators or stressors affecting the environment and people are complemented by new challenges and changes within the rural societies. Thus, farming and human settlement in the Andes have millennia tradition of an ‘open’ rural system, constantly adapting to an array of changing environmental, political, cultural, social and economic conditions (Stadel 2003b, Stadel 2008).

Study Area

Publication type Book chapter
Publication Subtype Book Chapter
Title Climate change and the Rocky Mountains
Chapter 20
Year Published 2014
Language English
Publisher CRC Press
Publisher location Boca Raton
Contributing office(s) Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center
Description 32 p.
Larger Work Type Book
Larger Work Subtype Monograph
Larger Work Title Impact of global changes on mountains: Responses and adaptation
First page 432
Last page 463
Country Canada, United States
Other Geospatial Rocky Mountains
Google Analytic Metrics Metrics page
Additional publication details