What Mountains Provide and Why They Need Protection

This post was originally published on Eco Watch

Quick Key Facts

• Despite covering only around 25% of Earth’s land area, mountains host more than 85% of bird, mammal and amphibian species.
• Many of Earth’s rivers begin in mountains, and more than half of all people use freshwater from mountains every day.
• Six of the 20 plant varieties that feed most of the world’s population originate in mountains: barley, sorghum, tomatoes, apples, quinoa and potatoes.
• Mountain visits make up 15 to 20% of global tourism.
• Since 1950, mountains have been heating 25% to 50% faster than the global average. 
• Even if global warming is limited to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, nearly all mountain glaciers will face considerable mass loss by 2100.
• The average Everest climber generates 18 pounds of waste, most of which stays on the mountain. 

What Are Mountains and Why Should We Protect Them?

From the Alps and the Andes to Julie Andrews twirling in an alpine meadow in the opening scene of The Sound of Music, mountains have been a powerful force in human history and culture. They dominate our imaginations as they dominate our landscapes, towering over skyscrapers in cities from Tokyo to Seattle and forming islands from Hawaii to Iceland. A mountain, defined as a landmass significantly higher than its surroundings, comes in broadly four types: fold mountains, formed by the movements of tectonic plates; block mountains, created by rocks moving up and down; dome mountains, made from the movement of magma beneath the Earth’s crust and volcanoes.

While mountains are formed by geologic forces deep underground, they create space for unique ecosystems to form high above the Earth. Mountains’ harsh conditions and relative isolation have encouraged and sheltered varied biodiversity. 

And what happens on mountains doesn’t stay on mountains. From crucial crops to glacial runoff, mountains have given many gifts to the human and non-human communities that live below them. Yet, society doesn’t treat mountains with the gratitude they deserve, threatening these majestic environments with the climate crisis, resource exploitation, pollution and overtourism. To preserve mountain ecosystems, it’s important for human communities to understand what mountains do for us and, in turn, what we can do for them.

What Are the Main Types of Mountain Ecosystems?

Mountain ecosystems vary wildly in climate and biodiversity. For example, mountains encompass the temperate European Alps and the Desert Mountains of Nevada to island-forming volcanoes like Hawaii’s Kīlauea and the world’s highest peaks in the Himalayas. The ecosystem changes within each individual mountain; this often depends on the altitude. For every 328 feet gained, the temperature falls by 0.9 to 1.1 Fahrenheit, and altitude conditions affect what species can survive and thrive in a particular spot. Similar plants and animals tend to thrive at similar altitudes (and latitudes moving north to south). These ecosystem bands are called life zones — below, we’ll detail out some of the most common.

Montane Forest

The first mountain life zone is the montane forest. Even if a mountain rises out of a lowland forest, the species in the montane forest tend to be distinct from those further below and will have more in common with trees that grow further north. In Europe, North America and temperate Asia, the trees in montane forests are typically conifers such as pines, mountain hemlocks and the unique larches of Washington State’s Cascades, with needles that turn yellow in the fall. 

In the Southern Hemisphere’s temperate areas, montane forests are usually made up of one or two broadleaf species, such as eucalyptus in Australia, while in the tropics montane forests are usually evergreen rainforests. One unique tropical and subtropical type of montane forest is the cloud forest. These are evergreen rainforests whose moisture comes from clouds, which envelop the green in a constant mist. The clouds are first intercepted by the mountain slope and then filtered through the leaves. These forests, found in parts of Central and South America, Southeast Asia, Central and Southern Africa and Australia, are known for an abundance of plants like mosses, lichens and orchids that grow on other plants. The unique conditions that form cloud forests mean they’re home to many unique species, such as a carnivorous pitcher plant found in Borneo’s cloud forest called the Nepenthes hurrelliana.

Subalpine Zone

As altitude increases, climate conditions grow more extreme and trees have a harder time surviving. Eventually, they hit a point past which it is too cold, dry and low-oxygen for them to grow. This is called the tree line or timberline, and it typically occurs at the point on a mountain where temperatures during the warmest month average around 50 degrees Fahrenheit. The area immediately around the tree line is a transition area between tree-dominated and tree-free ecosystems. This is called the subalpine zone.

The trees that grow in the subalpine zone are often shorter than those below it. Some will grow in the shadow of rocks and won’t grow higher than the rock’s protection. Others will grow out instead of up. These low, wind-twisted trees are called krummholz, the German word for “crooked wood.” Between the krummholz are subalpine meadows where many species of wildflowers flourish, depending on the region. In temperate ecosystems, common flowers are heather, daisies, lupins and pasqueflowers.

Alpine Tundra and Grassland

Above the tree line, conditions grow even harsher, which limits what can grow. The plants that survive grow low to the ground year-round and include grasses, sedges, forbs and lichens. Grasses grow most frequently in alpine meadows, which are created when weather conditions have eroded rocks sufficiently to create soil. Alpine flowers have evolved to have hair on stems and leaves that protect them from the wind. One example is the Edelweiss, or Leontopodium nivale, which grows in the Alps and Carpatihians, a national symbol for several countries in the region. Other alpine flowers have red pigment to help turn the sun’s rays into heat or blue to protect against ultraviolet radiation, such as the Clusius’s gentian in the Swiss Alps.

Many alpine ecosystems around the world will have similar types of plants, including heather, gentians, plantains and buttercups. Tropical alpine regions in the Andes, the Himalayas, East Africa and Pacific islands feature a unique type of plant, a large herb with a rosette structure that can grow to be over 10 feet tall. WWF considers montane grasslands and shrublands to be their own biome. These ecosystems occur all over the world from the Páramo in the Northern Andes to the steppes of the Tibetan plateau. Even higher up, some mountains see ice and snow year-round, conditions that are inhospitable to most life. However, some organisms still find a way, such as ice worms and red algae in the North Cascades or the microbes that have been discovered beneath mountain glaciers.

What Are the Benefits of Mountains?

Mountains have a myriad of benefits, from housing ample biodiversity and providing freshwater to being recreational destinations where people can hike and ski.

Habitats and Biodiversity

Despite only covering around 25% of Earth’s land area, mountains are essential havens for biodiversity, hosting more than 85% of birds, mammals and amphibians and one-third of terrestrial species. They also include almost 25% of the world’s forests. The tropical Andes in South America are home to 45,000 plant species, while the mountains of New Guinea alone host 20,000 plant and animal species. Unique animals that shelter on mountains include iconic species like bighorn sheep, red pandas, orangutans, snow leopards, Rocky Mountain goats, the Himalayan tahr and the California and Andean condors.  

The biodiversity importance of mountains comes in part from their elevation and their relative isolation from the landscape below. Their altitude and cooler temperatures allowed them to act as a refuge for cold-weather species as planetary temperatures warmed following the last Ice Age. In more recent history, they provide a haven for species pushed out of the lowlands by human activity. At the same time, the contained environments of mountains enable species to evolve and diverge relatively quickly, so that different but related species can survive on nearby mountain peaks, boosting overall biodiversity. Mountains can also support the biodiversity below them. For example, snowmelt from Mount Kilimanjaro waters the swamps of Amboseli National Park, which shelters 420 bird species and 50 large mammal species.

Water

Mountains are essential to the global freshwater supply, so much so that they’ve known as the “world’s water towers.” Mountains store water in glaciers, snowpacks, lakes and reservoirs that flow downhill at increased rates during warmer weather. Most of the Earth’s largest rivers begin in mountains, and more than half of all people use fresh water from mountains every day for drinking, sanitation, agriculture, electricity, industry, transportation, recreation and fisheries.

Certain ranges are especially important as regional water sources. Scientists have identified 78 mountain “water towers” that are especially vital, providing water to 1.9 billion people. The greatest number of people are dependent on the Indus river system coming out of the Himalayas in Asia. More than 200 million people in the region and 1.3 billion people downstream rely on water from the Hindu Kush-Himalayan mountain region alone, which is sometimes called the world’s “Third Pole” for its abundance of mountain glaciers. Other important “water tower” mountains are the European Alps, the U.S. Rockies and the southern Andes in South America. Cities that rely on mountain water include Tokyo, Rio de Janeiro, New York, Nairobi and Melbourne.

Food and Flowers

Because their harsher conditions put stress on plants, mountain soil is less nutrient-rich overall than lowland soil. Therefore, mountains aren’t used for agriculture on a large scale. That said, several important food crops and beloved garden flowers originated on mountains. These include six of the 20 plant varieties that feed most of the world’s population: barley, sorghum, tomatoes, apples, quinoa and potatoes. Potatoes, for example, were first domesticated in the Andes around 8,000 years ago. Gardens would also be noticeably less bright without mountains, as many popular flowers originated in mountains. More than 60% of wild tulip species evolved in the mountains of Central Asia.

Culture

Currently, between 0.3 billion and 2.3 billion people call mountains home. Communities who have lived on mountains for centuries have developed their cultures based on their alpine lifestyles. 

The Sherpas live in the most mountainous part of the Tibetan and Nepalese Himalayas. They’ve become so well known for their mountaineering prowess that the term “sherpa” is now used for any mountain guide in the region, regardless of ethnicity. Switzerland’s iconic yodeling singing style originated from shepherds calling to each other across the Alps. In fact, most mountain ranges are home to Indigenous peoples and local communities who depend on them for sustenance and identity. 

Many of these communities have developed unique Indigenous knowledge systems, such as languages, traditions and ways to make use of the land. Many cultures also consider certain mountains and glaciers sacred. Mount Kailas in Tibet is honored by Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism and Bon. Other mountains that hold spiritual significance to different groups include Mount Everest, Mount Fuji, Mount Ararat, Mauna Kea, the Mount Olympus (of Greek mythology) and Mount Shasta, where the Winnemem Wintu people of California believe all of life bubbled up from a mountain spring.

Recreation

Mountains provide ample opportunities for recreation in nature, such as mountain and rock climbing, hiking, mountain biking, backpacking, camping, downhill and cross-country skiing, snowboarding and snowshoeing. They also host sites of cultural or historical significance, such as the Incan ruins of Machu Picchu in Peru, which draws millions of visitors annually. In fact, mountain visits make up 15 to 20% of global tourism. Mountain and snow tourism generated at least $4.9 billion in 2023, which is expected to grow to $8 billion by 2033.

Main Threats to Mountains

When you see craggy peaks towering above the lowlands or spewing ash and lava into the sky, mountains may seem invincible to the whims of humans. Yet their size and power can’t protect mountain ecosystems from the same environmental pressures that human activiy is placing on the rest of the world. 

Climate Threats

Scientists have warned that climate change (driven by the burning of fossil fuels), is the greatest threat to mountain ecosystems.

Climate Shift

For every degree that lowlands warm, mountains warm on average 1.8 degrees Celsius. And since 1950, mountains have been heating 25% to 50% faster than the global average. This speed of warming can alter ecosystems faster than plants, animals and humans can adapt, increasing the risk that diseases or invasive species will rise to new mountain life zones and harm native species. The shifting of mountain life zones could threaten unique alpine species with mass extinction. 

This rapid warming also threatens the snow and ice that shape alpine life, culture and recreation. One study found that the U.S. ski industry lost $5 billion between 2000 and 2019 due to a lack of snow and the cost of making artificial snow to compensate. Another calculated that 1 in 8 current ski areas wouldn’t get any natural snow cover by 2100. This would threaten local economies that depend on tourism as well as mountain biodiversity, as ski slopes are constructed in higher, more remote areas to chase the remaining snow, shrinking the undisturbed habitats home to mountain life.

Glacier Melt

Perhaps the climate mountain threat that could harm the largest amount of people is the melting of mountain glaciers. This threatens mountains’ status as the world’s water towers, putting the freshwater and energy of over a billion people at risk. 

Non-polar glaciers lost around 267 metric gigatons of mass per year between 2000 and 2019 and doubled their rate of thinning during the same time period. A 2023 study found that even if warming is limited to 1.5 degrees Celsius, nearly half of all glaciers will melt by 2100. If warming is allowed to reach 2.7 degrees Celsius, 68% would melt. If it reached four degrees, 83% would disappear. Beyond the impact on mountain or mountain-reliant communities, the melting of these glaciers would also contribute to sea-level rise, pushing up water levels by just under 4 inches in the 1.5 degrees scenario and 4.5 inches in the 2.7 degrees of warming — submerging an area where more than 10 million currently live.

Mountain Disasters

Warmer temperatures and glacial melt also increase the risk of mountain disasters such as landslides, rockslides and floods. When glaciers retreat and mountain permafrost melts, this can cause flooding, as there is more water running down the mountain more quickly. It can also destabilize the ground, increasing the risk of land movements like landslides, rockslides and avalanches in warm or thick snow. The climate crisis has also increased the risk of a specific type of flood known as a glacial lake outburst flood. These floods occur when glacial meltwater pools in lakes that are then destabilized by an earthquake, rain storm or dam breach, sending massive amounts of water down the hillside. The number, volume and area of these lakes have increased by 50% since 1990, and 15 million people are now threatened by these types of floods, especially in the Himalayas and the Andes.

Other Threats

The high biodiversity of mountain ecosystems also makes them vulnerable to human threats. Because mountain species have evolved to succeed in such unique environments, they can be easily harmed if that unique ecosystem is threatened. For example, the Taita thrush is only found in the Taita hills of Kenya; it can’t survive in the drier grasslands below.

Habitat / Biodiversity Loss

Human activity can threaten mountain ecosystems directly through development, deforestation and the introduction of invasive or pest species. When a larger number of humans move up into the mountains to live or farm, this can displace native plants and animals and increase human-wildlife conflict when the wild mountain species eat crops or livestock. Poachers also target lower mountain mammals. 

In the past, mountain forests haven’t experienced aggressive deforestation like lowlands have. However, this is starting to change. Between 2000 and 2018, humans cleared 78 million hectares of montane forest. The main causes of this deforestation were commercial logging, tree clearing for agriculture and wildfires. The most deforested mountain areas tended to coincide with tropical biodiversity hotspots. 

One example of this trend is Southeast Asia, which is home to around half of all tropical montane forests. There, upland forest loss has accelerated in the 2010s, accounting for 42% of the region’s total as of 2019. Mountain forest loss can also increase the risk of flooding and erosion, worsening water quality and affecting native flora and fauna. Species that might need to shift their range to accommodate rising temperatures have less habitat to work with. Southeast Asia’s mountain forests are also especially adept at storing carbon compared with lowland forests, so removing them makes it harder to keep both local and global temperatures lower.

Pollution

The main sources of pollution for mountains are human activities like logging, mining, logging, agriculture, grazing and recreation, as well as the transport of smaller pollutants through the atmosphere. Air pollution from urban or industrial centers can travel to mountains, where it not only worsens air quality but also enters plant tissue, soil and water. This pollution has harmed forests in the Carpathian mountains and brought smog to Great Smoky Mountains National Park, where at one point ozone had harmed almost half of the black cherry trees and 79% of milkweed plants sampled. Microplastics have also been found high in mountain ranges, from Mount Everest to the Alps. 

Overtourism

While mountain recreation can provide an economic boost to local communities and offer visitors a chance to learn about and appreciate mountains, it has a downside. Sometimes, mountain tourists are not as respectful as they should be or tours are not designed to account for the impact of visitors to vulnerable ecosystems. 

Increased visitors can bring more construction of tourist infrastructure like ski lodges or cabins, increased vehicle traffic that emits air pollution, noise and light pollution that disturbs animals, problems with proper waste disposal, disturbance of mountain wildlife and negative encounters with local communities. 

One example of overtourism gone wrong is Mount Everest, the world’s tallest mountain from sea level and a major climbing destination. So much waste has accumulated on Everest that it has been called the “world’s highest garbage dump.” Around 100,000 people visit Everest’s Sagarmatha National Park every year, and around 600 try to summit the mountain every climbing season. The average climber generates 18 pounds of waste, most of which stays on the mountain. In addition to larger debris like abandoned tents, oxygen canisters and even dead bodies, climbers also leave behind human waste. With increased melt and runoff from climate change, some of this waste has begun to flow into the local water supply, putting people downstream at risk from dangerous diseases like cholera and hepatitis A. 

How to Protect Mountains

Humans have the power to harm mountain ecosystems, but we also have the power to protect them. The decisions we make as citizens, consumers, policymakers and tourists can have a positive impact on these magical environments. 

Protecting Mountains From Climate Change

As previously discussed, climate change is one of the biggest threats to mountains and glaciers.

Mitigation

The most important way to protect mountains from the climate crisis is the same as the most important way to protect the entire Earth: We must phase out fossil fuels as rapidly as possible. This means both preventing development of new fossil fuel deposits, replacing oil, gas and coal with renewable sources of energy like wind and solar and transitioning from gas-powered cars to electric vehicles while improving public transportation options. In its most recent assessment, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recommends nearly halving greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and reaching net zero by 2050 in order to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

The second main driver of the climate crisis is the destruction of natural carbon sinks through deforestation and other forms of land-use change. This means that protecting mountain habitats has a double benefit for mountains: It preserves an individual ecosystem from immediate disturbance and it lowers the impacts of climate change on all mountains. 

Adaptation

Even if world leaders succeed in winding down the use of fossil fuels and limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming — something that seems increasingly unlikely — mountain communities will need to adjust to the climate impacts they’re already experiencing and the ones that are projected to continue, such as the loss of nearly half of mountain glaciers by 2100. 

Some are already taking action. Resort employees on Switzerland’s Mount Titlis have started covering the mountain’s glacier with protective polyester fleece during the summer. Venezuela is restoring wetlands to deal with water shortages. And in the Hindu Kush Himalaya region of Pakistan, communities are working to establish an early-warning system for more frequent floods. The Adaptation at Altitude program seeks to help mountain communities become more resilient to climate change by researching effective solutions and sharing them across alpine regions.

Unfortunately, the IPCC found that current mountain adaptations are not fast, expansive or substantial enough to respond to a high level of climate risks. Policymakers can boost the adaptive ambition of mountain regions by fostering international collaboration. They can developing holistic projects that consider all the needs of mountain communities, support more research and data gathering and making sure mountain communities have the funds they need. 

Protecting Mountains From Other Threats

Beyond climate change, there are other issues that can harm mountains.

Exploitation and Deforestation

Governments, corporations and individuals can take steps to protect mountain ecosystems from exploitation. Research into mountain deforestation found that deforestation was less likely to occur in protected areas, so conserving mountain ecosystems — and safeguarding the land rights of any Indigenous communities that steward them — is one immediate way to prevent further habitat and biodiversity loss. 

Scientists say these protected areas should be large enough to give species space to move. Governments can also regulate extractive industries and support ecological restoration and agroforestry efforts. They can plan dams and other infrastructure in such a way that won’t disturb waterflow or wildlife. Restoration or reforestation projects should replant a variety of native species rather than single tree species in monoculture plantations.The international community could also negotiate treaties to specifically protect mountain ecosystems.

Tourism companies can follow best-practices to make sure that they are being mindful of the limits of mountain ecosystems and the rights of local communities. Larger food or lumber corporations can make sure that their supply chains are deforestation-free. Consumers can choose to support companies that respect mountain ecosystems and avoid those that don’t. 

Responsible Climbing and Tourism

One of the most important ways individuals can protect mountains is to behave responsibly when they visit them. This means following the principle of “leave no trace” and taking anything you bring to a mountain with you when you leave. Other things you can do are travel during off-peak season or to less popular destinations, rely on non-fossil fuel transport when possible, support sustainable tourism companies, be respectful of Indigenous or local communities you encounter, buy second-hand gear or share equipment with others and spread awareness of these best practices to other hikers. If you are lucky enough to trek Mount Everest, make sure to offset your climb by bringing your waste back down with you.

Takeaway

“The mountains are issuing a distress call,” said United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres at a 2023 United Nations climate change conference. 

That distress call comes in the form of melting glaciers, sudden floods, snowless ski slopes and falling forests. If human societies choose to ignore that call, they could usher in a future in which mountains are unrecognizable, as glaciers, snowpacks and entire niches of species disappear. However, if we can learn to work with mountains to stop exploitation, the outlook for mountains might be brighter.

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