Historical Biodiversity in the Alps

The volume “Historical Biodiversity in the Alps: Grassland Agroecosystems in the Last Millennium” discusses seminatural meadows, the most species-rich habitat types in Central Europe. It establishes closer links between history and grassland ecology than most long-term agricultural environmental history research in European mountains. The publication covers a broad spectrum of topics that go far beyond agricultural history. It presents mutual interactions between (historical) grassland management and biodiversity, as well as the economic relevance of the latter in terms of both farming and gathering, which was motivated by many different objectives. The volume combines analysis and synthesis, and micro- and macro-historical approaches. The latter extend to Levantine trade in the Middle East, the US, and zonal steppes worldwide. The text is complemented by 169 informative photos, maps, sketches, and graphs for a multidisciplinary readership. The findings are based on a variety of archival records, historical publications, pictures, maps, oral interviews, historical artefacts, and fieldwork, presented in an interdisciplinary (also paleoenvironmental) and transdisciplinary context. Species-rich meadows are in serious decline. To encourage in-depth transdisciplinary cooperation and better policymaking, the historical sections of the volume are followed by the applicability of grassland history in the twenty-first century in order to explore agroecological approaches not usually taken during the development and spread of industrialized farming since the mid-twentieth century.