Catalyzing Transformations to Sustainability in the World's Mountains

Mountain social‐ecological systems (MtSES) are vital to humanity, providing ecosystem services to over half the planet's human population. Despite their importance, there has been no global assessment of threats to MtSES, even as they face unprecedented challenges to their sustainability. With survey data from 57 MtSES sites worldwide, we test a conceptual model of the types and scales of stressors and ecosystem services in MtSES and explore their distinct configurations according to their primary economic orientation and land use. We find that MtSES worldwide are experiencing both gradual and abrupt climatic, economic, and governance changes, with policies made by outsiders as the most ubiquitous challenge. Mountains that support primarily subsistence‐oriented livelihoods, especially agropastoral systems, deliver abundant services but are also most at risk. Moreover, transitions from subsistence‐ to market‐oriented economies are often accompanied by increased physical connectedness, reduced diversity of cross‐scale ecosystem services, lowered importance of local knowledge, and shifting vulnerabilities to threats. Addressing the complex challenges facing MtSES and catalyzing transformations to MtSES sustainability will require cross‐scale partnerships among researchers, stakeholders, and decision makers to jointly identify desired futures and adaptation pathways, assess trade‐offs in prioritizing ecosystem services, and share best practices for sustainability. These transdisciplinary approaches will allow local stakeholders, researchers, and practitioners to jointly address MtSES knowledge gaps while simultaneously focusing on critical issues of poverty and food security

Determination of nitrogen in atmospheric aerosols by proton activation analysis

Nuclear reactions induced by 7.6-MeV deuterons are used to determine total carbon in atmospheric aerosols. The {sup 12}C(d,n){sup 13}N reaction produces the radionuclide {sup 13}N, a 10.0-min positron emitter, which is detected by its 0.511-MeV annihilation radiation. The detection system is a Ge(Li) {gamma}-ray spectrometer. The method is nondestructive of the sample, permitting the sample to be studied by additional methods. Comparison of carbon found by deuteron activation analysis with that found by independent but destructive combustion methods shows a standard deviation of 10% for 15 samples analyzed over a wide range of carbon contents. The detection limit is estimated to be 0.5 {micro}g/cm{sup 2}, corresponding to a carbon concentration of 0.2% in a sample of total thickness 250 {micro}g/cm{sup 2}