Continent wide response of mountain vegetation to climate change

Climate impact studies have indicated ecological fingerprints of recent global warming across a wide range of habitats. Whereas these studies have shown responses from various local case studies, a coherent large-scale account on temperature-driven changes of biotic communities has been lacking. Here we use 867 vegetation samples above the treeline from 60 summit sites in all major European mountain systems to show that ongoing climate change gradually transforms mountain plant communities. We provide evidence that the more cold-adapted species decline and the more warm-adapted species increase, a process described here as thermophilisation. At the scale of individual mountains this general trend may not be apparent, but at the¦larger, continental scale we observed a significantly higher abundance of thermophilic species in 2008, compared with 2001. Thermophilisation of mountain plant communities mirrors the degree of recent warming and is more pronounced in areas where the temperature increase has been higher. In view of the projected climate change the observed transformation suggests a progressive decline of cold mountain habitats and their biota.

Deregulation of Railroads and Future Development Scenarios in Europe - Literature Analysis of Privatization Process Taken Place in US, UK and Sweden

Euroopan unionissa päätettiin jo yli vuosikymmen sitten, että rautatieliiketoiminta vapautetaan kilpailulle. Iso-Britanniasta olimäärä tulla esimerkkivaltio tämän prosessin käyttöönotossa. Pääideana oli säännöstelyn keventäminen, jolloin omistuspohja toimialalla laajenee ja rautateiden infrastruktuuri sekä toiminta parantuvat. Infrastruktuuri on määrä olla yhden organisaation hallinnassa ja raiteiden käyttöoikeus on kaikilla lupaehdot täyttävillä operaattoreilla, jotka kilpailevat keskenään matkustajista ja tavararahdeista. Kuitenkin Yhdysvalloissa ja eräissä Latinalaisen Amerikan maissa kilpailu on vapautettu siten, että rautatieyritys omistaa raideinfrastruktuurin, junat, tavarankuljetus- sekä matkustajavaunut. Iso-Britannian yksityistämistä pidettiin aluksi isonaepäonnistumisena: nopealla aikataululla sovellettiin jäykkiä transaktioperusteisia ulkoistamisstrategioita infrastruktuurin kunnossapitoon, jotka lopulta johtivat junien jatkuviin myöhästymisiin ja muutamaan tuhoisaan onnettomuuteen. Liiketoiminnallisessa mielessäkään ei oikein onnistuttu: infrastruktuurista vastaava yritys jouduttiin listaamaan pois Lontoon pörssistä, ja hallituksen oli pakko luoda tukipaketti pahasti velkaantuneen, vain marginaalisien investointien kohteena olleen yrityksen toimintaa varten (vaikka kapasiteettitarvetta oli markkinoilla). Myös rautatieoperaattorit olivat taloudellisessa ahdingossa ja vain määrätietoisten hallituksen laatimien pelastuspakettien avulla ala nousi syvimmästä kriisistään. Tästä huolimatta näiden negatiivisten sivuvaikutusten ohella koko ala pystyi kasvattamaan kysyntää, niin matkustaja- kuin rahtiliikenteenkin osalta. Vähenevän kysynnän trendi, joka alkoi 1970-luvulla, otti käännöksen parempaan. Toinen eurooppalaismaa, jolla on pitkät kokemukset yksityistämisestä, on Ruotsi. Tämä maatapaus on melko konservatiivinen verrattuna tilanteeseen edellisessä; vain rajattu määrä reittejä on avattu kilpailulle ja sopimukset tehdään kerralla pitkäksi aikaa eteenpäin. Ruotsin säännöstelyn purku osoittautui menestykseksi, koska tuottavuus onollut vakaassa kasvussa ja rautateiden markkinaosuus erityisesti matkustajapuolella on noussut merkittävästi, verrattuna muihin kuljetusmuotoihin. Kuitenkin kilpailua on käytännössä vähän tässä maassa ja parempiatuloksia on lupa odottaa, kun vain säännöstelyn purkaminen jatkuu. Viimeinen tutkimuksemme kohteena oleva maa on Yhdysvallat, joka alistutti rautatiet kilpailulle jo 1980-luvun alussa, käyttäen jo edellä mainittua vertikaalista integraatiota; tämä valinta on taas johtanut hyvin erilaisiin tuloksiin. Vaihtoehtoinen rakenteellinen uudistustapa on suosinut rahtivirtoja matkustajiin nähden, ja lopputuloksena tämä tapaus synnytti yrityksiä huolehtimaan toista näistä kahdesta pääasiakasryhmästä. Viimeaikaiset tulokset tästä yksityistämisprosessista ovat olleet hyviä: jäljellejääneiden yritysten voitot ovat kasvaneet, osinkoja ollaan kyetty jakamaan ja osakkeiden arvostus on noussut. Tässä tutkimusraportissa yritämme kolmen maatapauksen kautta esittää, miten yksityistämisprosessi tulee vaikuttamaan Euroopassa, kun kilpailu rautateillä vapautuu. Me käymmeläpi, mikä näistä kolmesta maaesimerkistä on kaikkein todennäköisin jaesitämme ehdotuksia siihen, miten valtiot voisivat välttää ei-haluttuja sivuvaikutuksia. Kolme maaesimerkkiä, ja lopuksi esitetty lyhyt tilastollinen analyysi osoittavat, että rautateillä on tulevaisuuden potentiaalia Euroopassa, ja kilpailun vapauttaminen on avain tämän potentiaalin realisointiin.

Flow resistance equations for mountain rivers

Three models of flow resistance (a Keulegan-type logarithmic law and two models developed for large-scale roughness conditions: the full logarithmic law and a model based on an inflectional velocity profile) were calibrated, validated and compared using an extensive database (N = 1,533) from rivers and flumes, representative of a wide hydraulic and geomorphologic range in the field of gravel-bed and mountain channels. It is preferable to apply the model based on an inflectional velocity profile in the relative submergence (y/d90) interval between 0.5 and 15, while the full logarithmic law is preferable for values below 0.5. For high relative submergence, above 15, either the logarithmic law or the full logarithmic law can be applied. The models fitted to the coarser percentiles are preferable to those fitted to the median diameter, owing to the higher explanatory power achieved by setting a model, the smaller difference in the goodness-of-fit between the different models and the lower influence of the origin of the data (river or flume).

In search for better pharmacological prophylaxis for acute mountain sickness: looking in other directions.

Despite decades of research, the exact pathogenic mechanisms underlying acute mountain sickness (AMS) are still poorly understood. This fact frustrates the search for novel pharmacological prophylaxis for AMS. The prevailing view is that AMS results from an insufficient physiological response to hypoxia and that prophylaxis should aim at stimulating the response. Starting off from the opposite hypothesis that AMS may be caused by an initial excessive response to hypoxia, we suggest that directly or indirectly blunting-specific parts of the response might provide promising research alternatives. This reasoning is based on the observations that (i) humans, once acclimatized, can climb Mt Everest experiencing arterial partial oxygen pressures (PaO2 ) as low as 25 mmHg without AMS symptoms; (ii) paradoxically, AMS usually develops at much higher PaO2 levels; and (iii) several biomarkers, suggesting initial activation of specific pathways at such PaO2 , are correlated with AMS. Apart from looking for substances that stimulate certain hypoxia triggered effects, such as the ventilatory response to hypoxia, we suggest to also investigate pharmacological means aiming at blunting certain other specific hypoxia-activated pathways, or stimulating their agonists, in the quest for better pharmacological prophylaxis for AMS.

Impact of Study Design on Reported Incidences of Acute Mountain Sickness: A Systematic Review.

AIMS: Published incidences of acute mountain sickness (AMS) vary widely. Reasons for this variation, and predictive factors of AMS, are not well understood. We aimed to identify predictive factors that are associated with the occurrence of AMS, and to test the hypothesis that study design is an independent predictive factor of AMS incidence. We did a systematic search (Medline, bibliographies) for relevant articles in English or French, up to April 28, 2013. Studies of any design reporting on AMS incidence in humans without prophylaxis were selected. Data on incidence and potential predictive factors were extracted by two reviewers and crosschecked by four reviewers. Associations between predictive factors and AMS incidence were sought through bivariate and multivariate analyses for different study designs separately. Association between AMS incidence and study design was assessed using multiple linear regression. RESULTS: We extracted data from 53,603 subjects from 34 randomized controlled trials, 44 cohort studies, and 33 cross-sectional studies. In randomized trials, the median of AMS incidences without prophylaxis was 60% (range, 16%-100%); mode of ascent and population were significantly associated with AMS incidence. In cohort studies, the median of AMS incidences was 51% (0%-100%); geographical location was significantly associated with AMS incidence. In cross-sectional studies, the median of AMS incidences was 32% (0%-68%); mode of ascent and maximum altitude were significantly associated with AMS incidence. In a multivariate analysis, study design (p=0.012), mode of ascent (p=0.003), maximum altitude (p<0.001), population (p=0.002), and geographical location (p<0.001) were significantly associated with AMS incidence. Age, sex, speed of ascent, duration of exposure, or history of AMS were inconsistently reported and therefore not further analyzed. CONCLUSIONS: Reported incidences and identifiable predictive factors of AMS depend on study design.

Substrate and depth preferences of macroinvertebrates along a transect in a Pyrenean high mountain lake (Estanh Redo, NE Spain)

Se estudia la composiciÛn y estructura de la comunidad de macroinvertebrados a lo largo de un transecto en profundidad en el lago Redó (Pirineos). Este estudio se enmarca dentro del proyecto de ámbito europeo MOLAR (Mountain Lake Research). Un equipo de buceadores muestreo dos tipos de substrato, piedras y fondos blandos, cada 2 m desde los 2 a los 20 m de profundidad. En la parte m·s profunda del lago las muestras se tomaron con draga Ekman (tres rÈplicas). Todas las muestras se tomaron el mismo día, el 15 de Julio de 1997. Los resultados, mediante un análisis de autocorrelación de Mantel, muestran que no existe un gradiente continuo en la sustituciÛn de unas especies por otras en la comunidad sobre substrato rocoso, sino que se distinguen dos discontinuidades claras, una a los 4 metros y otra a los 14 metros. La primera separa las especies propias de la zona litoral respecto a las de la zona sublitoral, mientras que la segunda coincide con la parte inferior de la termoclina, una zona siempre mas frÌa, con menos luz y con mayor acumulación de material fino sobre los sustratos duros a la vez que desaparece la cobertura algal que cubrÌa las piedras hasta esta profundidad. Respecto al sustrato existen especies que claramente prefieren el sustrato blando (oligoquetos, o los quironÛmidos Micropsectra radialis y Pseudodiamesa nivosa), mientras que otras eran más abundantes o exclusivas de los sustratos duros (Radix peregra, Plectrocnemia laetabilis, Psectrocladius octomaculatus). Estos resultados seran muy útiles para la interpretaciÛn de los datos paleolimnolÛgicos de los cores que actualmente se est·n estudiando en el lago.

Validation of and comparison between a semidistributed rainfall-runoff hydrological model (PREVAH) and a spatially distributed snow-evolution model (SnowModel) for snow cover prediction in mountain ecosystems

Snow cover is an important control in mountain environments and a shift of the snow-free period triggered by climate warming can strongly impact ecosystem dynamics. Changing snow patterns can have severe effects on alpine plant distribution and diversity. It thus becomes urgent to provide spatially explicit assessments of snow cover changes that can be incorporated into correlative or empirical species distribution models (SDMs). Here, we provide for the first time a with a lower overestimation comparison of two physically based snow distribution models (PREVAH and SnowModel) to produce snow cover maps (SCMs) at a fine spatial resolution in a mountain landscape in Austria. SCMs have been evaluated with SPOT-HRVIR images and predictions of snow water equivalent from the two models with ground measurements. Finally, SCMs of the two models have been compared under a climate warming scenario for the end of the century. The predictive performances of PREVAH and SnowModel were similar when validated with the SPOT images. However, the tendency to overestimate snow cover was slightly lower with SnowModel during the accumulation period, whereas it was lower with PREVAH during the melting period. The rate of true positives during the melting period was two times higher on average with SnowModel with a lower overestimation of snow water equivalent. Our results allow for recommending the use of SnowModel in SDMs because it better captures persisting snow patches at the end of the snow season, which is important when modelling the response of species to long-lasting snow cover and evaluating whether they might survive under climate change.

The increase in hydric volume is associated to contractile impairment in the calf after the world's most extreme mountain ultra-marathon

BACKGROUND: Studies have recently focused on the effect of running a mountain ultra-marathon (MUM) and their results show muscular inflammation, damage and force loss. However, the link between peripheral oedema and muscle force loss is not really established. We tested the hypothesis that, after a MUM, lower leg muscles' swelling could be associated with muscle force loss. The knee extensor (KE) and the plantar flexor (PF) muscles' contractile function was measured by supramaximal electrical stimulations, potentiated low- and high-frequency doublets (PS10 and PS100) of the KE and the PF were measured by transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation and bioimpedance was used to assess body composition in the runners (n = 11) before (Pre) and after (Post) the MUM and compared with the controls (n = 8). RESULTS: The maximal voluntary contraction of the KE and the PF significantly decreased by 20 % Post-MUM in the runners. Hydration of the non-fat mass (NF-Hyd) and extracellular water volume (Ve) were increased by 12 % Post-MUM (p < 0.001) in the runners. Calf circumference (+2 %, p < 0.05) was also increased. Significant relationships were found for percentage increases in Ve and NF-Hyd with percentage decrease in PS10 of the PF (r = -0.68 and r = -0.70, p < 0.05) and with percentage increase of calf circumference (r = 0.72 and r = 0.73, p < 0.05) in the runners. CONCLUSIONS: The present study suggests that increases in circumference and in hydric volume are associated to contractile impairment in the calf in ultra-marathon runners.

Assessing the use of very high resolution data to predict species distribution in a mountain environment

Nowadays, Species Distribution Models (SDMs) are a widely used tool. Using different statistical approaches these models reconstruct the realized niche of a species using presence data and a set of variables, often topoclimatic. There utilization range is quite large from understanding single species requirements, to the creation of nature reserve based on species hotspots, or modeling of climate change impact, etc... Most of the time these models are using variables at a resolution of 50km x 50km or 1 km x 1 km. However in some cases these models are used with resolutions below the kilometer scale and thus called high resolution models (100 m x 100 m or 25 m x 25 m). Quite recently a new kind of data has emerged enabling precision up to lm x lm and thus allowing very high resolution modeling. However these new variables are very costly and need an important amount of time to be processed. This is especially the case when these variables are used in complex calculation like models projections over large areas. Moreover the importance of very high resolution data in SDMs has not been assessed yet and is not well understood. Some basic knowledge on what drive species presence-absences is still missing. Indeed, it is not clear whether in mountain areas like the Alps coarse topoclimatic gradients are driving species distributions or if fine scale temperature or topography are more important or if their importance can be neglected when balance to competition or stochasticity. In this thesis I investigated the importance of very high resolution data (2-5m) in species distribution models using either very high resolution topographic, climatic or edaphic variables over a 2000m elevation gradient in the Western Swiss Alps. I also investigated more local responses of these variables for a subset of species living in this area at two precise elvation belts. During this thesis I showed that high resolution data necessitates very good datasets (species and variables for the models) to produce satisfactory results. Indeed, in mountain areas, temperature is the most important factor driving species distribution and needs to be modeled at very fine resolution instead of being interpolated over large surface to produce satisfactory results. Despite the instinctive idea that topographic should be very important at high resolution, results are mitigated. However looking at the importance of variables over a large gradient buffers the importance of the variables. Indeed topographic factors have been shown to be highly important at the subalpine level but their importance decrease at lower elevations. Wether at the mountane level edaphic and land use factors are more important high resolution topographic data is more imporatant at the subalpine level. Finally the biggest improvement in the models happens when edaphic variables are added. Indeed, adding soil variables is of high importance and variables like pH are overpassing the usual topographic variables in SDMs in term of importance in the models. To conclude high resolution is very important in modeling but necessitate very good datasets. Only increasing the resolution of the usual topoclimatic predictors is not sufficient and the use of edaphic predictors has been highlighted as fundamental to produce significantly better models. This is of primary importance, especially if these models are used to reconstruct communities or as basis for biodiversity assessments. -- Ces dernières années, l'utilisation des modèles de distribution d'espèces (SDMs) a continuellement augmenté. Ces modèles utilisent différents outils statistiques afin de reconstruire la niche réalisée d'une espèce à l'aide de variables, notamment climatiques ou topographiques, et de données de présence récoltées sur le terrain. Leur utilisation couvre de nombreux domaines allant de l'étude de l'écologie d'une espèce à la reconstruction de communautés ou à l'impact du réchauffement climatique. La plupart du temps, ces modèles utilisent des occur-rences issues des bases de données mondiales à une résolution plutôt large (1 km ou même 50 km). Certaines bases de données permettent cependant de travailler à haute résolution, par conséquent de descendre en dessous de l'échelle du kilomètre et de travailler avec des résolutions de 100 m x 100 m ou de 25 m x 25 m. Récemment, une nouvelle génération de données à très haute résolution est apparue et permet de travailler à l'échelle du mètre. Les variables qui peuvent être générées sur la base de ces nouvelles données sont cependant très coûteuses et nécessitent un temps conséquent quant à leur traitement. En effet, tout calcul statistique complexe, comme des projections de distribution d'espèces sur de larges surfaces, demande des calculateurs puissants et beaucoup de temps. De plus, les facteurs régissant la distribution des espèces à fine échelle sont encore mal connus et l'importance de variables à haute résolution comme la microtopographie ou la température dans les modèles n'est pas certaine. D'autres facteurs comme la compétition ou la stochasticité naturelle pourraient avoir une influence toute aussi forte. C'est dans ce contexte que se situe mon travail de thèse. J'ai cherché à comprendre l'importance de la haute résolution dans les modèles de distribution d'espèces, que ce soit pour la température, la microtopographie ou les variables édaphiques le long d'un important gradient d'altitude dans les Préalpes vaudoises. J'ai également cherché à comprendre l'impact local de certaines variables potentiellement négligées en raison d'effets confondants le long du gradient altitudinal. Durant cette thèse, j'ai pu monter que les variables à haute résolution, qu'elles soient liées à la température ou à la microtopographie, ne permettent qu'une amélioration substantielle des modèles. Afin de distinguer une amélioration conséquente, il est nécessaire de travailler avec des jeux de données plus importants, tant au niveau des espèces que des variables utilisées. Par exemple, les couches climatiques habituellement interpolées doivent être remplacées par des couches de température modélisées à haute résolution sur la base de données de terrain. Le fait de travailler le long d'un gradient de température de 2000m rend naturellement la température très importante au niveau des modèles. L'importance de la microtopographie est négligeable par rapport à la topographie à une résolution de 25m. Cependant, lorsque l'on regarde à une échelle plus locale, la haute résolution est une variable extrêmement importante dans le milieu subalpin. À l'étage montagnard par contre, les variables liées aux sols et à l'utilisation du sol sont très importantes. Finalement, les modèles de distribution d'espèces ont été particulièrement améliorés par l'addition de variables édaphiques, principalement le pH, dont l'importance supplante ou égale les variables topographique lors de leur ajout aux modèles de distribution d'espèces habituels.

Predicting richness and composition in mountain insect communities at high resolution: a new test of the SESAM framework

Aim The aim of this study was to test different modelling approaches, including a new framework, for predicting the spatial distribution of richness and composition of two insect groups. Location The western Swiss Alps. Methods We compared two community modelling approaches: the classical method of stacking binary prediction obtained fromindividual species distribution models (binary stacked species distribution models, bS-SDMs), and various implementations of a recent framework (spatially explicit species assemblage modelling, SESAM) based on four steps that integrate the different drivers of the assembly process in a unique modelling procedure. We used: (1) five methods to create bS-SDM predictions; (2) two approaches for predicting species richness, by summing individual SDM probabilities or by modelling the number of species (i.e. richness) directly; and (3) five different biotic rules based either on ranking probabilities from SDMs or on community co-occurrence patterns. Combining these various options resulted in 47 implementations for each taxon. Results Species richness of the two taxonomic groups was predicted with good accuracy overall, and in most cases bS-SDM did not produce a biased prediction exceeding the actual number of species in each unit. In the prediction of community composition bS-SDM often also yielded the best evaluation score. In the case of poor performance of bS-SDM (i.e. when bS-SDM overestimated the prediction of richness) the SESAM framework improved predictions of species composition. Main conclusions Our results differed from previous findings using community-level models. First, we show that overprediction of richness by bS-SDM is not a general rule, thus highlighting the relevance of producing good individual SDMs to capture the ecological filters that are important for the assembly process. Second, we confirm the potential of SESAM when richness is overpredicted by bS-SDM; limiting the number of species for each unit and applying biotic rules (here using the ranking of SDM probabilities) can improve predictions of species composition

Evolutionary Ecology of Mountain Birch in Subarctic Stress Gradients: Interplay of Biotic and Abiotic Factors in Plant-Plant Interactions and Evolutionary Processes

In nature, variation for example in herbivory, wind exposure, moisture and pollution impact often creates variation in physiological stress and plant productivity. This variation is seldom clear-cut, but rather results in clines of decreasing growth and productivity towards the high-stress end. These clines of unidirectionally changing stress are generally known as ‘stress gradients’. Through its effect on plant performance, stress has the capacity to fundamentally alter the ecological relationships between individuals, and through variation in survival and reproduction it also causes evolutionary change, i.e. local adaptations to stress and eventually speciation. In certain conditions local adaptations to environmental stress have been documented in a matter of just a few generations. In plant-plant interactions, intensities of both negative interactions (competition) and positive ones (facilitation) are expected to vary along stress gradients. The stress-gradient hypothesis (SGH) suggests that net facilitation will be strongest in conditions of high biotic and abiotic stress, while a more recent ‘humpback’ model predicts strongest net facilitation at intermediate levels of stress. Plant interactions on stress gradients, however, are affected by a multitude of confounding factors, making studies of facilitation-related theories challenging. Among these factors are plant ontogeny, spatial scale, and local adaptation to stress. The last of these has very rarely been included in facilitation studies, despite the potential co-occurrence of local adaptations and changes in net facilitation in stress gradients. Current theory would predict both competitive effects and facilitative responses to be weakest in populations locally adapted to withstand high abiotic stress. This thesis is based on six experiments, conducted both in greenhouses and in the field in Russia, Norway and Finland, with mountain birch (Betula pubescens subsp. czerepanovii) as the model species. The aims were to study potential local adaptations in multiple stress gradients (both natural and anthropogenic), changes in plant-plant interactions under conditions of varying stress (as predicted by SGH), potential mechanisms behind intraspecific facilitation, and factors confounding plant-plant facilitation, such as spatiotemporal, ontogenetic, and genetic differences. I found rapid evolutionary adaptations (occurring within a time-span of 60 to 70 years) towards heavy-metal resistance around two copper-nickel smelters, a phenomenon that has resulted in a trade-off of decreased performance in pristine conditions. Heavy-metal-adapted individuals had lowered nickel uptake, indicating a possible mechanism behind the detected resistance. Seedlings adapted to heavy-metal toxicity were not co-resistant to others forms of abiotic stress, but showed co-resistance to biotic stress by being consumed to a lesser extent by insect herbivores. Conversely, populations from conditions of high natural stress (wind, drought etc.) showed no local adaptations, despite much longer evolutionary time scales. Due to decreasing emissions, I was unable to test SGH in the pollution gradients. In natural stress gradients, however, plant performance was in accordance with SGH, with the strongest host-seedling facilitation found at the high-stress sites in two different stress gradients. Factors confounding this pattern included (1) plant size / ontogenetic status, with seedling-seedling interactions being competition dominated and host-seedling interactions potentially switching towards competition with seedling growth, and (2) spatial distance, with competition dominating at very short planting distances, and facilitation being strongest at a distance of circa ¼ benefactor height. I found no evidence for changes in facilitation with respect to the evolutionary histories of plant populations. Despite the support for SGH, it may be that the ‘humpback’ model is more relevant when the main stressor is resource-related, while what I studied were the effects of ‘non-resource’ stressors (i.e. heavy-metal pollution and wind). The results have potential practical applications: the utilisation of locally adapted seedlings and plant facilitation may increase the success of future restoration efforts in industrial barrens as well as in other wind-exposed sites. The findings also have implications with regard to the effects of global change in subarctic environments: the documented potential by mountain birch for rapid evolutionary change, together with the general lack of evolutionary ‘dead ends’, due to not (over)specialising to current natural conditions, increase the chances of this crucial forest-forming tree persisting even under the anticipated climate change.

Classical references and their significance in The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann

Although Thomas Mann’s novel The Magic Mountain has been the object of innumerable studies, this paper suggests that so far none of these has given truly close attention to the significance of the classical references in this novel with regard to the search for a true humanism. This is probably owing to the generally held belief that the influence of the classical tradition is relatively inconsequential in relation to the ample conjunction of philosophical ideas on which the novel is based. This article takes a differing view and, through a close analysis and comment of the explicit and implicit classical notions in the text, concludes that these ideas are also a valuable key to a greater comprehension of the ideological design of the main character, Hans Castorp, and to a certain degree they also help to continue to reflect on the most enigmatic and controversial episode of the novel: the young protagonist’s descent to the plain from the magical mountain (Zauberberg) in order to take part in the great tragedy of World War I, alien as is any war to the prevalent but ultimately futile desire that love (Liebe) should in the end prevail in the life of humans.