Małgorzata Kijowska-Strugała

Abstract

This paper is an introduction to a collection of nine studies that are intended to fill the gap in the literature associated with landform development and landscape changes related to natural forces and human activities in the Central European Mountains and their close forelands. The papers are grouped into four general categories that describe the influence of climate on glacial landforms and snow avalanches, the evolution of slopes in high mountains, the development of mid-mountain relief, and changes in fluvial systems in mountains and their forelands. This paper summarises the contributions of these studies to this special issue and attempts to outline possible avenues of future research on landforms and landscapes in mountainous areas.

Keywords: mountains, geomorphological processes, human impact, landforms, landscapes

Paweł Prokop [pawel@zg.pan.krakow.pl], Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences Jana 22, 31-018 Kraków: Poland
Małgorzata Kijowska-Strugała [mkijowska@zg.pan.krakow.pl], Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences 38-311 Szymbark 430: Poland e-mail: mkijowska@zg.pan.krakow.pl
Łukasz Wiejaczka [wieja@zg.pan.krakow.pl], Instytut Geografii i Przestrzennego Zagospodarowania PAN