NatureScot Commissioned Report 554: Ecosystem service provision in the Cairngorms National Park: case study of past and future management of geodiversity and biodiversity

This report assess indicators of human activity as a dominant agent for changing landscapes since c.1700. Two test areas with distinctive land management history were selected in the Cairngorm National Park; the Aviemore town as a foremost tourist destination which has seen considerable transformation and Glentanar which may be regarded as an archetypical Victorian shorting estate. A detailed historical narrative of changing forms of land management and land use, and the consequent land cover of each locality was produced considering the three most dominant pressures on the Scottish countryside today: agriculture, forestry and recreation.

Land management of individual localities was strongly influenced by population pressure, access (both transport and communication networks), the availability of local resources such as fuel, pasture and building materials, and the underlying geological and environmental conditions of each site. Climatic factors were not always the principle catalyst for changing land-use in those two case study.

Pages: 89
Published: 2013

NatureScot Commissioned Report 554