CULPA
National Projects
Project duration: 
Nov 2013 to Dec 2016

The current landscape of Mountain National Parks responds to a long process of interaction between climate, vegetation dynamics and human activity. 

Introduction

T>he purpose of this project is to analyze this phenomenon over the past 7000 years from an ecological perspective. The aim is to collate existing information from both palaeoecological and archaeological studies and analyze it in terms of the current knowledge on species distributions, biogeochemical processes and historical and cultural dynamics using different modelling and analytical procedures.

The ultimate goal is to assess the phenomenon of the acculturation of high-mountain landscapes, since the begining of human occupation in each of the mountain National Parks, taking advantage of the singularities of each one of them, and particularly of the north-south peninsular gradient.

The project is structured according to direct drivers of change (livestock, agriculture, forestry, hydropower, mining), studying their influence on the state of ecosystems and the historical and cultural context of the mountain periphery at each time. Given the interdisciplinary nature of the study, a large group of researchers from different disciplines is involved (ecology, palaeoclimatology, physical geography, archaeology). All of them shared a common interest for the understanding of the relationship of human activity with the natural environment across time. 

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