An Outline of Europe’s Alpine Areas

Abstract

Geographers, biologists, meteorologists, mountaineers and a large range of other groups of people each have their views on what is ‘alpine’. Some think that the alpine region encompasses only the 960-km-long Alps separating southern and central Europe, whilst others think of specific high snowy ranges such as the Tyrol, Pyrenees, or the Dinaric Alps to be alpine. This book considers all of the ‘alpine’ areas of Europe, and defines qualifying ecosystems as those lying at or above the ‘treeline’ ecotone. We define the treeline as the connection between the highest elevation groups of trees [which form distinct patches and are at least of 3-m height, Körner 1999; Table 1.1]This connecting line falls within the treeline ecotone, which ranges from the timberline (the upper limit of the montane forest) and the tree species line (the upper limit of isolated individual trees). The treeline, as defined here, is a climate-driven boundary, often modified or displaced by land use activities. Given that climate-defined treelines are sometimes absent, some authors have tried to define vegetation zones or belts by using climatic parameters alone (e.g. Holdridge 1947; Rivas-Martinez 1995). This should, however, be supported by true climate measurements such as those reported by ALPNET, the Alpine Biodiversity Network (Chap. 2)