Opportunities for research on mountain biodiversity under global change

Payne, Davnah; Spehn, Eva; Snethlage, Mark A.; Fischer, Markus

doi:10.1016/j.cosust.2017.11.001

Cited by 67 publications

(49 citation statements)

References 70 publications

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“…Mountains in general, and the European Alps in particular, face a number of pressures including climate change, increasing human disturbance and changes in livestock management, all of which may have potentially profound effects on high elevation biodiversity (e.g. Dirnböck, Essl, & Babitsch, ; Payne, Spehn, Snethlage, & Fischer, ), and they also harbour a number of endemic and endangered species (e.g. Negro, Casale, Migliore, Palestrini, & Rolando, ; Rabitsch et al, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trait‐modulated decline of carabid beetle occurrence along elevational gradients across the European Alps

Chamberlain

Gobbi

Negro

et al. 2020

Journal of Biogeography

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Aim: To assess how species traits modulate the responses of carabids to elevational gradients, and how consistent these relationships are across different Alpine regions.Location: Italian Alps. Taxon: Coleoptera, Carabidae (ground beetles).Methods: Carabid communities were sampled using pitfall traps along elevational gradients (697-2,840 m) in 416 study sites comprising a range of habitat types. The probability of carabid occurrence was modelled in relation to elevation and its interaction with two key traits, body size and wing development, using a mixed-modelling framework. The consistency of these associations was then assessed across three geographically separated regions. Results:Carabid occurrence declined with increasing elevation, although this relationship was modulated by both body size and wing development. Smaller species were less likely to occur than larger-bodied species at lower elevations. There was a steep decline in occurrence of larger species from low to high elevation, but a slight increase in smaller species, when considering all regions combined. All wing development types declined with elevation, most notably for brachypterous (reduced wings) species. However, these patterns also varied regionally, especially for wing development, indicating that trait-elevation interactions are not geographically consistent.Habitat could not explain the differences between regions for body size, but was likely an important driver of regional differences in the role of wing development on carabid occurrence. Main conclusions:Species traits are important in explaining the distribution of carabids along elevational gradients in mountains, and they may help to identify the species that are the most vulnerable, and the most resilient, to future environmental change. Increased probability of occurrence of smaller species at higher elevations suggests that they may be particularly vulnerable to environmental change in the future. However, the difference in responses to elevation between regions has important implications for modelling species distributions, as it suggests low model transferability, that is, a trait-based model derived from one region cannot necessarily be used to project relative elevational shifts in a wider area. | 1031 CHAMBERLAIN Et AL.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trait‐modulated decline of carabid beetle occurrence along elevational gradients across the European Alps

Chamberlain

Gobbi

Negro

et al. 2020

Journal of Biogeography

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“…Thus, potential biodiversity variables to be retrieved from satellite remote sensing include pertinent indicators of ecosystem function and structure. And then, increasing the understanding of spatial and temporal processes and patterns at multiple scales was considered a key area of future research in mountain biodiversity (Payne et al, 2017) and landscape ecology (Wang et al, 2017), although currently the spatial and temporal pattern of biodiversity research based on the grid unit at the regional scale was relatively rare in China (Nelson et al, 2009;Murguía et al, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Chinese mountainous areas, with very rich biodiversity, are home to millions of people with vital ecosystem service (Payne et al, 2017). Located in the farming-grazing transitional region, Bailongjiang Watershed (BLJW) of Gansu Province is well-known for its rich biodiversity in western China.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Integration of InVEST-habitat quality model with landscape pattern indexes to assess mountain plant biodiversity change: A case study of Bailongjiang watershed in Gansu Province

et al. 2019

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Mountains in western China, hosted rich biodiversity and millions of people and inhabitant with vital ecosystem services, had experienced the most serious biodiversity loss with fragile ecological problems. Even though increasing attentions had been paid to this issue, we still lacked efficient methods to assess the change of plant biodiversity at medium/large scale due to the poor data and co-existing multiple habitat types. This study proposed an integrated method combining InVEST-habitat quality model, NPP and landscape pattern indexes to analyze the spatial heterogeneity of plant biodiversity and its spatiotemporal change on raster cell scale. The results indicated that plant biodiversity service was high in Bailongjiang watershed with obvious spatial pattern variations. The land area containing higher plant biodiversity were 3161 km 2 , which mainly distributed in the National Nature Reserve and forestry area. While the areas with lower plant biodiversity accounted for 37.67% and mainly distributed in the valleys between Zhouqu-Wudu-Wenxian County, the valley of Minjiang in Tanchang County and alpine mountain snow-covered regions. During 1990-2010, plant biodiversity level tended to increase and the higher plant biodiversity area increased from 14.13% to 17.15% due to ecological restoration and afforestation, while plant biodiversity decreased in the area with intensive human activities, such as cultivated land, urban and rural land. The results showed that combining InVEST-habitat quality model, NPP and landscape pattern indexes can effective reveal mountain plant biodiversity change. The study was useful for plant biodiversity conservation policy-making and human activity management for the disaster-impacted mountainous areas in China.

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“…Mountain ecosystems harbor a rich biodiversity, are particularly sensitive to ecological changes and currently experience the highest impacts of human‐induced climate change (Gobiet et al., ). Increasing temperatures can change climatic conditions and thereby affect mountain biodiversity, lead to species shifts towards higher elevations, or promote extinctions of high‐elevation plants (Payne, Spehn, Snethlage, & Fischer, ). In addition to increasing mean temperatures, the climatic variability and temperature extremes might increase in future (Schär et al., ), having severe effects on plants (Reyer et al., ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Increasing temperatures can change climatic conditions and thereby affect mountain biodiversity, lead to species shifts towards higher elevations, or promote extinctions of high-elevation plants (Payne, Spehn, Snethlage, & Fischer, 2017). In addition to increasing mean temperatures, the climatic variability and temperature extremes might increase in future (Schär et al, 2004), having severe effects on plants (Reyer et al, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bryophyte and macrolichen diversity show contrasting elevation relationships and are negatively affected by disturbances in laurel forests of Madeira island

Boch

Martins

Ruas

et al. 2019

J Vegetation Science

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Questions Studies on bryophyte and lichen diversity patterns along elevational gradients are scarce, although this approach can serve as space‐for‐time substitution to predict diversity changes because of climate warming. Therefore, we investigated bryophytes and macrolichens in disturbed and undisturbed stands along an elevational gradient in the unique laurel forest of Madeira island by addressing the following questions: (a) how does the species richness of functional‐taxonomic bryophyte and macrolichen groups differ with elevation; (b) how is the species richness of these groups affected by disturbances? Location UNESCO World Natural Heritage site laurel forest of Madeira island (Madeira, Portugal). Methods We analyzed species richness of bryophytes and macrolichens in 92 plots in response to elevation and to disturbances. Results Bryophyte species richness showed a mid‐elevational peak, while macrolichen richness increased with elevation. Disturbed plots harbored on average 20% less bryophyte and macrolichen species than undisturbed plots. Conclusions The laurel forest of Madeira island is a bryophyte and lichen diversity hotspot. Our findings indicate future biodiversity threats by changing environmental conditions. This calls for the need for a strict protection status of the laurel forest on Madeira island to minimize human‐related disturbances, for the development of management measures that could mitigate climate change effects by maximizing habitat suitability and for the implementation of species conservation programs to prevent future extinctions, in particular of endemic species.

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Opportunities for research on mountain biodiversity under global change

Cited by 67 publications

References 70 publications

Trait‐modulated decline of carabid beetle occurrence along elevational gradients across the European Alps

Trait‐modulated decline of carabid beetle occurrence along elevational gradients across the European Alps

Integration of InVEST-habitat quality model with landscape pattern indexes to assess mountain plant biodiversity change: A case study of Bailongjiang watershed in Gansu Province

Bryophyte and macrolichen diversity show contrasting elevation relationships and are negatively affected by disturbances in laurel forests of Madeira island

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