Human geo-ecological interactions in Kuh Daman,a South Asian mountain valley

A meso-scale methodology for obtaining and analysing primary data from an isolated mountain environment is described. By combining village cropping data with irrigation water supply and tribal affiliation, the systemic relationships between these features are delineated for 410 villages in a Hindukush mountain valley. The emergent highly variable cropping systems indicate congruity with tribal affiliation and also with agronomy. This inclusion of cultural factors in regional mountain research appears to be a necessary precondition for microscale geo-ecological research.