Abstract
Mountainscapes provide a variety of ecosystem services to local people as well as lowland populations, including water provision, forage production, climate regulation, habitat for biodiversity, outdoor recreation, aesthetic experiences, spiritual values, and cultural identity. However, mountain regions are highly susceptible to anthropogenic pressures due to their sensitive ecosystems and high exposure to global change pressures such as land-use/cover changes, climate change, and socioeconomic developments, causing great changes in ecosystem service provision. While the intensification of use mostly maximizes specific provisioning services at the expense of many regulating and cultural services, changes in the socioeconomic focus and the decline in traditionally managed mountain grassland induce shifts in ecosystem services. Moreover, accelerating climate change leads to a higher vulnerability of ecosystems and related services, which severely reduces management options. With declining ecosystem quality and increasing demand for ecosystem services, it may also be possible that conflicts between different types of uses or different user groups occur more frequently. Thus, it is crucial to holistically understand human-nature relationships and to recognize associated values of local populations to foster a sustainable development of mountain regions, protecting biodiversity and ecosystem services.