Mountain Research and Development
LightNews LightNews
banner
mrdjournal.bsky.social
Mountain Research and Development
@mrdjournal.bsky.social
190 followers 150 following 90 posts
The independent, not-for-profit international scientific journal specifically devoted to sustainable development in the world’s mountains.
👉🏽 https://www.mrd-journal.org

Published by the International Mountain Society.
Hosted at @CDEunibe.bsky.social.
Posts Replies Media Videos
mrdjournal.bsky.social
“This is not an academic book; it is a book that narrates human–mountain relationships through a mosaic of images and narratives,” writes Bibiana Vilá in her review of “Nosotros, los Andes” (We, the #Andes), edited by Rebecca Jarman and Victoria Vargas-Downing. doi.org/10.1659/mrd....
Cover of the book. It shows a schematic, two-dimensional representation of a mountain landscape with a high mountain in the background and lower mountains and a lake in the foreground. Each layer has a uniform color. The colors are warm, with brown, red and orange dominating. The title is spelled in large capital letters across the sky, and the editors are indicated in small capital letters across the bottom of the book. These elements are also in brown, red, and orange.
September 14, 2026 at 12:37 PM
mrdjournal.bsky.social
Digital divides persist in Austria, despite its target of full gigabit coverage by 2030. A new study by Erika Quendler and Florian Stender @bab.gv.at shows that mountainous terrain is a key barrier to farm broadband access in the Austrian Alps and requires policy attention. doi.org/10.1659/mrd....
Caption: Valley municipality of Heiligenblut am Grossglockner, Kärnten, Austria: How well are its inhabitants connected to the internet? (Photo courtesy of Magnific, www.magnific.com) Description: Photo of a village in a flat valley lined by steep, densely forested mountains. The photo is taken from an elevated position, looking diagonally across the valley. In the middle of the valley, houses line a road running parallel to a tree-lined river. The rest of the flat valley floor is taken up by fields. More houses and a church sit on the near slope, partly hidden by trees. The sky is cloudy.Photo of a village in a flat valley lined by steep, densely forested mountains. The photo is taken from an elevated position, looking diagonally across the valley. In the middle of the valley, houses line a road running parallel to a tree-lined river. The rest of the flat valley floor is taken up by fields. More houses and a church sit on the near slope, partly hidden by trees. The sky is cloudy.
September 10, 2026 at 1:03 PM
mrdjournal.bsky.social
Older adults in mountain villages age in place through resilience—but they face compound risks from infrastructure gaps, demographic decline, and climate change. Policy support is needed. Read Merve Altundal Öncü’s qualitative study from Türkiye’s Eastern Black Sea Mountains: doi.org/10.1659/mrd....
Caption: Traditional highland (yayla) settlement in the Hemşin mountains, Eastern Black Sea region, Türkiye. Seasonal mobility and strong place attachment play an important role for older adults. (Photo by Merve Altundal Öncü) Description: The photo shows a mountain landscape featuring a small settlement of scattered houses built from stone and wood on a mountain pasture below steep grassy slopes speckled with stones. Fog partially covers the mountain ridge in the background, while sunlight illuminates the settlement as well as the grass and scattered rocks on the small floodplain in the foreground.
August 7, 2026 at 11:56 AM
mrdjournal.bsky.social
Emine Keleş Özgenç and coauthors analyzed past and future land use dynamics in the Yıldız Mountains Basin, Türkiye. They show that forest ecosystems are likely to expand in the future, and highlight the opportunities this offers for ecological restoration. Read their article: doi.org/10.1659/mrd....
Caption: This riparian forest landscape in the İğneada Longoz area illustrates the interaction between forest ecosystems, water bodies, and natural landscape dynamics in the Yıldız Mountains Basin. Photo by Nilay Mısırlı. Alt text: Photo of a small waterfall in a river, surrounded by green forest on gentle slopes and a slightly cloudy sky. The landscape features calm water, flat rocks, and various types of trees.
August 3, 2026 at 1:46 PM
mrdjournal.bsky.social
Ivo Baselt and coauthors link knowledge on postfire and frozen soil runoff dynamics, proposing an interdisciplinary research agenda to improve prediction, #riskreduction, and sustainable management of compound hydro-geomorphic #hazards in Europe’s mountains. Read the article: doi.org/10.1659/mrd....
Image showing a burned forest landscape in the left half and a snow-covered, frozen forest landscape in the right half, each with a stream running toward us. Mountains are visible in the background. In the left half of the image, fires are blazing on forested slopes, with thick black smoke rising into the sky. In the right half of the image, high mountains are covered in snow and ice, and the sky is mostly overcast. The image, generated by Ivo Baselt using the Midjourney image generator with a custom scientific prompt, illustrates that postfire surface runoff following wildfire disturbance and frozen soil surface runoff during snowmelt and rain-on-snow conditions can occur within the same catchment and may interact under changing climate conditions.
July 20, 2026 at 9:05 AM
mrdjournal.bsky.social
A new issue is complete! Read about links between rural outmigration and land use change in Argentina, participatory digital mapping and local learning in Nepal, a tool to support land use decisions in Ethiopia, adaptive strategies of small ski areas in Japan, and more. bioone.org/toc/mred/46/2
Cover of Mountain Research and Development Volume 46 Number 2, with a photo by Ana L. Dip Yordanoff showing around twenty white and beige goats facing the camera in the golden evening sun. They are inside a corral built against a stone wall from logs, wooden beams, and coarse wire netting. Trees and a plastic tarp placed across some of the beams provide some shade. A single goat is grazing outside the corral, closer to the camera, in a yard that is no longer sunlit. Above the trees, a dry-looking, rocky mountain range stretches beneath a blue sky with white clouds. Photo caption: Goats in a corral in the High Monte of Northwest Argentina. The animals graze during the day and are returned to the corral at sunset to prevent predation. Rural outmigration in the region is coupled with a marked reduction in livestock herd sizes, as an article in this issue shows.
July 7, 2026 at 9:11 AM
mrdjournal.bsky.social
In a MountainViews article, Ankit Mishra and Samanta Sahu point to a blind spot in Hindu Kush Himalaya transboundary landscape conservation: It overlooks micro-endemic species. The authors call for fine-resolution monitoring to complement the transboundary landscape approach: doi.org/10.1659/mrd....
Photo © Ankit Mishra. Caption: Alpine meadow in Gnathang Valley, East Sikkim, Eastern Himalaya, at approximately 3800 m elevation, with flowering herbs and cushion plants typical of high-elevation micro-endemic communities that lie outside existing transboundary conservation monitoring frameworks. Description: Wide-angle photograph of a lush alpine meadow. Dense green grass and low-growing yellow wildflowers cover the valley floor and lower slopes. Scattered granite boulders and rocky terrain are visible in the foreground. The bare ridgeline rises steeply in the background against a partly cloudy blue sky.
July 3, 2026 at 1:57 PM
mrdjournal.bsky.social
Small-scale participatory digital hazard mapping interventions can foster local learning and strengthen community resilience in remote, resource-restricted mountain communities. Rongkun Liu and coauthors say how, based on a study in Nepal: doi.org/10.1659/mrd....
@icimod.bsky.social
#MountainsMatter
Photo by Rongkun Liu. Caption: A participant in the digital mapping intervention shows a nonparticipating fellow villager the smartphone app, the digital map, and its functions during a social gathering. Photo description: Two are men standing in a yard next to the porch of a building, bent over a smartphone that one of them is holding. He is pointing at something on the phone screen and explaining, the other man is looking at the phone and listening. Behind them is a leafy green hedge, with mountains across the valley showing above it.
July 1, 2026 at 3:57 PM
mrdjournal.bsky.social
#CallforPapers on drought dynamics and futures in mountain regions!
We seek systematic assessments of initiatives addressing drought in mountains, empirical research on drought processes and impacts, and agendas for policy, development, or research: t.ly/AgJrB
⌛1 week left to send notice of intent!
Social media card with following text across the top: Call for papers: Drought Dynamics and Futures in Mountain Regions. Send your notice of intent by 15 June 2026 and submit your paper by 15 September 2026! In addition to the text, in the top right corner is the logo of MRD, and below the text is a photo of packhorses and people moving through a dry mountain landscape. The caption reads: A group of people and packhorses traveling along a dry high mountain valley near Cerro Aconcagua in Mendoza Province, Argentina—a region severely impacted by a 15-year megadrought. Photo by Slava Auchynnikau on Unsplash.
June 8, 2026 at 1:25 PM
mrdjournal.bsky.social
Are you working on issues of drought in mountains? Check out our call for papers. You have just over two weeks left to send your notice of intent! 👇🏼
mrdjournal.bsky.social Mountain Research and Development @mrdjournal.bsky.social · Apr 30
#CallforPapers on drought dynamics and futures in mountain regions!
We seek systematic assessments of initiatives addressing drought in mountains, empirical research on drought processes and impacts, and agendas for policy, development, or research: t.ly/AgJrB
Send your notice of intent by 15 June!
Social media card with following text across the top: Call for papers: Drought Dynamics and Futures in Mountain Regions. Send your notice of intent by 15 June 2026 and submit your paper by 15 September 2026! In addition to the text, in the top right corner is the logo of MRD, and below the text is a photo of packhorses and people moving through a dry mountain landscape. The caption reads: A group of people and packhorses traveling along a dry high mountain valley near Cerro Aconcagua in Mendoza Province, Argentina—a region severely impacted by a 15-year megadrought. Photo by Slava Auchynnikau on Unsplash.
May 28, 2026 at 8:35 AM
mrdjournal.bsky.social
The positions of 1–2 additional Editors-in-Chief are still open!

Read the full call: t.ly/4gxD7

We look forward to receiving qualified expressions of interest!

#AcademicSky #MountainsMatter
We are looking for additional Editors-in-Chief! - Mountain Research and Development Journal
Join our team to help shape knowledge for sustainable mountain futures and strategically guide our unique, not-for-profit, community-supported scientific journal aiming for societal impact!
t.ly
May 21, 2026 at 2:40 PM
mrdjournal.bsky.social
In a MountainPlatform article, Paola Fontanella Pisa and coauthors of #GLOMOS present the systemic, participatory research approach the program takes to foster resilience and reduce risks in mountain social-ecological-technological systems. Read the article and find out more: doi.org/10.1659/mrd....
Photo © Heber Sosa Fabre. Lina Rodriguez, coauthor of this article, as well as a woman from the local community and another from Wetlands International are standing in a small fenced area around a solar panel mounted on a post, engaged in conversation. The younger woman is holding the lid of a water well. The well and panel are located in a vast, sparsely vegetated plain. Fences are visible in the distance. The plain is surrounded by distant mountains.
May 18, 2026 at 8:36 AM
mrdjournal.bsky.social
“Research on mountain landraces boosts local economies, strengthens agrobiodiversity, and promotes sustainable development and food security,” say Alex Alberto and coauthors. Read their article on how @unimont.bsky.social works to safeguard mountain plant agrobiodiversity: doi.org/10.1659/mrd....
Carciofo di Malegno (Cynara cardunculus L subsp scolymus (L) Hayek)—the only Italian landrace of artichoke currently known that is cultivated in a mountain area—is used by a local distillery to make a unique liqueur. The photo by Davide Pedrali shows a close-up of an artichoke plant from the side, with a rock and a fence in the near background and clouded, forested mountains in the distance.
May 13, 2026 at 1:51 PM
mrdjournal.bsky.social
#CallforPapers on drought dynamics and futures in mountain regions!
We seek systematic assessments of initiatives addressing drought in mountains, empirical research on drought processes and impacts, and agendas for policy, development, or research: t.ly/AgJrB
Send your notice of intent by 15 June!
Social media card with following text across the top: Call for papers: Drought Dynamics and Futures in Mountain Regions. Send your notice of intent by 15 June 2026 and submit your paper by 15 September 2026! In addition to the text, in the top right corner is the logo of MRD, and below the text is a photo of packhorses and people moving through a dry mountain landscape. The caption reads: A group of people and packhorses traveling along a dry high mountain valley near Cerro Aconcagua in Mendoza Province, Argentina—a region severely impacted by a 15-year megadrought. Photo by Slava Auchynnikau on Unsplash.
April 30, 2026 at 1:05 PM
mrdjournal.bsky.social
“The book vividly describes the landscape based on 25 years of interdisciplinary monitoring and research": Read Harald Pauli’s review of “Alpine Ökosysteme im Schweizerischen Nationalpark: Die Seenplatte Macun” edited by Stefanie Gubler and Christopher T. Robinson: doi.org/10.1659/mrd....
@scnat.ch
Cover of the book. The top half shows a photo of the Macun Glacial Cirque and Lake Area and, running vertically to the left of the photo, the series title, Nationalpark-Forschung in der Schweiz (National Park Research in Switzerland). The bottom half carries the names of the editors, the book’s title, the logo of the publisher, Haupt, and of the two sponsors, the Swiss Academy of Sciences scnat and the Swiss National Park.
April 29, 2026 at 12:23 PM
mrdjournal.bsky.social
“These books are a tribute to all the researchers,” writes Davnah Urbach in her review of “A Scientific Bibliography of the Far Northern Drakensberg” and “A Scientific Bibliography of the Waterberg, Makgabeng Plateau, Blouberg and Soutpansberg” by Rodney Moffett. Read on: bioone.org/doi/10.1659/...
The two book covers are shown side by side against a gray background. Both covers are taken up entirely by photos of landscapes in the regions covered, with the titles and the author name printed across the photos.
April 24, 2026 at 11:58 AM
mrdjournal.bsky.social
How is migration in northwest Argentina’s High Monte affecting land use? Ana L. Dip Yordanoff, @sofiananni.bsky.social, and Sofía Marinaro Fuentes show that valley areas with suitable farmland attract people, while highland areas face outmigration and a decline in livestock: doi.org/10.1659/mrd....
Photo by Ana L. Dip Yordanoff showing the view from a vantage point across a small valley with a river. Across the river there are vineyards, surrounded by trees. A large, lone house sits on top of the ridge, against the background of another ridge and, further in the hazy distance, high mountains. The photo shows the expansion of viticulture in the valleys of northwest Argentina’s High Monte. The vineyard area is managed as a key tourist service, overlooked by the boutique winery, situated above the cultivation zone. This illustrates how new services are being established in the valley areas, shifting land use patterns and transforming local labor dynamics.
April 14, 2026 at 2:32 PM
mrdjournal.bsky.social
“The strongest feeling I had after reading the book was inspiration,” writes Mark Carey in his review of “The Voices of Glaciers” by Ignacio Palomo, Sofía Lana, Antoine Rabatel, and Oliver Dangles. Read the full review: doi.org/10.1659/mrd....
@ird-fr.bsky.social @unesco.bsky.social #MountainsMatter
Cover of the book. It is taken up entirely by a photo that shows four women from behind, standing side by side in the grass, dressed in warm, mostly traditional clothes, facing Huayana Potosi mountain during a Challa ceremony. The title and authors are printed at the top, across the sky, and the logos of the publishers, UNESCO and IRD Éditions, are placed at the bottom, across the grass.
April 7, 2026 at 1:43 PM
mrdjournal.bsky.social
A new article by Menale Wondie and coauthors describes how they applied the analytic hierarchy process method to evaluate land management scenarios together with farmers, agricultural experts, and local decision-makers in the Ethiopian Highlands, enabling informed decisions: doi.org/10.1659/mrd....
Photo by Menale Wondie showing focus group discussions in Tara Gedam watershed in 2013. Three groups of men in local clothing are sitting in a harvested field, some discussing, some looking at printed-out materials and thinking, some taking notes. One man in a red T-shirt is squatting next to a collection of materials, also taking notes. A tree grows in the far corner of the field. A donkey is grazing in the background, and further in the background, hills are visible in the haze.
April 1, 2026 at 11:56 AM
mrdjournal.bsky.social
How can small, municipally run ski areas with aging infrastructure survive in still snow-rich Hokkaido, Japan? A study by Shumpei Kurosawa analyzes their adaptive strategies and showcases successful local initiatives while calling for supportive policies. Read his article:
doi.org/10.1659/mrd....
Minami Furano, a small, municipally owned ski area with little outside tourism. The photo by Shumpei Kurosawa shows a gentle mountain slope at dusk, with a rope-tow ski lift and a piste on either side of it, each lined by forest, and the lift station in the foreground. It is past closing time, so there are no skiers. A man stands next to the lift station.
March 17, 2026 at 1:14 PM
mrdjournal.bsky.social
We’re excited to welcome topic editors Biraj Adhikari, Sunetra Ghatak, H. Ricardo Grau, and Denis Samyn to the editorial team! In the next 3 years, they will oversee the peer review and revision of submissions within their respective topics and promote MRD among their networks. Read more: t.ly/llqcS
Head-and-shoulder portraits of Biraj Adhikari, Sunetra Ghatak, H. Ricardo Grau, and Denis Samyn.
March 12, 2026 at 3:28 PM
mrdjournal.bsky.social
Mountain Tourism—Trends and Transformations Toward Sustainability and Resilience: Articles in our new focus issue offer insights on efforts to adapt mountain tourism to climate change and to transform the sector for greater sustainability, equity, and resilience. See here: bioone.org/toc/mred/46/1
Cover of Mountain Research and Development, Vol 46, No 1. The cover photo, taken by Jean Miczka, shows the view down a rocky slope toward the Mer de Glace glacier, with numerous people walking on metal stairs and bridges connecting our vantage point to the glacier. This infrastructure is needed to keep the glacier accessible to tourists as it melts and exposes more and more steep rock.
March 11, 2026 at 2:01 PM
mrdjournal.bsky.social
How do small tourism destinations in the European Alps translate climate adaptation strategies into concrete measures to sustain their economies and safeguard their mountain resources? Philipp Corradini and Agnese Moroni provide an analysis and identify promising pathways: doi.org/10.1659/mrd....
"Climate change adaptation should not be a journey into the unknown": The photo by Michele Maggi shows a view from a chairlift taking us and other tourists uphill into the fog. On one side of the lift, the slope is forested; the few deciduous trees among the evergreens have yellowed. On the other side of the lift, the slope is used as pasture, with a few cows grazing in the yellowed grass. A water tub for the cows, a fence, and three parked trucks are visible at the lower end of the pasture.
March 10, 2026 at 2:18 PM
mrdjournal.bsky.social
During a research exchange in Kenya, Theresa Tribaldos and coauthors explored how future research could better harness synergies between food system sustainability and ecosystem restoration. They found including young people in farming and resource governance is crucial: doi.org/10.1659/mrd....
Small-scale farming in the hills of Makueni County, Kenya. A hilly landscape fades away in the haze. The clearly visible, gently sloping hill in the foreground is covered in a mosaic of terraced fields of maize and patches of shrubby woodlands, interspersed with a few houses. Photo by Theresa Tribaldos
March 10, 2026 at 9:09 AM