TY - JOUR

T1 - Catalyzing Transformations to Sustainability in the World's Mountains

AU - the Mountain Sentinels Network

AU - Klein, Julia A.

AU - Tucker, Catherine May

AU - Nolin, Anne W.

AU - Hopping, Kelly A.

AU - Reid, Robin S.

AU - Steger, C.

AU - Grêt-Regamey, Adrienne

AU - Lavorel, Sandra

AU - Müller, Birgit

AU - Yeh, E. T.

AU - Boone, R. B.

AU - Bourgeron, P.

AU - Butsic, Van

AU - Castellanos, E.

AU - Chen, X.

AU - Dong, Shikui

AU - Greenwood, G.

AU - Keiler, Magreth

AU - Marchant, R.

AU - Seidl, Rupert

AU - Spies, T.

AU - Thorn, J.

AU - Yager, K.

AU - Abbott, M.

AU - Bowser, G.

AU - Carpenter, C.

AU - Cumming, G. S.

AU - Evangelista, P.

AU - Fernandez‐Gimenez, M. E.

AU - Flint, C. G.

AU - Forbes, B. C.

AU - Gerkey, D.

AU - Ghate, R.

AU - Ghorbani, M.

AU - Haider, L. J.

AU - Karna, B.

AU - Leisz, S. J.

AU - Martín‐López, Berta

AU - Nakileza, B. R.

AU - Price, M. F.

AU - Savchuk, D.

AU - Šmid Hribar, M.

AU - Sproles, E.

AU - Suryawanshi, K. R.

AU - Taber, A.

AU - Tappeiner, U.

AU - Tevzadze, G.

AU - Ueno, K.

N1 - We thank the Mountain Sentinels Collaborative Network for their contributions to this work. Individuals who contributed site‐level data and their affiliations are listed Table S1. Ideas presented in this paper were first developed at a workshop supported by the Mountain Research Initiative (MRI), the Colorado State University (CSU) Warner College of Natural Resources, and the CSU Office of International Programs. Further support was provided by the National Science Foundation, NSF DEB 1414106. R. M. was supported under the Climate Change Impacts on Ecosystem Services and Food Security in Eastern Africa (CHIESA) funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland. Publisher Copyright: © 2019. The Authors.

PY - 2019/5/1

Y1 - 2019/5/1

N2 - Mountain social-ecological systems (MtSES) are vital to humanity, providing ecosystem services to over half the planet's human population. Despite their importance, there has been no global assessment of threats to MtSES, even as they face unprecedented challenges to their sustainability. With survey data from 57 MtSES sites worldwide, we test a conceptual model of the types and scales of stressors and ecosystem services in MtSES and explore their distinct configurations according to their primary economic orientation and land use. We find that MtSES worldwide are experiencing both gradual and abrupt climatic, economic, and governance changes, with policies made by outsiders as the most ubiquitous challenge. Mountains that support primarily subsistence-oriented livelihoods, especially agropastoral systems, deliver abundant services but are also most at risk. Moreover, transitions from subsistence- to market-oriented economies are often accompanied by increased physical connectedness, reduced diversity of cross-scale ecosystem services, lowered importance of local knowledge, and shifting vulnerabilities to threats. Addressing the complex challenges facing MtSES and catalyzing transformations to MtSES sustainability will require cross-scale partnerships among researchers, stakeholders, and decision makers to jointly identify desired futures and adaptation pathways, assess trade-offs in prioritizing ecosystem services, and share best practices for sustainability. These transdisciplinary approaches will allow local stakeholders, researchers, and practitioners to jointly address MtSES knowledge gaps while simultaneously focusing on critical issues of poverty and food security.

AB - Mountain social-ecological systems (MtSES) are vital to humanity, providing ecosystem services to over half the planet's human population. Despite their importance, there has been no global assessment of threats to MtSES, even as they face unprecedented challenges to their sustainability. With survey data from 57 MtSES sites worldwide, we test a conceptual model of the types and scales of stressors and ecosystem services in MtSES and explore their distinct configurations according to their primary economic orientation and land use. We find that MtSES worldwide are experiencing both gradual and abrupt climatic, economic, and governance changes, with policies made by outsiders as the most ubiquitous challenge. Mountains that support primarily subsistence-oriented livelihoods, especially agropastoral systems, deliver abundant services but are also most at risk. Moreover, transitions from subsistence- to market-oriented economies are often accompanied by increased physical connectedness, reduced diversity of cross-scale ecosystem services, lowered importance of local knowledge, and shifting vulnerabilities to threats. Addressing the complex challenges facing MtSES and catalyzing transformations to MtSES sustainability will require cross-scale partnerships among researchers, stakeholders, and decision makers to jointly identify desired futures and adaptation pathways, assess trade-offs in prioritizing ecosystem services, and share best practices for sustainability. These transdisciplinary approaches will allow local stakeholders, researchers, and practitioners to jointly address MtSES knowledge gaps while simultaneously focusing on critical issues of poverty and food security.

KW - drivers

KW - ecosystem services

KW - global

KW - moutains

KW - social-ecological systems

KW - synthesis

KW - Ecosystems Research

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85183522184&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1029/2018EF001024

DO - 10.1029/2018EF001024

M3 - Journal articles

AN - SCOPUS:85183522184

VL - 7

SP - 547

EP - 557

JO - Earth's Future

JF - Earth's Future

SN - 2328-4277

IS - 5

ER -