Percentage of the region which will be conquered by forest because of climate change

• Indicator

[hectares/hectares tourism region]

• Range

• Control for

DEMAND: Changes in tourists flow (-)

• Influence on vulnerability

• Trend

• Data source

• Remarks

Scenic beauty is subjective. We can –nonetheless- suppose that it depends on five characteristics (Haeberli 2007): 1) its complexity (and variety); 2) its uniqueness; 3) the visibility from the site; 4) its pristinity; 5) its suitability. We already considered the impact of glaciers melting, we look here at the “simplification” of the landscape (reduced complexity and variety) due to the closure of open spaces (Hunziker 1995). A critic on the subject is given in Lundstrom, Kytzia et al.(2007).

Considered were areas between 2450 and 2782 m AMSL. The first is the actual supposed treeline limit, which does not match necessarily with the real treeline limit because of human influence (e.g. alpine pasture). The second is the supposed treeline limit at a 2050 time horizon. The calculation of the surface did consider only areas that could be potentially conquest by forest, and not for example areas occupied by glaciers, lakes, dwellings, etc. Open areas located under the actual supposed treeline limit ,- which could also potentially be reforested because of land abandonment - were not considered

Finally, it has to be kept in mind that in reality current treeline advance is considerably time-lagged. This is due to the slow regeneration process and anthropogenic influences (Gehrig-Fasel 2007). 

• Image