The contributions in this supplement volume examine the application of photography as a straight-forward, but powerful tool to track landscape change by capturing cross-temporal and cross-scalar images. The papers in this special issue mainly portray remote, off-road destinations, where reconnaissance was carried out by various technological means or by fieldwork in diverse landscapes. Most of the articles address identifying landscape-scale change, and a few of them landform-specific processes.
The introductory paper briefly summarizes the development of this subdiscipline, and provides an overview of potential advantages and disadvantages of repeat photographic (rephotographic) deployment within the discipline of geomorphology. The papers thereafter consider a variety of landscapes, ranging from remote glaciated to urban environments. Additionally, a variety of scales and vantage points have been incorporated in this research compared with more traditional studies that in the past have been predominantly focused on large areas and solely made use of aerial imagery.
The focus in this special issue rests on terrestrial (digital) photography as an addition to more traditional and innovative (aerial) remote sensing efforts. Both natural and urban settings are represented, and both single photographic as well as rephotographic methodologies are included, as are images recorded by UAVs and automated digital cameras.
This special issue comprises original research papers as well as review papers and case studies that have been processed since 2014, with an emphasis on quantitative empirical research. It addresses not only researchers working in the field of remote sensing, but is also of interest for all geomorphologists working in the fields of exploration and landform changes.

More than 30 specialists from 11 countries made 17 contributions to this volume with findings on how to best preserve fragile and vulnerable karst environments, which find themselves under increasing anthropogenic pressure.
The studies are driven by the necessity to devise a new international agreement to protect karst regions, which make up nearly 30% of continental land surface. The papers cover topics ranging from karst dynamics, karst hosted mineral deposits, karst environments, archaeology and art, water resources, mining and tourism. Political issues, such as cave protection, land use planning and legal boundaries for cave and karst area protection are also touched upon.
While some major karst areas are already protected (e.g. those included in the World Heritage List) there are many features, often small and not scenically spectacular, which require specific international agreements in order to recognize and protected them. This monograph proposes and details such an agreement.
Furthermore, the scientific and cultural value of karst regions, the anthropogenic pressure exerted on them, resource utilization and tourism, problems the legal status of caves and karst regions and the legislative framework relevant to karst environment and heritage preservation are discussed in detail. The volume is profusely illustrated with 126 diagrams, schemas and photos and includes 14 tables.
This publication not only addresses karst researchers and cavers, but is of wider interest to geographers and geologists, who are worried about the future of karst regions. It also addresses administrators, politicians and conservation activists, who are not specialists in karst science, but whose activity has substantial influence on the practical realization of international conservation agreements.

Angesichts der weltweit immer stärkeren Gefährdung von Höhlen und Karstgebieten soll dieser Sonderband der Zeitschrift für Geomorphologie die Grundlagen für ein internationales Karst-Schutzprogramm schaffen, so die Herausgeberin Elena Trofimova, Vorsitzende der Karst-Kommission der Internationalen Geographischen Union, in ihrem Vorwort. Vor diesem Hintergrund sind alle Beiträge des Bandes in englischer Sprache verfasst. Angestrebt wird eine weltweite Karstschutz-Konvention nach dem Vorbild der bekannten Ramsar-Konvention für den Schutz der Feuchtgebiete von internationaler Bedeutung. Sie wurde seinerzeit von der UNESCO angestoßen und ist nach der iranischen Stadt Ramsar benannt, wo die Verhandlungen stattfanden. Zahlreiche Ramsar-Gebiete sind auch Karstgebiete, darunter ausgesprochen bekannte Areale wie der Karst von Baradla (Ungarn), Domica (Slowakei) und das Gebiet der Höhlen von Škocjan (Slowenien).
Manche eher geologisch orientierten Höhlenforscher unterschätzen gelegentlich, welchen Beitrag die Geographen zum Karst- und Karstlandschaftsschutz leisten. Dabei hat die Geographie entscheidende Grundlagen zum Thema gelegt und auch die Zeitschrift für Geomorphologie hat sich schon oft der Problematik gewidmet, wobei die Rolle unseres Ehrenmitglieds Prof. Karl-Heinz Pfeffer herausgehoben sei.
Der Band hat eine längere Vorgeschichte. Schon 1991 gab es erste Überlegungen für das nunmehr vorliegende Projekt. Nachdem in der Folge der Jahre zahlreiche Autoren ihre Beiträge nicht ablieferten, gab es 2012 einen erfolgreichen Neustart.
Alle Autoren des Bandes sind langjährig erfahrene Höhlenforscher – so ist es denn nur konsequent, dass Kyung Sik Woo, der Präsident der UIS, eine unterstützende Erklärung für das Projekt geliefert hat, die dem Band als Nachwort angefügt ist.
Folgende Beiträge enthält der Sammelband: Towards an international protection system for karst environments background (Trofimova, E.), Location, nature and extent of karst environments at a global scale (Trofimova, E.; Hada, A.), Karst dynamic system and the carbon cycle (Cao, J.; Hu, B.; Groves, C.; Huang, F.; Yang, H.; Zhang, C.); Caves and mineral deposits (Forti, P.; Onac, B.P.); Karst environment (Culver, D.C.); The karst environment as an archive for documenting the past: some examples from Italy (Sala, B.); Archaeology in karst areas (Uomini, N.T.); Art in caves (Bednarik, R.G.); Modern resource use and its impact to karst water resources (Trappe, M.); Modern resource use and its impact in karst areas – agriculture, forestry and grazing (Tanács, E.); Modern resource use and its impact in karst areas – mining and quarrying (Parise, M.); Tourism and show caves (Cigna, A.A.); Vulnerability and auto-restoration capacities of karst geoecosystems (Bárány-Kevei, I.); The system nature of karst landscape and principles of cave protection resulting from it (Andreychouk, V.); Development challenges in karst regions: sustainable land use planning in the karst of Slovenia (Gabrovšek, F.; Knez, M.; Kogovšek, J.; Mihevc, A.; Otoničar, J.M.B.; Perne, M.; Petrič, M.; Pipan, T.; Prelovšek, M.; Slabe, T.; Šebela, S.; Ravbar, N.; Zupan Hajna, N.); Legal Status of caves and karst areas (Middleton, G.J.); Necessary qualities in legislation to protect karst areas (Middleton, G.J.).
Möge der Band baldmöglichst sein Ziel erreichen!

Dr. Friedhart Knolle, Nationalpark Harz

Mitteilungen des Verbandes der deutschen Höhlen- und Karstforscher e.V. Nr. 3/2017

The process-response concept describes feedbacks between cascading and morphological systems, that is, how landforms and landscapes react in response to geomorphic processes, and how these processes change in response to changing landforms and landscapes. Processes include, for example, mass movements, topsoil erosion, fluvial dynamics and eolian processes. They affect landscapes at a range of spatial and temporal scales, providing exciting opportunities to study these process-response systems under both an “archive” and a “process” perspective.
Some of the papers of this volume describe investigations on quaternary sedimentary archives (environmental changes and palaeoclimatic dynamics recorded in sediment cores), and include a geoarchaeological study combined with seismic and geoelectric measurements. Two papers attempt to quantify present-day morphodynamics by studying the influence of rock mass properties and the time passed since deglaciation on small magnitude rockfalls, and by using terrestrial LiDAR surveys and field experiments to determine and model seasonal variation and the spatial patterns of erosion on steep, unvegetated slopes.
The six selected, peer reviewed papers were first presented at the 2013 annual conference of the German Geomorphologists working group, held at the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt.