The Impacts of Skiing and Related Winter Recreational Activities on Mountain Environments

At the beginning of 2009, we were considering the possibility of writing an eBook about the impact of skiing on mountain ecosystems. Antonio Rolando had been studying the impacts of ski-pistes on birds and ground-dwelling arthropods since 2003, had experienced the celebration of the XX Olympic Winter Games of Turin in 2006, and had become convinced that the effects of winter sports and tourism on the Alpine environment needed attention. Christian Rixen had been studying the effects of skiing on alpine vegetation since 1999. The option to write an eBook produced by Bentham Publishers provided an ideal opportunity to synthesize the current key research on impacts of skiing on mountain environments. After more than two years of hard work, the eBook is finally realized.Mountain ecosystems represent one of the last strongholds of natural and seminatural terrestrial ecosystems. In present-day Europe, in particular, many lowland ecosystems are being transformed at an alarming rate by urbanization or by the intensification of agriculture. Mountain areas are usually less anthropomorphically impacted, but, on the other hand, are also more sensitive to human disturbance, e.g. as caused by winter tourism. The European Alps, with relatively high levels of development and high population density, epitomize the difficulties in reconciling tourism and nature conservation. They are one of the most frequently visited mountain regions of the world. International arrivals are estimated to amount to about 30 million people every year, a little less than 4% of the world’s total human population and almost 7% of that in Europe (CIPRA 2010). Overall, the Alps rank as the second largest tourist destination in the world after the Mediterranean coast. The great number of tourists brings economic benefits to local communities, but can also impact sensitive ecosystems and species, mainly due to the construction of new buildings, access roads and other human installations. Winter sports in general, and the skiing industry in particular, hold a prominent role as an impacting factor because of the large scale changes they cause at the ecosystem and landscape levels. The establishment of ski-pistes for downhill skiing (also referred to as ski runs) involves significant impacts on ecosystems along a broad altitudinal range that can affect both the montane/subalpine and alpine belts (forest and treeless zones, respectively). During ski-piste construction in particular, pastures or forest tracts areoften clear-cut or treated with heavy machinery, resulting in considerable ecosystem damage. The increase in free-riding snow-sports away from the prepared ski pistes, although less directly impacting on habitats, can represent a novel threat for wildlife. Attempts to restore disturbed sites are often made, but are not always successful. One of the most pressing issues with winter tourism today is therefore to define and protect the most sensitive natural areas, but also to restore disturbed sites by the best possible means. The main aim of our eBook is to provide information concerning the global impact of ski-tourism on the soils, vegetation and wildlife of mountain ecosystems to academics, corporate researchers, graduate and under-graduate students and, obviously, policy-makers. Such knowledge is, in fact, the necessary pre-requisite to formulate policies for sustainable development in mountain areas. This eBook is a truly international product, with contributing authors from many different countries (Austria, Canada, France, Italy, Switzerland and U.S.A.) even though, admittedly, most of the research described herein has been carried out in the European Alps. The sequence of ten chapters intends to emphasize the ecological importance of mountain habitats, to describe the impact of skiing on soil, vegetation and fauna and, last but not least, to illustrate the state of the art in restoration ecology. The chapters are written either as review papers or as research papers (presenting new data or illustrating the results of previous research).