Journal article
Climate-land-use interactions shape tropical mountain biodiversity and ecosystem functions.
- Peters MK Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, Biocenter, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany. marcell.peters@uni-wuerzburg.de.
- Hemp A Department of Plant Systematics, University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany.
- Appelhans T Environmental Informatics, Faculty of Geography, University of Marburg, Marburg, Germany.
- Becker JN Department of Soil Science of Temperate Ecosystems, Georg August University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany.
- Behler C Institute for Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany.
- Classen A Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, Biocenter, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.
- Detsch F Environmental Informatics, Faculty of Geography, University of Marburg, Marburg, Germany.
- Ensslin A Institute of Plant Sciences, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
- Ferger SW Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (SBiK-F), Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
- Frederiksen SB Animal Ecology, Department of Ecology, University of Marburg, Marburg, Germany.
- Gebert F Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, Biocenter, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.
- Gerschlauer F Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research, Atmospheric Environmental Research, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.
- Gütlein A Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research, Atmospheric Environmental Research, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.
- Helbig-Bonitz M Institute for Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany.
- Hemp C Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (SBiK-F), Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
- Kindeketa WJ Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, Biocenter, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.
- Kühnel A Bayreuth Center of Ecology and Environmental Research, University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany.
- Mayr AV Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, Biocenter, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.
- Mwangomo E Environmental Informatics, Faculty of Geography, University of Marburg, Marburg, Germany.
- Ngereza C Animal Ecology, Department of Ecology, University of Marburg, Marburg, Germany.
- Njovu HK Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, Biocenter, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.
- Otte I Environmental Informatics, Faculty of Geography, University of Marburg, Marburg, Germany.
- Pabst H Department of Soil Science of Temperate Ecosystems, Georg August University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany.
- Renner M Institute of Plant Sciences, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
- Röder J Animal Ecology, Department of Ecology, University of Marburg, Marburg, Germany.
- Rutten G Institute of Plant Sciences, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
- Schellenberger Costa D Institute of Biology and Environmental Sciences, University Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany.
- Sierra-Cornejo N Plant Ecology and Ecosystems Research, Georg-August-University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany.
- Vollstädt MGR Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (SBiK-F), Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
- Dulle HI Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (SBiK-F), Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
- Eardley CD Plant Protection Research: Plant Health and Protection, Agricultural Research Council, Pretoria, South Africa.
- Howell KM Department of Zoology and Wildlife Conservation, University of Dar es Salaam, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
- Keller A Center for Computational and Theoretical Biology, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.
- Peters RS Department Arthropoda, Zoological Research Museum Alexander Koenig, Bonn, Germany.
- Ssymank A Department Arthropoda, Zoological Research Museum Alexander Koenig, Bonn, Germany.
- Kakengi V Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute, Arusha, Tanzania.
- Zhang J Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, Biocenter, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.
- Bogner C Ecological Modelling, BayCEER, University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany.
- Böhning-Gaese K Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (SBiK-F), Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
- Brandl R Animal Ecology, Department of Ecology, University of Marburg, Marburg, Germany.
- Hertel D Plant Ecology and Ecosystems Research, Georg-August-University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany.
- Huwe B Bayreuth Center of Ecology and Environmental Research, University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany.
- Kiese R Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research, Atmospheric Environmental Research, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.
- Kleyer M Institute of Biology and Environmental Sciences, University Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany.
- Kuzyakov Y Department of Soil Science of Temperate Ecosystems, Georg August University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany.
- Nauss T Environmental Informatics, Faculty of Geography, University of Marburg, Marburg, Germany.
- Schleuning M Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (SBiK-F), Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
- Tschapka M Institute for Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany.
- Fischer M Institute of Plant Sciences, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
- Steffan-Dewenter I Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, Biocenter, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.
- 2019-03-29
Published in:
- Nature. - 2019
Agriculture
Altitude
Animals
Biodiversity
Ecosystem
Humidity
Microbiology
Plants
Rain
Tanzania
Temperature
Tropical Climate
English
Agriculture and the exploitation of natural resources have transformed tropical mountain ecosystems across the world, and the consequences of these transformations for biodiversity and ecosystem functioning are largely unknown1-3. Conclusions that are derived from studies in non-mountainous areas are not suitable for predicting the effects of land-use changes on tropical mountains because the climatic environment rapidly changes with elevation, which may mitigate or amplify the effects of land use4,5. It is of key importance to understand how the interplay of climate and land use constrains biodiversity and ecosystem functions to determine the consequences of global change for mountain ecosystems. Here we show that the interacting effects of climate and land use reshape elevational trends in biodiversity and ecosystem functions on Africa's largest mountain, Mount Kilimanjaro (Tanzania). We find that increasing land-use intensity causes larger losses of plant and animal species richness in the arid lowlands than in humid submontane and montane zones. Increases in land-use intensity are associated with significant changes in the composition of plant, animal and microorganism communities; stronger modifications of plant and animal communities occur in arid and humid ecosystems, respectively. Temperature, precipitation and land use jointly modulate soil properties, nutrient turnover, greenhouse gas emissions, plant biomass and productivity, as well as animal interactions. Our data suggest that the response of ecosystem functions to land-use intensity depends strongly on climate; more-severe changes in ecosystem functioning occur in the arid lowlands and the cold montane zone. Interactions between climate and land use explained-on average-54% of the variation in species richness, species composition and ecosystem functions, whereas only 30% of variation was related to single drivers. Our study reveals that climate can modulate the effects of land use on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, and points to a lowered resistance of ecosystems in climatically challenging environments to ongoing land-use changes in tropical mountainous regions.
- Language
-
- English
- Open access status
- closed
- Identifiers
-
- DOI 10.1038/s41586-019-1048-z
- PMID 30918402
- Persistent URL
- https://folia.unifr.ch/global/documents/278872
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