Uncovering the distribution and limiting factors of Ericaceae-dominated shrublands in the French Alps

Abstract

Highlights• Ericaceous-dominated mountain shrubland are key habitats in alpine ecosystems, and understanding their dynamics is limited by the difficulties of mapping them using remote sensing.• Pigment-sensitive spectral indices based on Sentinel-2 bands used within a specific phenological window successfully allows Ericaceous-dominated mountain shrublands mapping.• Topoclimatic factors related to water conditions are driving the distribution of Ericaceous-dominated mountain shrublands at regional scale while temperatures drives the upper elevation boundaries.• Decline of the traditional agro-sylvo-pastoral system is suggested as a common critical juncture in the trajectory of shrublands across all mountain ranges.• Local topoclimatic conditions is suggested to have led to contrasting growth and encroachment depending on the location within the ecological niche of the habitat identified in this analysis.