Mountain Biodiversity Is Central to Sustainable Development in Mountains and Beyond

Payne, Davnah; Spehn, Eva; Prescott, Graham W.; Geschke, Jonas; Snethlage, Mark A.; Fischer, Markus

doi:10.1016/j.oneear.2020.10.013

Cited by 27 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…Mountains harbor a major part of Earth's terrestrial biodiversity (Payne et al, 2020; Rahbek et al, 2019). Consequently, studies of biotic interactions in mountain regions are crucial for revealing the mechanisms that generate and maintain the high‐diversity mosaic of mountain communities in spatially and temporally variable climatic conditions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Insect herbivory increases from forest to alpine tundra in Arctic mountains

Zvereva

Zverev

Kozlov

2022

Ecology and Evolution

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Current theory holds that the intensity of biotic interactions decreases with increases in latitude and elevation; however, empirical data demonstrate great variation in the direction, strength, and shape of elevational changes in herbivory. The latitudinal position of mountains may be one important source of this variation, but the acute shortage of data from polar mountains hampers exploration of latitude effects on elevational changes in herbivory. Here, we reduce this knowledge gap by exploring six elevation gradients located in three Arctic mountain ranges to test the prediction that a decrease in herbivory occurs with increasing elevation from forest to alpine tundra. Across the 10 most abundant evergreen and deciduous woody plant species, relative losses of foliage to insect herbivores were 2.2‐fold greater at the highest elevations (alpine tundra) than in mid‐elevation birch woodlands or low‐elevation coniferous forests. Plant quality for herbivores (quantified by specific leaf area) significantly decreased with elevation across all studied species, indicating that bottom‐up factors were unlikely to shape the observed pattern in herbivory. An experiment with open‐top chambers established at different elevations showed that even a slight increase in ambient temperature enhances herbivory in Arctic mountains. Therefore, we suggest that the discovered increase in herbivory with elevation is explained by higher temperatures at the soil surface in open habitats above the tree line compared with forests at lower elevations. This explanation is supported by the significant difference in elevational changes in herbivory between low and tall plants: herbivory on low shrubs increased fourfold from forest to alpine sites, while herbivory on trees and tall shrubs did not change with elevation. We suggest that an increase in herbivory with an increase in elevation is typical for high‐latitude mountains, where inverse temperature gradients, especially at the soil surface, are common. Verification of this hypothesis requires further studies of elevational patterns in herbivory at high latitudes.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Insect herbivory increases from forest to alpine tundra in Arctic mountains

Zvereva

Zverev

Kozlov

2022

Ecology and Evolution

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“…This is an important gap to be considered for the HKH, as high mountain ecosystems are biodiversity hotspots sheltering diverse endemic species (Hughes & Eastwood, 2006; Payne et al, 2020) but vulnerable to global changes including climate change (Vincent et al, 2019). Warming in high mountains including the HKH is higher than other regions of the world showing an altitude‐dependent temperature increase with impacts on ecosystem and people living in the mountains and beyond (Krishnan et al, 2019; Pepin et al, 2015).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Protected areas in the Hindu Kush Himalaya: A regional assessment of the status, distribution, and gaps

Chaudhary

Uddin

Chettri

et al. 2022

Conservat Sci and Prac

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Protected areas (PAs) are a key strategy for conserving areas of outstanding biodiversity value and promoting sustainable development. Significant efforts have been made toward establishing PAs over the last few decades across the globe. However, an assessment of PAs in mountain regions, including in the biodiversity rich Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH), is lacking. We assessed the status, trend, and distribution of PAs and the ecological representativeness in the PA network. Our analysis showed the HKH has a total of 575 PAs covering 40.17% of the region, accounting for 8.49% of global PA coverage. The HKH hosts 335 Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs), 348 Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs), 12 Global 200 Ecoregions, and 4 Global Biodiversity Hotspots.However, the study showed limited ecological representation in the current PA system as 67% of ecoregions, 39% of hotspots, 69% of KBAs, and 76% of IBAs are still outside of the PA system. About 47% of the PAs are small (<250 sq. km) with no connectivity to other PAs and the majority are distributed in the lower reaches of the HKH. These findings suggest the need to assess and demarcate potential corridors to improve connectivity between PAs and integrate PAs into wider conservation landscapes at national and regional scale beyond country boundaries through regional cooperation. There is also a need to assess and strengthen PA management effectiveness and governance and consider other effective area-based conservation measures especially in the higher elevations and with a specific focus on ecological representation. K E Y W O R D S biodiversity hotspots, corridors and connectivity, global 200 ecoregions, landscapes, other effective area-based conservation measure (OECM)The views and interpretations in this publication are those of the authors. They are not necessarily attributable to ICIMOD and do not imply the expression of any opinion by ICIMOD concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area of its authority, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries, or the endorsement of any product.

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“…In addition to temperature increase, human activities in mountain areas have changed markedly over the last decades (e.g., Peters et al, 2019 ; Wang et al, 2019 ; for an overview see Payne et al, 2020 ). Mountain land use has intensified in many places across the globe (Spehn et al, 2006 ), driven by booming tourism industries (Debarbieux et al, 2014 ; Pickering & Barros, 2012 ), overexploitation of natural resources and ever‐increasing demands for agricultural land (e.g., Gillet et al, 2016 ; Ross et al, 2017 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Think globally, measure locally: The MIREN standardized protocol for monitoring plant species distributions along elevation gradients

Haider

Lembrechts

McDougall

et al. 2022

Ecology and Evolution

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Climate change and other global change drivers threaten plant diversity in mountains worldwide. A widely documented response to such environmental modifications is for plant species to change their elevational ranges. Range shifts are often idiosyncratic and difficult to generalize, partly due to variation in sampling methods. There is thus a need for a standardized monitoring strategy that can be applied across mountain regions to assess distribution changes and community turnover of native and non‐native plant species over space and time. Here, we present a conceptually intuitive and standardized protocol developed by the Mountain Invasion Research Network (MIREN) to systematically quantify global patterns of native and non‐native species distributions along elevation gradients and shifts arising from interactive effects of climate change and human disturbance. Usually repeated every five years, surveys consist of 20 sample sites located at equal elevation increments along three replicate roads per sampling region. At each site, three plots extend from the side of a mountain road into surrounding natural vegetation. The protocol has been successfully used in 18 regions worldwide from 2007 to present. Analyses of one point in time already generated some salient results, and revealed region‐specific elevational patterns of native plant species richness, but a globally consistent elevational decline in non‐native species richness. Non‐native plants were also more abundant directly adjacent to road edges, suggesting that disturbed roadsides serve as a vector for invasions into mountains. From the upcoming analyses of time series, even more exciting results can be expected, especially about range shifts. Implementing the protocol in more mountain regions globally would help to generate a more complete picture of how global change alters species distributions. This would inform conservation policy in mountain ecosystems, where some conservation policies remain poorly implemented.

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Mountain Biodiversity Is Central to Sustainable Development in Mountains and Beyond

Cited by 27 publications

References 7 publications

Insect herbivory increases from forest to alpine tundra in Arctic mountains

Insect herbivory increases from forest to alpine tundra in Arctic mountains

Protected areas in the Hindu Kush Himalaya: A regional assessment of the status, distribution, and gaps

Think globally, measure locally: The MIREN standardized protocol for monitoring plant species distributions along elevation gradients

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