ASSESSING THE IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON MOUNTAIN FORESTS: A BRIEF REVIEW

The effects of climate change on natural ecosystems are increasingly more visible. Being moun-tain forest ecosystems the most vulnerable and therefore the most affected ecosystems, they appear to be the most suitable for the assessment of climate change effects on ecosystem services. Accord-ingly, the paper reviews the literature on the economic assessment of climate change impacts in Eu-ropean mountain forests. Initially, the trends in the provision of mountain forest ecosystem services are discussed. The literature review also takes into account the effects on forest structure and trees physiology, being these two effects strictly associated with the capability of the ecosystem to pro-vide services. The results of this first part of the paper have been presented into a table that dis-plays both the trends and the quality and the quantity of the information available. Subsequently, the main methods that can be employed to assess the economic value of the different ecosystem ser-vices have been described. For each method some examples of implementation have been de-scribed. In the conclusion, the main gaps still existing in scientific literature concerning the effects of climate change on ecosystem services provided by mountain forests have been highlighted. Be-cause of the heterogeneity of the considered ecosystems it is of fundamental importance to have a comprehensive view of the phenomenon. Finally, some more remarks about the existing methods for the economic valuation of ecosystem services has been done.