Assessment the state of conservation of Mountain Ecosystem in

Sierra Nevada-LTER site in a global change context

Pérez-Luque, A.J. & Bonet-García, F.J. 2nd International GMBA-DIVERSITAS conference
Laboratorio de Ecología. Centro Andaluz de Medio Ambiente. Universidad de Granada. Granada (SPAIN). ajperez@ugr.es "Functional significance of mountain biodiversity“
Chandolin (Valais), Switzerland. 26-30 July 2010

1. Introduction and Objectives 2. Methods

We present a concise and synthetic evaluation of the conservation status
of mountain ecosystems in Sierra Nevada, showing some results of the
Sierra Nevada Global Change Observatory project
. The main objectives are:
- Characterize the state of the ecosystem types of Sierra Nevada LTER-site
- Show synthetically some relevant features of this ecosystem types.
To characterize the state of the main ecosystems we have
used different workflows that include standardization,
integration, processing and analysis of information generated
within of Sierra Nevada Global Change Observatory.
We conducted a spatial delimitation of ecosystems through
SQL queries on database and GIS analysis on vegetation map
of Sierra Nevada.

Sierra Nevada LTER site For each ecosystem type, we performed:

Sierra Nevada is an isolated high mountain (reaching Fig. 1. Key for biophysical variable analysis

3482 m. a. s. l.) located in Southern Spain. It’s considered a) Spatial and temporal analysis of some
the most important biodiversity hotspot in the biophysical variables under three different
Mediterranean region. Some data: scenarios (fig. 1) representing past, present and
- 2100 vascular plant (25 % and 20 % of Spain and Europe flora)
future conditions and emphasizing the main
- 80 vegetal endemic species
- 2000 km2 surface
SPAIN factors that have conditioned the actual natural
- Protected area: status of each ecosystem.
- Biosphere Reserve MAB Committee UNESCO (1986) Sierra Nevada
- Natural (1987) and National Park (1999) b) Identification of the main ecosystem services
- 61 municipalities provided by each ecosystem type. (fig. 2)
- 90.000 inhabitants
- Main economic activities: agriculture, tourism, beekeeping, mining and skiing.
c) Case studies to show some adaptative
management actions performed in each
ecosystem type.
Fig. 2. Legend of ecosystem services

Sierra Nevada Global Change Observatory: the project

Sierra Nevada Global Change Observatory is a long term monitoring programme to assess the
effects of global change in this LTER site. The basic objective is to ensure the collection of
information necessary to identify as early as possible the impacts of global change, to design
management actions that minimize them and encourage the system adaptation to new scenarios.
The data generated by this set of methodologies must be transformed into useful knowledge for
adaptative management of natural resources. The key issues are the integration and analysis of
monitoring data by an information management system, and the transfer of current scientific
knowledge to society and the natural resource managers through effective dissemination.

3. Results

The map shows the

spatial distribution
of the ecosystem
types that we have
defined in Sierra
Nevada. The vegetal
landscape is
dominated by pine
plantations, moors
and heathlands.
Natural forests are
also abundant which
are regenerating
from decades of
misuse (wood
extraction, fires,
overgrazing, etc.).

Aquatic systems
Urban areas

Agricultural areas

Mid mountain shrublands

High mountain grasslands

Pine plantations

Natural Forest
Moors and heatland
High humid mountain
grassland

Bibliographic references
All bibliographic references and the detailed methodologies used
are availabe in http://sl.ugr.es/obs_dat_basicos
Acknowledgements
Fabio Suzart and Pablo González aided in translation. The aquatic
systems's picture is courtesy of Ernesto Sofós Navero. The data
have been provided by monitoring’s working team of the project.