Decline in the alpine landscape aesthetic value in a national park under climate change

Abstract

Alpine landscapes are projected to be degraded under climate change, which would threaten their benefits to society. Previous studies, however, have been limited to aesthetic change, and it remains unclear how much the aesthetic change would affect human welfare. To address this issue and gain insights into climate change adaptation policies, we conducted a choice experiment survey using digitally manipulated images based on climate change scenarios and natural scientific knowledge in a mountainous national park in Japan. We uncovered that park visitors appreciate the alpine landscapes that include snow patches on mountains and some types of alpine flowers by analyzing the data from 445 respondents. Conversely, both the invasion of alpine vegetation by dwarf bamboo and the disappearance of snow patches due to climate change substantially deteriorated the perceived aesthetic benefits from alpine landscapes. The economic loss caused by climate-induced landscape degradation was estimated at more than 100 USD per visitor, at maximum; the disappearance of snow patches and invasion by dwarf bamboo reduced the benefits by approximately 13 USD and 101 USD, respectively. Our findings suggest that sustaining the aesthetic value of alpine landscapes in national parks via climate change adaptation has potentially significant economic benefits. By supposing that the mountain national park attracts 70,000 visitors in summer, climate change would cause as a minimum of eight million USD economic loss at the park without appropriate measures annually. Our findings highlight the importance of climate change measures by considering climate change impacts on social benefits associated with alpine landscapes.

Predicted scarcity of suitable habitat for alpine plant communities in northern Japan under climate change

“…The community structure of snow‐meadow vegetation has changed over the last 40 years in the Taisetsu Mountains (vegetation surveys in 1971–72 and 2012), with tall herbaceous species in particular having decreased remarkably (Amagai et al, 2018). Therefore, it is urgent to devise and implement adaptation measures and conservation management, along with quantitative research regarding the effects of climate change on alpine plant diversity and ecosystem services (Mameno et al, 2022) in the national park. The map of the predicted change in vegetation area developed here provides useful information on where to implement monitoring and conservation activities.…”

Changes in functional traits and diversity of typical alpine grasslands after a short-term trampling disturbance

“…It is worth noting that alpine grasslands are known for high esthetic values, one key component of cultural ecosystem service. However, dramatic reduction in vegetation cover due to trampling disturbance can severely degrade alpine grasslands valued for their esthetic qualities, and increase the risk of loss of touristic attractiveness (Mameno et al, 2022).…”

Aesthetic Value Evaluation for Digital Cultural and Creative Products with Artificial Intelligence

“…Aesthetic value evaluation of digital cultural and creative products can also promote more companies to pay attention to improving aesthetic value for products. It will provide more references for enterprise product innovation design and give play to advantages of design innovation to promote national innovation and development [11][12][13][14][15].…”