Mattia Brambilla & Francesca Roseo share their experience researching the impact of skiing on biodiversity.
Up and down mountains, along with their winged inhabitants
For many years, both of us have been passionate skiers. We engaged in ski competitions in our youth and deeply enjoyed downhill skiing, along with the other various outdoor activities in the mountains. But then something changed along the way. Ski pistes have always had an environmental impact, but in the past the consequences were often limited to tree cutting and the construction of some new structures. Today, modern ski resorts are built through intense interventions, which involve machine grading and slope reshaping. These processes involve the removal and destruction of soil, boulders and vegetation, alongside smoothing rocks and filling depressions. New large and complex structures with many cables are installed, and multiple lifts are disposed to connect pistes more ’efficiently’. At the same time, research began to highlight the negative impacts of skiing and of ski pistes on biodiversity. As a results, we either stopped skiing or significantly reduced our activities. Recently, we decided to work and focus on the current and potential future impacts of skiing on mountain birds.
A review of impacts
In this work, we present a systematic review of the impact of downhill skiing on birds. We used Web of Science and Scopus – the two most widely used databases for scientific literature – without applying any spatial or temporal restriction. In total, we identified 48 relevant documents, which were used to investigate the possible consequences of downhill skiing on birds.
Most studies were carried out in the European Alps, particularly in France, Italy, Switzerland and Germany, where the concentration of ski resorts has no equivalent worldwide. Only few works explicitly assessed the impact of winter sports and ski-lifts cables on birds. Many of these studies have focused on Galliformes, such as grouse, ptarmigan and partridges, which are particularly vulnerable to ski-related impacts because of morphological, behavioural and ecological traits. The majority of studies investigating the potential effects have indeed found that ski-lift cables and/or skiing activities have an impact on birds, particularly on Galliformes.
The number of studies that reported a certain or likely impact on birds was significantly higher than those of studies suggesting no impact. Hence, evidence suggests that ski resorts do impact on birds, highlighting the need for strategies to reduce these impacts. However, we found very few studies focusing on mitigation approaches to limit the impact of ski-lift cables on birds. The scarcity of such research makes it difficult to assess the effectiveness of the various visual/flagging systems that have been applied (especially in France) to increase cable visibility for birds. In general, estimating the actual fatality rates, and thus the impacts of collisions and the effectiveness of possible mitigation measures, is very difficult and complicated due to sampling and detection issues. This is because colliding and injured birds may fly over hundreds of meters before dying, and carcasses are often quickly removed by scavengers. There have been more studies on disturbance impacts caused by skiers and on possible mitigation strategies. For example, refuge areas interdicted to skiers have been established in many regions to allow species like the black grouse Lyrurus tetrix to shelter from human disturbance, such as off-piste skiing in the harsh winter months, when saving energy can be vital for survival.
A look into the future
As bird and nature lovers, were we right in stopping or reducing skiing? Likely yes, but we dream of a future where sustainable resorts allow skiers and birds to coexist. However, the future of skiing and sustainable resorts is far from straightforward. Like the rock ptarmigan, which ‘competes’ with ski pistes for space along alpine slopes, downhill skiing in many areas is seriously threatened by climate change. Ski plays a crucial role for the economy of several mountain areas and communities, and where the climate will permit, it will continue to contribute to societal well-being. To really support societies, impacts on mountain environments should be limited as much as possible to preserve the vital ecosystem services that mountains supply. We hope that the combined efforts of researchers and ski resort managers will eventually lead to mitigating -if not eliminating – the impacts of downhill skiing on birds and, more in general, on biodiversity and environment. Current knowledge is insufficient to face the threats associated with downhill skiing. Collision and possible mitigation measures, recreationist disturbance, habitat alteration, or possible creation of ecological traps, represent key challenges for conservation, and more research efforts are urgently needed.
Personally, we are committed to work towards solutions in this direction.
Interested in reading the full article in Ecological Solutions and Evidence? Please click here.
Further reading:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S000632072400452X
https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/acv.70002
