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Range dynamics of mountain plants decrease with elevation.

  • Rumpf SB Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research, University of Vienna, 1030 Vienna, Austria; sabine.rumpf@univie.ac.at.
  • Hülber K Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research, University of Vienna, 1030 Vienna, Austria.
  • Klonner G Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research, University of Vienna, 1030 Vienna, Austria.
  • Moser D Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research, University of Vienna, 1030 Vienna, Austria.
  • Schütz M Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research, 8903 Birmensdorf, Switzerland.
  • Wessely J Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research, University of Vienna, 1030 Vienna, Austria.
  • Willner W Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research, University of Vienna, 1030 Vienna, Austria.
  • Zimmermann NE Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research, 8903 Birmensdorf, Switzerland.
  • Dullinger S Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research, University of Vienna, 1030 Vienna, Austria.
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  • 2018-01-31
Published in:
  • Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. - 2018
climate change
elevation
mountain
plants
range dynamic
Adaptation, Physiological
Altitude
Demography
Ecosystem
Plant Physiological Phenomena
Plants
Temperature
English Many studies report that mountain plant species are shifting upward in elevation. However, the majority of these reports focus on shifts of upper limits. Here, we expand the focus and simultaneously analyze changes of both range limits, optima, and abundances of 183 mountain plant species. We therefore resurveyed 1,576 vegetation plots first recorded before 1970 in the European Alps. We found that both range limits and optima shifted upward in elevation, but the most pronounced trend was a mean increase in species abundance. Despite huge species-specific variation, range dynamics showed a consistent trend along the elevational gradient: Both range limits and optima shifted upslope faster the lower they were situated historically, and species' abundance increased more for species from lower elevations. Traits affecting the species' dispersal and persistence capacity were not related to their range dynamics. Using indicator values to stratify species by their thermal and nutrient demands revealed that elevational ranges of thermophilic species tended to expand, while those of cold-adapted species tended to contract. Abundance increases were strongest for nutriphilous species. These results suggest that recent climate warming interacted with airborne nitrogen deposition in driving the observed dynamics. So far, the majority of species appear as "winners" of recent changes, yet "losers" are overrepresented among high-elevation, cold-adapted species with low nutrient demands. In the decades to come, high-alpine species may hence face the double pressure of climatic changes and novel, superior competitors that move up faster than they themselves can escape to even higher elevations.
Language
  • English
Open access status
bronze
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Persistent URL
https://folia.unifr.ch/global/documents/13522
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