Sierra Nevada observatory for monitoring global change: towards the adaptive management of natural resources

Abstract

Aspizua,  R.,  Bonet,  F.J.,  Zamora,  R.,  Sánchez,  F.J.,  Cano-Manuel,  F.J.,  Henares,  I.  2010.  Sierra  Nevada  observatory  for monitoring global change: towards the adaptive management of natural resources. Ecosistemas 19(2):56-68.

Sierra Nevada Observatory for Monitoring Global Change: towards the adaptive management of natural resources. Sierra Nevada is one of the most important hotspots of biological diversity and endemicity of the Iberian Peninsula and, thus, it constitutes an exceptional observatory to  study  the  functioning  of  natural  systems  and  processes  under  the  current  situation  of  global  change.  Sierra  Nevada  Observatory  for Monitoring Global Change arises with long-term vocation and seeking permanent cooperation between scientists and managers. Its objective is to obtain the information that allows identifying the impacts of global change as early as possible, enabling the design of management mechanisms to minimize it. It rests on four pillars: a program to monitor key species, ecosystems and processes, an information system that processes the data generated by the former into useful knowledge, an active adaptive management of natural resources being at the same time  result  and  feedback  for  this  knowledge,  some  efficient  tools  for  continuous  formation  of  managers  and,  finally,  effective  spreading mechanisms that make possible to transfer society both the results obtained and the methodologies used, enabling comparison with other experiences occurring elsewhere in the world.