Abstract ID: 3.13775 | Accepted as Poster | Poster | TBA | TBA

As elevation nature, the alps act as a prism, allowing for space/time extrapolations of (a)biotic responses to global climate change. This abstract contains a selection from research on alpine inhabitation in Aosta and Susa Valley, northwest Italy, through the concepts of a border. Four key protagonists and site-specific interventions address a different form of spatial border and ongoing habitat tensions. This abstract discusses one border(1), one protagonist(2) and one intervention(3).
1/ TWO-DIMENSIONAL BORDER
Cartographic delineations do not exclusively define spatial divisions within a mountainous territory. Moving beyond two-dimensional borders on a map, we step into the territory, into the ecotone. Subject to a climate-driven ascending of species, the ecotone shifts upwards. As its borders fluctuate, so does the inherent biotic constellation. The link between species compositions and specific geographic locations is tearing apart. How can we classify these new iso-spaces of living when ‘iso’ becomes void of the actual heterogeneity of the site? A redefining of ecotones where companion species engage in actively shaping new ecological assemblages.
2/ EUROPEAN LARCH (LARIX DECIDUA)
As a pioneer species and the only deciduous conifer in the Alps, European Larches easily and eagerly colonize freshly disturbed soils such as abandoned Alpine pastures. Thriving on the remains of recent extraction, they show the possibility of life in ruins of anthropological activity. Considered a nurse species, it can create microclimatic islands as stepping stones for other species to migrate towards. Additionally, it is a habitat in itself, hosting insects in its bark and feeding the avian community with its seeds.
3/ CATCHMENT
‘Reverse shelter-method’: instead of trees being remnants from earlier treelines, they become pioneers. The intervention aims to aid the upward migration of the Larch and thereby other species facing climatic warming rates that extend their speed of migration. Just like humans, non-humans need shelter to explore new heights, depths and extremes. On the slopes of Pila, Aosta, three structures utilise the monoecious character of the seeds and wind dispersal to foresee and accommodate upward movement. The distinction between the catchment and the terrain will fade until it is part of the slope entirely.