Landscape organization in the non-glaciated high-mountain ranges in Europe

The landscape pattern in the high-mountains is significantly more complex than in the lowlands. Theories, models and methods which are usually applied in landscape studies (such as the geo-complex model and the patch-corridor-matrix model) are inadequate or insufficient in regard to high-mountains. The altitude is the main factor determining the multi-dimensionality of the high-mountain landscape, which affects climate, geomorphic processes and vegetation structure. Difficulties and opportunities in the application of particular landscape-ecological concepts in the high-mountains are assessed in this paper. Particular attention is given to three spatial orders in the high-mountain landscape: vertical zonality, catenal order and belt order (related to geology), as well as landscape boundaries (ecotones) and landscape dynamics. In order to evade the impact of glaciation the aforementioned issues were studied in the non-glaciated mountain ranges in Europe. These are selected ranges in the Carpathians and the Eastern Alps, the mountains of the Balkan Peninsula, Pyrenees, the mountains of Great Britain and Variscan massifs in Poland, Czech Republic, Germany and France.