Cause, conseguenze e strategie di mitigazione Proponiamo il primo di una serie di articoli in cui affronteremo l’attuale problema dei mutamenti climatici. Presentiamo il documento redatto, votato e pubblicato dall’Ipcc - Comitato intergovernativo sui cambiamenti climatici - che illustra la sintesi delle ricerche svolte su questo tema rilevante.

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Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis.

Linear infrastructure such as roads, highways, power lines and gas lines are omnipresent features of human activity and are rapidly expanding in the tropics. Tropical species are especially vulnerable to such infrastructure because they include many ecological specialists that avoid even narrow (<30-m wide) clearings and forest edges, as well as other species that are susceptible to road kill, predation or hunting by humans near roads. In addition, roads have a major role in opening up forested tropical regions to destructive colonization and exploitation. Here, we synthesize existing research on the impacts of roads and other linear clearings on tropical rainforests, and assert that such impacts are often qualitatively and quantitatively different in tropical forests than in other ecosystems. We also highlight practical measures to reduce the negative impacts of roads and other linear infrastructure on tropical species.

Impacts of roads and linear clearings on tropical forests.

guidance\" (p. xii). They have to some extent succeeded in their objectives. Certainly the compilation of references related to aesthetics and visual resources is a valuable contribution in itsell As is evident from this reader’s perspective, however, the poor organization and execution of the book unhappily detract from its effectiveness. Nora Laughlin is the Forest Landscape Architect and Assistant Recreation Staff on the Six Rivers National Forest, Eureka, California 95501.

Tourism: a community approach

Tourism is a major global economic sector that is undergoing tremendous growth in emerging economies and is often touted as salient for development and poverty alleviation in developing countries. Tourism is recognized as a highly climate-sensitive sector, one that is also strongly influenced by environmental and socioeconomic change influenced by climate change, and is also a growing contributor to anthropogenic climate change. This article outlines the complex interrelationships between climate change and the multiple components of the international tourism system. Five focal themes that have developed within the literature on the consequences of climate change for tourism are then critically reviewed: climatic change and temporal and geographic shifts in tourism demand, climate-induced environmental change and destination competitiveness within three major market segments (winter sports tourism, coastal tourism, and nature-based tourism), and mitigation policy developments and future tourist mobility. The review highlights the differential vulnerability of tourism destinations and that the resultant changes in competitiveness and sustainability will transform some international tourism markets. Feedbacks throughout the tourism system mean that all destinations will need to adapt to the risks and opportunities posed by climate change and climate policy. While notable progress has been made in the last decade, a number of important knowledge gaps in each of the major impact areas, key regional knowledge gaps, and both tourist and tourism operator perceptions of climate change risks and adaptive capacity indicate that the tourism sector is not currently well prepared for the challenges of climate change. WIREs Clim Change 2012. doi: 10.1002/wcc.165

This article is categorized under: 

Climate and Development > Decoupling Emissions from Development

International tourism and climate change

This study examines attitudes to tourism and climate change among residents of Hong Kong and evaluates their willingness to voluntarily modify travel behaviours to reduce environmental impacts. Previous studies on environmental behavioural change identified a significant gap between awareness and action, with some studies even suggesting that the most aware individuals are unlikely to change their behaviours. Similar findings were noted in this study. Cluster analysis identified four cohorts of tourists, ranging from the regular international tourist to the least travel active. The regular international tourist group was most aware of global warming and climate change, but least willing to alter its travel behaviour. By contrast, less travel active tourists seem most willing to travel less. The paper concludes that government intervention may be required to create meaningful behavioural change in travel patterns.

Achieving voluntary reductions in the carbon footprint of tourism and climate change

We investigated the use of inexpensive aerial bridges (rope canopy bridges) above roads and a highway by arboreal mammals in the Wet Tropics of Queensland, Australia Three rope bridge designs were trialed, including a single rope, ladder-like bridges and tunnel-shaped bridges Nine mammal species were recorded using canopy bridges, including five species or subspecies endemic to the Wet Tropics and three species listed as rare under State nature conservation legislation Most of these species suffer severely from either the fragmentation or mortality impacts caused by roads Over 50 crossings above a 15-m-wide tourist road were observed on an elevated ladder-like bridge Longer (~40 m) rope bridges were used on several occasions by four species Our observations suggest that canopy bridges can assist rare arboreal mammals to cross roads in the Wet Tropics, thereby reducing both the risk of road-kill and the potential for subpopulation isolation Further research is required to ascertain the level of benefit afforded by canopy bridges for arboreal mammal populations It is likely that rope canopy bridges will have broad application for a range of arboreal mammal species

Using canopy bridges to link habitat for arboreal mammals: successful trials in the Wet Tropics of Queensland

Roads and powerline corridors destroy canopy connectivity in the rainforest of north-east Australia. We tested the hypotheses that linear barriers affect (a) the alignment of home ranges, (b) use of habitat either side of linear barriers, and (c) the crossing of them by the strictly arboreal lemuroid ringtail possum (Hemibelideus lemuroides), which is known to be vulnerable to habitat fragmentation. Radio-tracking and a translocation experiment were conducted at a narrow 7-m-wide road and an 80-m-wide powerline. Homes ranges of lemuroid ringtails ranged from 0.15 to 1.67 ha (minimum convex polygon) and were aligned with the road but not powerline corridors. When lemuroid ringtails were experimentally translocated, wider canopy clearings over roads reduced their capacity to return to their original home range, and the powerline corridor was a nearly insurmountable barrier. No possums were observed crossing roads or the powerline corridor at ground level or residing in the intervening matrix, indicating that loss of canopy connectivity has a negative impact on their movements.

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Importance of canopy connectivity for home range and movements of the rainforest arboreal ringtail possum (Hemibelideus lemuroides)

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has identified Australia as among the developed nations most at risk from climate change effects. Key tourism icon destinations and the tourism sector generally have been identified as being particularly at risk. This paper reports on an interdisciplinary, multi-case study approach to assess tourism stakeholders' knowledge of, and approaches to, climate change adaptation and to explore the potential for building a self-assessment toolkit that can be exported to other tourism destinations. This study examined existing knowledge on anticipated biophysical changes and, through primary research (stakeholder interviews and social learning workshops), gauged the expected adaptive approaches of destination communities and the tourism sector to these changes for 2020, 2050 and 2070. The facilitated workshops generated a common set of adaptation strategies across a diverse set of tourist destinations. A key finding from the workshops is that the tourism sector is not yet ready to invest in climate change adaptation because of the perceived uncertainties. Ongoing leadership for such measures were seen to rest with the public sector, especially local authorities. Whether such assessments can be self-generated or require specialist facilitation remains open to debate.

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Developing an approach for tourism climate change assessment:evidence from four contrasting Australian case studies

The impacts of climate change on Australian tourism destinations: developing adaptation and response strategies - a scoping study.

Lumholtz's Tree-kangaroo Dendrofagus lumholtzi is endemic to the rainforests of north Queensland, Australia. Most records of D. lumholtzi are from upland forests on the Atherton Tablelands, an area -extensively cleared for agriculture. In 1997, residents of the Tablelands formed the Tree Kangaroo and Mammal Group Inc. (TKMG) with the aim of promoting the conservation of the species. The first project of TKMG was an intensive community-based survey of the
distribution of D. fumholtzi. Residents of all postal districts encompassing areas of upland rainforest within the range of D. lumholtzi were sent a written questionnaire seeking details of tree-kangaroo sightings. The Malanda postal district was surveyed in 1998 while all other postal districts were surveyed in 1999. In total, 10 122 questionnaires were distributed in the survey. Nearly BOO responses were received to the survey, providing 2 36B Sighting records of D. lumholtzi. Of these, 367 records were of dead tree-kangaroos, mostly road-kills." The survey has provided a much more comprehensive account of the distribution of the species than was previously available. Most records of D. lumholtz; obtained in the survey were from upland forests between Atherton and Ravenshoe, particularly remnant forests in the central and western Tablelands. Although the survey methodology is biased towards areas frequented by humans, these patterns are consistent with independent surveys. The conservation of D. lumholtzi on the Tablelands would benefit from the protection of remnant forests, the restoration of habitat and a reduction in the incidence of road-kills and dog attacks on tree-kangaroos.

Robyn Wilson

Papers

Using canopy bridges to link habitat for arboreal mammals: successful trials in the Wet Tropics of Queensland

Importance of canopy connectivity for home range and movements of the rainforest arboreal ringtail possum (Hemibelideus lemuroides)

Developing an approach for tourism climate change assessment:evidence from four contrasting Australian case studies

The impacts of climate change on Australian tourism destinations: developing adaptation and response strategies - a scoping study.

Community survey of the distribution of Lumholtz's Tree-kangaroo on the Atherton Tablelands, north-east Queensland