Monitoring Global Change in High Mountains

Abstract

Long-term ecological research provides essential information to understand the complex dynamics of natural systems. In a global change scenario, high mountains represent an exceptional ecology field lab for long-term research and monitoring, offering an enormous mosaic of ecological conditions existing along mountain slopes. Mountains ecosystems also constitute invaluable observatories of the atmosphere and all the aspects related to climate, atmospheric particle deposition, pollutants, greenhouse gases, or the transport of resistant biological forms. Mountains are sensors for early detection of change. In the Sierra Nevada LTER site (southern Spain), we have been implementing a long-term monitoring programme taking advantage of the high altitude and geographical position of this Mediterranean mountain. We have identified the main expected impacts in the context of global change and analysed the biophysical and socioeconomic data available to assess exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity of ecosystems to future scenarios. The study incorporates a retrospective of past human management of land use, to understand the current state of conservation of the ecosystems and make plausible forecasts on its response to future scenarios. The results show the following: (1) an ancestral human footprint on the ecosystems of Sierra Nevada, particularly evident during the 20th century; (2) a moderate climate warming, with reduction and increased variability in precipitation, as well as a consequent reduction in snow-cover duration during the last few decades; (3) significant changes in biophysical characteristics of rivers and mountain lakes; and (4) shifts in the distribution and phenology of many species of plants and animals along elevation gradients.

Two new species of Rohdendorfia (Diptera: Syrphidae) from Central Asia

“…The authors only know a few other species collected at this altitude in Central Asia and in the Andes in South America. High mountain ecosystems can be seen as oceanic islands, where climate warming may result in reduction and increased variability of precipitation, and consequently in reduction in snow-cover, changes in biophysical characteristics of rivers and mountain lakes, and shifts in the distribution and phenology of many species of plants and animals along elevation gradients (ZAMORA et al 2017). TERZIOĞLU et al (2015) predicted an upward shift in the tree line, which would probably threaten the plant diversity of the alpine grassland areas as forests may cover them.…”

Uniendo macro y microclima en paisajes de montaña: una aproximación conceptual e instrumental

“…Hemos desarrollado el concepto de Estaciones de Monitoreo Intensivo (EMI), que son áreas del territorio en torno a una estación meteorológica multiparamétrica, en la que coinciden espacialmente una alta densidad de protocolos de seguimiento ecológico, junto con mediciones abióticas (Zamora et al 2017). En definitiva, una Estación de Monitoreo Intensivo puede considerarse como un punto caliente (hotspot) de obtención de datos bióticos y abióticos en la misma ubicación espacial.…”

“…Las montañas también proporcionan servicios ecosistémicos vitales para las personas que viven en ellas y en sus entornos (Payne et al 2017;Mengist et al 2020). El desafío del presente y el futuro en la conservación del patrimonio natural de las montañas es determinar la exposición, sensibilidad y capacidad de adaptación de sus ecosistemas al cambio global (Williams et al 2008;Hansen et al 2014;Zamora et al 2017;Rogora et al 2018).…”

“…En el Observatorio de Cambio Global de Sierra Nevada (https://obsnev.es/) estamos evaluando la exposición, sensibilidad y capacidad de adaptación de los ecosistemas nevadenses al cambio global (Hansen et al 2014;Zamora et al 2017). Una de las prioridades de nuestro programa de seguimiento desde sus orígenes ha sido obtener información contrastada sobre las variables climáticas como determinantes de los procesos ecosistémicos (Bonet et al 2010;Aspízua et al 2012).…”

Spatial heterogeneity in temporal dynamics of Alpine bird communities along an elevational gradient

“…We also tested if the influence on elevation of these metrics differed among different habitat types (forests; farmlands; mixed and alpine habitats) nested within the elevational gradient (among‐community variability) and tested for differences in temporal dynamics among functional groups (within‐community variability). Specifically, we tested the following predictions, which are summarized in Figure 1a: [i] since high‐elevation communities are typically composed of (a) mountain specialists whose populations tend to be relatively stable and (b) generalists expanding their distribution range upwards and undergoing marked population fluctuations (Zamora et al., 2017), we predict a higher temporal turnover in alpine environments; [ii] since environmental adversity at high‐elevation sites results in limited functional trait diversity and functional convergence (functional clustering; García‐Navas et al., 2020), we predict the existence of higher temporal synchrony in alpine communities in comparison to communities at lower elevations; [iii] since forests are more predictable environments and thus, more likely to remain unaltered over time in comparison with farmlands and alpine habitat as a result of management (e.g. Burel et al., 2013) and more variable conditions (e.g.…”