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Ecosystem Services

Ecosystem services in mountain regions

Especially mountain areas provide a wide range of ecosystem services, which are indispensable to life, such as provision of food and clean drinking water or climate and natural hazards regulation as well as recreation and leisure, and at the same time, they are extremely responsive to global change. Thus, the research on the causal relationship between biodiversity – ecological functions – ecosystem services – pressure on land resources – global change is of great scientific interest and of practical importance regarding the quality of life. Therefore, the project aims to analyze ecosystems services of mountain regions and to quantify them by developing adapted models.

Project duration: January 2018 - December 2027
Project status:
Funding:
Internal funding EURAC (Project)
Institute: Institute for Alpine Environment

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Scientific Publications

Journal article2025

A comparative analysis of ecosystem services perceptions across two regions in Eastern Africa and Central Europe

Tasser E, Kuhlmann K, Mwanza MW, Schermer M, Tappeiner U, Tembo G, Zoderer BM, Schirpke U

Uta Schirpke, Erich Tasser, Ulrike Tappeiner

Ecosystem services (ES) are crucial for livelihoods, the economy and good quality of life, making them essential for sustaining human well-being. However, perceptions of ES can vary according to economic and social factors. In this study, we compare people’s perceptions of ES across developing and developed countries by exploring local communities and visitors’ socio-cultural values attached to ES in the Eastern Province of Zambia (Eastern Africa) and Tyrol (Central Europe) using questionnaire surveys (N = 243). The results indicate that the respondents’ region of origin, education level, gender, age, and socio-economic status play a significant role in the perception of ES. Provisioning, regulation & maintenance ES are perceived as generally more important in Eastern Africa than in Central Europe, whereas respondents in Central Europe attribute higher importance to cultural ES. For some ES, gender type, age group, living place, and educational level also influence perception. These socio- economic differences are underlined by the ranking of ES in terms of personal importance. In Eastern Africa, the ES ‘food from agriculture’, ‘natural hazard protection’, ‘prevention of water scarcity’ and ‘climate regulation’ are particularly important. In Europe, the most frequently chosen ES are ‘opportunity for leisure activities’ and ‘peaceful places and tranquillity’. Our findings provide insights into the socio-cultural importance of benefits provided by nature across two socio-economic different contexts, suggesting that decision-making processes will need be responsive to context differences and different needs depending on economic and social background.

DOI Source

DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoser.2025.101747

Journal article2025

From valleys to peaks: characterizing soundscapes in the Northern European Limestone Alps

Ebner M, Tappeiner U, Schirpke U

Uta Schirpke, Ulrike Tappeiner

Context

Relationship between soundscapes, habitat types, and landscape structure are insufficiently assessed in mountain landscapes. Characterizing soundscape patterns is important for understanding how human and natural processes affect mountain acoustic environments.

Objectives

We aim to characterize summer soundscapes across major mountain habitats by examining how acoustic characteristics and soundscape components vary spatio-temporally and relate to multiple environmental variables.

Methods

We deployed audio recorders across 44 sites in the Garmisch-Partenkirchen district of the Northern European Limestone Alps, Germany, covering nine habitat types during summer. We characterized their soundscapes by using eight acoustic indicators and soundscape components (anthrophony, biophony, and geophony), examining their relationships with habitat types, landscape structure, and diel periods.

Results

Soundscapes varied by habitat type, with alpine grasslands and rocky habitats featuring less diverse, distinct soundscapes compared to montane and valley habitats (e.g., intensively and extensive used grasslands, forests, lakes/rivers), with persistent aircraft sound in alpine sites. Differences in soundscape characteristics were related to elevation, distance to infrastructure, and landscape structure. Diel patterns revealed that biophony dominates at dawn, while anthrophony prevailed at other times, with habitat-specific variations.

Conclusions

In mountain landscapes, soundscapes vary according to habitat type, landscape gradients, and diel period, with anthrophony present even in high-alpine areas. Incorporating landscape characteristics into soundscape assessments offered insights into important covariates at a broader spatial scale. The results emphasize the potential of integrating soundscape considerations into mountain landscape management accounting for acoustic environments.

DOI Source

DOI: 10.1007/s10980-025-02112-1

Journal article2025

Interface Areas in the European Alps: Defining Functional Regions Between Mountains and Lowlands

Bertram D, Chilla T, Schirpke U

Uta Schirpke

The European Alps are surrounded by highly urbanized areas located close to fragile mountain landscapes. The transition areas between the mountain core and peri-Alpine lowlands represent a spatial context where functional linkages and interdependencies are pronounced. Water supplies flowing to lowland populations and weekend tourism flowing to mountain areas are examples of these links. Despite their significance, interface areas remain a underexplored spatial category, with most studies focusing on either mountain or lowland areas. This article addresses this gap by conceptualizing and defining interface areas on a pan-Alpine scale. We had 2 main research objectives: (1) to define and analyze the spatial and functional characteristics of these areas, including their similarities and differences, and (2) to position them in relation to the more established categories of mountain and lowland areas. Our results revealed 3 spatial specificities of Alpine interface areas. First interface areas are characterized by sharp contrasts in socioeconomic and environmental aspects, such as population density, ecological connectivity, and recreational opportunities. Interface areas function as connectors, bridging the divide between high mountain regions and lowland urban areas. Second, interface areas act as geographic funnels, channeling major transport and mobility flows through limited corridors due to spatial narrowing. This leads to hotspots of transport infrastructure demand. Third, policy implications arise from the intense competition for the limited land available within interface areas. Strategic spatial development must balance competing sectoral interests, which requires multilevel governance and participatory processes. The recognition of Alpine interface areas as a specific spatial category provides a new lens for Alpine spatial development.

DOI Source

DOI: 10.1659/mrd.2024.00049

Journal article2025

Mapping spatio-temporal patterns of soundscapes in a mountain landscape

Schirpke U, Ebner M

Uta Schirpke

Our understanding of the relationships between soundscapes and human well-being is continuously increasing, emphasizing the need for soundscape management. To effectively improve soundscape quality, knowledge on spatio-temporal patterns of soundscape characteristics is required. This study comprehensively assessed and mapped spatio-temporal patterns of soundscape characteristics in a complex mountain landscape in the Bavarian Alps (Germany), integrating quantitative analyses of audio recordings (n = 41) along gradients of elevation and human activity with human perception on soundscape quality gathered through a participatory mapping survey (pleasant: n = 47, unpleasant: n = 44). Based on an aural inventory to identify major sound sources, our results indicate that soundscapes at the sampling sites were composed by multiple sound sources, though dominated by air traffic, road traffic, birds, and insects, following diurnal cycles of activity. Spatial patterns of sound sources, acoustic indices, and perceived soundscape quality were significantly influenced by human infrastructure (e.g. roads, cable cars), human activity (e.g., agriculture, tourism), topography, and land cover. While anthrophony, biophony, and geophony did not show clear spatial patterns, the forest-based regression model, explaining up to 62 % of the variance, predicted a concentration of technophony on the valley bottom and adjacent hillslopes, emphasizing the impact of technophony on soundscape perceptions. Our findings provide insights into the relationships between landscape and soundscape characteristics supporting soundscape management.

DOI Source

DOI: 10.1016/j.apgeog.2025.103722

All Publications

Mapping spatio-temporal patterns of soundscapes in a mountain landscape
Schirpke U, Ebner M (2025)
Journal article
Applied Geography

More information: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S01436 ...

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeog.2025.103722

Participatory mapping of human-nature interactions in mountain landscapes: Instances of experiential multi-functionality
Ebner M, Schirpke U (2025)
Journal article
Landscape and Urban Planning

More information: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S01692 ...

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2025.105453

From valleys to peaks: characterizing soundscapes in the Northern European Limestone Alps
Ebner M, Tappeiner U, Schirpke U (2025)
Journal article
Landscape Ecology

More information: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10980-025-02112-1

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-025-02112-1

Our partners

Ecosystem Services Partnership

University of Trento, Sociology and Social Research

University of Innsbruck, Department of Economics

University of Innsbruck, Faculty of Biology, Institute of Ecology

University of Innsbruck, Mountain Agriculture Research Unit

European Society for Ecological Economics

ETH Zürich, Institut für Raum- und Landschaftsentwicklung

National Economics University, Vietnam

University of Trento, Economics and Management

Consiglio per la Ricerca e la Sperimentazione in Agricoltura, Centro di Ricerca per ...

Consiglio per la Ricerca e la Sperimentazione in Agricoltura, Unità di Ricerca per il ...

European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists

Université Joseph Fourie, Laboratoire d’Écologie Alpine

Project Team

Lukas Egarter Vigl

Ulrike Tappeiner

Lukas Egarter Vigl

Caroline Pecher

Uta Schirpke

Erich Tasser

Heidi Simion

Thomas Marsoner

Journal article2025

From valleys to peaks: characterizing soundscapes in the Northern European Limestone Alps

Ebner M, Tappeiner U, Schirpke U

Uta Schirpke, Ulrike Tappeiner

Context

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusions

DOI Source

DOI: 10.1007/s10980-025-02112-1

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Ecosystem Services