Land usage Based on a detailed GIS survey, in mountain regions of developing and transitional countries the types of land cover and actual land use are: 17% of the mountain population grows crops or combines crop, livestock and tree farming. 19% subsist from sparsely vegetated barren land, protected areas and closed forests. 44% of mountain land is used for grazing and is home to 64% of rural mountain people. At a global level, the average population density on grazing land below meets or exceeds the critical density of 25 people per km2. The growing mountain population in developing and transition countries is creating serious environmental problems in forest and grazing lands. Some of the forest or grazing land could be converted to crops for subsistence or cash, but 78% is unsuitable for this purpose, or only marginally suitable.
From hunting and gathering to farming and forestry Paleolithic hunters and gatherers followed the mountain fauna as they moved from summer to winter pastures, fished, gathered edible plants and used the abundant timber for fire and shelter. The
Dayaks of
Kalimantan still follow a traditional hunting and gathering lifestyle, although they are under growing pressure from the outside world. Later human settlers in the mountains practiced a combination of hunting and gathering, raising crops and tending livestock, with most families involved in all these activities. As specialist workers have emerged, the members of each household perform fewer activities, but there are more occupations within the community as a whole. This trend has accelerated in the last 400 years, driven by the industrial revolution and colonialism, the transition to commercial produce such as furs and minerals, and the recent growth of tourism. During this period large numbers of
Han Chinese settlers migrated to the mountain areas in the southwest and west of China, while European settlers moved into South and North America. The indigenous people were often forced to work in commercial agricultural and mining enterprises. This transition was not entirely negative, but devastated many of the traditional mountain communities.
Maize,
millet,
potatoes,
tomatoes and
wheat have their origins in mountain regions, as do
tea,
coffee and
quinoa. A comparison of crops grown in southern
Switzerland, the
Peruvian Andes and the Central
Nepal Himalaya shows strong similarities. At low elevations crops in all three regions include fruits, and at mid elevations they all include cereals such as
barley and wheat, and maize and
rice in the Andes and Himalaya. Higher up the production gives way to tubers such as potatoes, then to forest, and then at high elevations to pasture for
sheep,
cattle,
goats, and in Peru for
camelids. The people of the Andes maintain what
John Victor Murra calls "vertical control", in which groups of people use kinship and other arrangements to access the resources of a range of ecological zones at different elevations, and thus to access a variety of crops and animals. This gives more security than dependence on a single resource. The volcanic mountain region of
Java supports dense populations who take advantage of the rich soils and diverse altitude-based ecological zones. They accept a trade-off against the high potential for disastrous eruptions. Near the equator the sun is almost overhead all year, so the orientation of slopes is unimportant. Further away, the amount of sunlight varies considerably. In the Alps the south-facing slopes are preferred for settlements and farming, while the north-facing slopes are used for forestry and ski resorts. In mountain regions with seasonal climates, including Europe, North America, the southern Andes and most of the Himalayas, high pastures can only be used in the summer and the people work in the lower forest zones during the winter. Nearer the equator in the central Andes, East Africa and Southeast Asia there may be less seasonal variation, and permanent settlements as high as are practical, with economies based on herding and cold-resistant grains and tubers. Where crops were previously grown only for local consumption, with improved transportation it is practical to grow cash crops such as
carrots,
cabbage,
beans,
garlic and
apples for sale in distant markets. In Africa there is strong pressure on the mid-elevation environment from commercial and subsistence farming. Rapid population growth in East Africa is mainly concentrated in the fertile farmlands of the mountain regions. Although the public has come to value the presence in the mountains of large predators such as
bears,
wolves and
snow leopards, the local people tend not share that view, since the wildlife preys upon their livestock and crops.
Mining , USA Mining has been an important part of mountain economies throughout history, with prospectors seeking precious stones, ores, coal and salt in the mountains of Europe and the Americas. In many places rock, gravel and sand quarries are also economically important. In North America, coal mining in the
Appalachians and mining for metal ores in the western mountains resulted in growth of settlements between 1850 and 1930. Many of these were abandoned during the
Great Depression, but mining is still an important part of the mountain economy of the Americas. Although mining in the mountains has a very long history, the local communities often resent the exploitation of common lands by mining companies and the associated environmental damage. So far, there has been relatively little mining in the
Hindu Kush,
Karakoram and
Himalayas, although this seems likely to change. ==Migration==