Series Foreword

Preface

Contributors

1 Introduction

Dieter M. Imboden

1.1 Global and Regional Weather and Climate

1.2 Regional Perspectives on Global Climate Change

1.3 The Alps as a Key Region for the Study of Global Change

1.4 An Exploratory Approach to Global Change

1.5 The CLEAR Process and Science for Policymakers

Notes

References

2 Current Alpine Climate

Christoph Schar

Trevor D. Davies

Christoph Frei

Heinz Wanner

Martin Widmann

Martin Wild

Huw C. Davies

2.1 Introduction

2.2 Alpine Climatology: What Are the Geographical Distribution and Variability of the Climatic Elements?

2.3 Climate Processes: What Determines the Alpine Climate?

2.4 Further Remarks

Glossary

References

3 Alpine Paleoclimatology

Guy S. Lister

David M. Livingstone

Brigitta Ammann

Daniel Ariztegui

Wilfried Haeberli

Andre F. Lotter

Christian Ohlendorf

Christian Pfister

Jakob Schwander

Fritz Schweingruber

Bernard Stauffer

Michael Sturm

3.1 Unfolding Climate History in the Alpine Region

3.2 Current Approaches and Signposts to the Future

References

4 Future Alpine Climate

Dimitrios Gyalistras

Christoph Schar

Huw C. Davies

Heinz Wanner

4.1 Introduction

4.2 The Needs

4.3 Framework for Scenario Construction

4.4 The Techniques: Description and Critique

4.5 Some Alpine Scenarios

4.6 Summary and Conclusion

Acknowledgments

References

5 Sensitivity of Plant and Soil Ecosystems of the Alps to Climate Change

Jean-Paul Theurillat

Francois Felber

Patricia Geissler

Jean-Michel Gobat

Marlyse Fierz

Andreas Fischlin

Philippe Kupfer

Andre Schlussel

Caterina Velluti

Gui-Fang Zhao

Jann Williams

5.1 Climate and Vegetation

5.2 The Distribution of Bryophytes and Vascular Plants in the Alps

5.3 Subalpine and Alpine Soils: General Characteristics

5.4 Alpine Vegetation: The Driving Factors

5.5 The Role of Plant Genetic Diversity

5.6 The Response of the Subalpine-Alpine Vegetation and Soils to Climate Change: Integrating Ecosystem Components Across Multiple Spatial Scales

5.7 Conclusion

Acknowledgments

Glossary

References

6 Vegetation Responses to Climate Change in the Alps: Modeling Studies

Heike Lischke

Antoine Guisan

Andreas Fischlin

Jann Williams

Harald Bugmann

6.1 Introduction

6.2 The Static Aspect: Modeling the Potential Habitat of Alpine Plants

6.3 The Dynamic Approach: Evaluating the Fate of Forests

6.4 Conclusions

Acknowledgments

References

7 Innovative Social Responses in the Face of Global Climate Change

Bernhard Truffer

Peter Cebon

Gregor Durrenberger

Carlo C. Jaeger

Roman Rudel

Silvia Rothen

7.1 Innovation-Oriented Policies in the Face of Global Climate Risks

7.2 The Problem of Transalpine Freight Traffic

7.3 Lightweight Vehicles and the Social Construction of Individual Mobility

Acknowledgments

Notes

Glossary

References

8 Regional Integrated Assessment and the Problem of Indeterminacy

Claudia Pahl-Wostl

Carlo C. Jaeger

Steve Rayner

Christoph Schar

Marjolein van Asselt

Dieter M. Imboden

Andrej Vckovski

8.1 Introduction

8.2 Decision Making, Uncertainty in Knowledge, and Indeterminate Phenomena

8.3 The Best-Guess Strategy

8.4 The Probabilistic Strategy

8.5 The Pluralistic Strategy

8.6 The Coproduction of Knowledge

Note

References

Index