Mountain Research in Europe

This is a scientifically definitive reference text on the organizational, institutional, and substantive aspects of research on mountain environments in Europe from the Pyrenees to Siberia conducted under the auspices of UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere Program. It presents the author's expert analyses of published and unpublished research supported by interviews and field visits to Austria, France, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Poland, and the former Soviet Union. For each country, the analysis focuses on its mountain regions and on the organization, research activities, and conclusions of UNESCO's MAB-6 project, "Impact of human activities on mountain and tundra ecosystems." The closing chapter evaluates that project's use of models, organizational and institutional issues, lessons for interdisciplinary research, and legacy for the future. In addition to a comprehensive index, this book has the most complete bibliography-over 200 references-ever compiled on this subject.