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1 September 2009 Landsliding and Its Multiscale Influence on Mountainscapes
Carla Restrepo, Lawrence R. Walker, Aaron B. Shiels, Rainer Bussmann, Lieven Claessens, Simey Fisch, Pablo Lozano, Girish Negi, Leonardo Paolini, Germán Poveda, Carlos Ramos-Scharrón, Michael Richter, Eduardo Velázquez
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Abstract

Landsliding is a complex process that modifies mountainscapes worldwide. Its severe and sometimes long-lasting negative effects contrast with the less-documented positive effects on ecosystems, raising numerous questions about the dual role of landsliding, the feedbacks between biotic and geomorphic processes, and, ultimately, the ecological and evolutionary responses of organisms. We present a conceptual model in which feedbacks between biotic and geomorphic processes, landslides, and ecosystem attributes are hypothesized to drive the dynamics of mountain ecosystems at multiple scales. This model is used to integrate and synthesize a rich, but fragmented, body of literature generated in different disciplines, and to highlight the need for profitable collaborations between biologists and geoscientists. Such efforts should help identify attributes that contribute to the resilience of mountain ecosystems, and also should help in conservation, restoration, and hazard assessment. Given the sensitivity of mountains to land-use and global climate change, these endeavors are both relevant and timely.

© 2009 by American Institute of Biological Sciences. All rights reserved. Request permission to photocopy or reproduce article content at the University of California Press's Rights and Permissions Web site at www.ucpressjournals.com/reprintinfo.asp.
Carla Restrepo, Lawrence R. Walker, Aaron B. Shiels, Rainer Bussmann, Lieven Claessens, Simey Fisch, Pablo Lozano, Girish Negi, Leonardo Paolini, Germán Poveda, Carlos Ramos-Scharrón, Michael Richter, and Eduardo Velázquez "Landsliding and Its Multiscale Influence on Mountainscapes," BioScience 59(8), 685-698, (1 September 2009). https://doi.org/10.1525/bio.2009.59.8.10
Published: 1 September 2009
JOURNAL ARTICLE
14 PAGES

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KEYWORDS
biotic and geomorphic processes
conservation
landslides
Mountains
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