Alpine walks
To offer a more explorative, context-based access to the alpine
environment and to the contents of the main course, you can follow
several virtual ‘alpine walks’. These alpine walks simulate
ecologists' or, more generally, naturalists' walks through alpine
areas that are quite distinct both in ecological and geographical
terms. As you proceed you can observe the characteristics of the different
alpine landscapes and you can have a closer look at a variety of organisms
and ecological phenomena in the context of their local environmental
conditions. You will also gather basic knowledge, some of which will
come to you quite intuitively, while you observe different patterns
and relate them to each other during your walk. Many observations
will elicit spontaneous questions on regional or general ecological
aspects of the alpine environment, most of which will be answered
in the main course or once you have gained some experience during
your alpine walks. The alpine walks are not part of the main course
itself but they link to it and should provide you with the ‘field
experience’ (second best to real walks in the mountains, of course)
that forms the contextual background for the specific topics presented
in the course.
To benefit most from the information presented during your walk,
it is strongly recommended that you follow
the trail linearly the first time.
To start your journey choose
one of several alpine walks from the global map and click its star
for information specific to the region. The table below introduces
the buttons you will use during the walks.
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