Mountain research, traditionally also known as orologyhttp://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/orology Merriam Webster (from Greek oros ὄρος for 'mountain' and logos λόγος), is a field of research that regionally concentrates on the Earth's surface's part covered by mountain environments.
Mountain areas Different approaches have been developed to define mountainous areas. While some use an altitudinal difference of 300 m inside an area to define that zone as mountainous, others consider differences of 1000 m or more,http://www.unep.org/maweb/documents/document.293.aspx.pdf Mountain Systems. UNEP depending on the areas' latitude. Additionally, some include steepness to define mountain regions, hence excluding high plateaus (e.g. the Andean Altiplano or the Tibetan Plateau), zones often seen to be mountainous. A more pragmatic but useful definition has been proposed by the Italian Statistics Office ISTAT, which classifies municipalities as mountainous
if at least 80% of their territory is situated above ≥ 600 m above sea level, and/or if they have an altitudinal difference of 600 m (or more) within their administrative boundaries.http://www.istat.it/it/archivio/147760 Precisazione sulla classificazione dei comuni montani
The United Nations Environmental Programme has produced a maphttp://www.arcgis.com/home/webmap/viewer.html?useExisting=1&layers=0a5d90defc33466cbc3eb85a6564b6d6 UNEP-WCNC (2011): Mountains of the World – 2000. Maphttp://old.unep-wcmc.org/mountains-and-forests-in-mountains-2000_723.html UNEP-WCNC (2011): Mountains of the World – 2000. Data of mountain areas worldwide using a combination of criteria, including regions with
elevations from 300 to 1000 m and local elevation range > 300 m; elevations from 1000 to 1500 m and slope ≥ 5° or local elevation range > 300 m; elevations from 1500 to 2500 m and slope ≥ 2°; elevations of 2500 m or more.
Focus
Broader definition In a broader sense, mountain research is considered any research in mountain regions: for instance disciplinary studies on Himalayan plants, Andean rocks, Alpine cities, or Carpathian people. It is comparable to research that concentrates on the Arctic and Antarctic (polar research) or coasts (coastal research).
Narrower definition In a narrower sense, mountain research focuses on mountain regions, their description and the explanation of the human-environment interaction in (positive) and the sustainable development of (normative) these areas. So-defined mountain research is situated at the nexus of natural sciences, social sciences and humanities. Drawing on Alexander von Humboldt's work in the Andean realm, mountain geography and ecology are considered core areas of study; nevertheless important contributions are coming from anthropology, geology, economics, history or spatial planning.
One definition of mountain science was given by the Romanian professor Radu Rey in 1985 in the book Mountain Civilization, as follows:
In sum, narrowly defined mountain research applies an interdisciplinary and integrative regional approach. Slaymaker summarizes:
Denomination Mountain research or orology—not to be confused with orography—, is sometimes denominated mountology. This term stems from Carl Troll's mountain geoecology—geoecology being Troll's English translation of the German Landschaftsökologie—and appeared at a meeting in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1977. Since then, scholars such as Jack D. Ives, Bruno Messerli and Robert E. Rhoades have claimed the development of mountology as interdisciplinary mountain research. The term montology was included in the Oxford English Dictionary in 2002. It defines montology as:
On the one hand, the term montology received criticism due to the mix of Latin (mōns, pl. montēs) and Greek (logos). On the other hand, however, this is also the—well accepted—case in several, already established disciplines such as glaciology or sociology.
Mountain research journals The following list includes peer-reviewed journals that have a focus on mountain research and are open to both the natural and the social sciences:
Journals covered by citation indices Mountain Research and Development indexed in SCOPUS, Web of Science (SCIE) articles in English official website Journal of Mountain Science indexed in SCOPUS, Web of Science (SCIE) articles in English official website Journal of Alpine Research / Revue de géographie alpine indexed in SCOPUS, Web of Science (SSCI) articles in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish official website eco.mont indexed in SCOPUS, Web of Science (SCIE) articles in English official website Appalachian Journal indexed in SCOPUS, Web of Science (AHCI) articles in English official website Pirineos indexed in SCOPUS articles in English, Spanish official website Histoire des Alpes – Storia delle Alpi – Geschichte der Alpen indexed in SCOPUS articles in French, Italian, German official website HIMALAYA indexed in SCOPUS articles in English official websiteУстойчивое развитие горных территорий / Sustainable Development of Mountain Territoriesindexed in SCOPUS, RSCI articles in Russian, English official website Revista de Investigaciones Altoandinas indexed in Web of Science (ESCI), SciELO Citation Index articles in Spanish, English official website Journals not covered by citation indices Bulletin de l’Institut français d’études andines articles in Spanish, French official website Himalayan Journal of Sciences articles in English official website Revista Andina articles in Spanish official website L’Italia Forestale e Montana / Italian Journal of Forest and Mountain Environments articles in English, Italian official website Beskydy – The Beskids Bulletin articles in English official website Journal of Mountain Agriculture on the Balkans articles in Bulgarian, English official website Mountain Research articles in Chinese official website The Research Journal of Mountains: Biodiversity, Landscapes and Cultures articles in English official website
Mountain research personalities Nigel J. R. Allen Yuri P. Badenkov Werner Bätzing Axel Borsdorf Philippe Bourdeau Bernard Debarbieux Veronica della Dora Olivier Dollfus Don C. Funnel Donald A. Friend Daniel W. Gade José M. García Ruiz Stephan Halloy Lawrence S. Hamilton Hans Hurni Jack D. Ives Hans Kinzl Thomas Kohler Wilhelm Lauer Elisabeth Lichtenberger Bruno Messerli Dorothy Jane Pratt Roderick Peattie Martin F. Price Robert E. Rhoades Fausto O. Sarmiento Jörg Stadelbauer Olav Slaymaker David Smethurst Christoph Stadel Carl Troll
See also Mountain Research and Development Journal of Mountain Science eco.mont – Journal on Protected Mountain Areas Research and Management Mountain Partnership
References
Further reading
External links MRI Mountain Research Initiative The Mountain Forum AAG Mountain Geography Specialty Group