Mountain gloom and mountain glory revisited: A survey of conservation, connectivity, and climate change in mountain regions
Mountain regions have played a significant role in the history of biodiversity conservation, and promise to play an even larger part in future efforts to respond to climate change. After an historical overview of scientific research into mountain ecosystems, biodiversity conservation in mountain regions is examined in light of the ever-expanding research agenda on landscape connectivity and corridor ecology. An array of potential beneficial and deleterious effects of ‘wildlife corridors’ is then discussed, along with a description of the conceptual scientific underpinnings of wildlife corridors in the field of island biogeography, metapopulation dynamics, and landscape ecology. The effects of climate change on mountain ecosystems are then reviewed, focusing on the premise that the protection and restoration of corridors constitute the most comparatively effective prospect for protecting mountain biodiversity in the long term.