ABSTRACT

This chapter explores the key components that make up the mountain ecosystem with an emphasis on processes and features sensitive to human activities, especially resort development. Ecology is the study of the relationship of organisms and their environment. The discipline of ecology grew from the work of the great naturalists dating from Aristotle and extending to Charles Darwin. Naturalists described the diversity of the natural world and recorded the behaviour of species and of species interactions. A mountain is a landform that extends in elevation above the surrounding terrain within a limited area. The zonation of life on mountains reflects variation in the biodiversity of plant, animal, and soil communities, with biodiversity generally declining with elevation. Mountain development that alters forest cover and species biodiversity and/or the relationships between key species in the ecosystem can be expected to have important effects on other species and the main nutrient cycling processes that regulate the health of forest and of the mountain.