Unexpected impacts of climate change on alpine vegetation

Cannone, Nicoletta; Sgorbati, Sergio; Guglielmin, Mauro

doi:10.1890/1540-9295(2007)5[360:uiocco]2.0.co;2

Cited by 266 publications

(152 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…One of the causes of the displacement of many rare low-statured alpine species is the expansion of ericaceous dwarf-shrub heaths throughout the alpine zone of the European mountains which has been widely acknowledged lately [11,43]. This process is contributed to both by climate change and by land abandonment, and involves upward advance and active spread of the Vaccinium species (V. myrtillus, V. gaultherioides, V. vitis-idaea), more common at the lower elevations.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trends in Population Size of Rare Plant Species in the Alpine Habitats of the Ukrainian Carpathians under Climate Change

Kobiv

2018

Diversity

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Population trends in rare alpine plant species in the high-mountain zone of the Ukrainian Carpathians are described with regard to the types of habitats where they occur. Populations of cold-adapted species confined to snowbeds, alpine screes, poorly vegetated rocks, and the highest ridges, as well as mires and springs, are very vulnerable to climate change, while their habitats tend to shrink. The direct impact of warming affects mainly the most cryophilic species. Another driver of changes is climate-induced succession that results in denser vegetation cover and encroachment of more thermophilic plants, which replace low-competitive rare alpine species. Their replacement is largely caused by the loss of open microsites suitable for seed recruitment. However, the climate-driven decrease of snow cover often leads to frost damage to vegetation that provides gaps appropriate for the establishment of many rare species. One of the groups of species that benefit from warming includes rather thermophilic tall herbs that are more common in the subalpine zone but have been actively spreading at higher altitudes lately.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trends in Population Size of Rare Plant Species in the Alpine Habitats of the Ukrainian Carpathians under Climate Change

Kobiv

2018

Diversity

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“…This is in line with other studies. Bahn and Körner [27] found that frequent graminoids and prostrate dwarf shrubs, in addition to viviparous and hemiparasitic species, showed the most pronounced increases over a period of 13 years in the Austrian Alps, and Cannone et al [28] found a rapid expansion of shrubs within the alpine belt and an upward migration of the alpine grassland in the Alps. In Alaska, Sturm et al [57] found an increase in shrub abundance over a period of 50 years.…”

Section: Changes In Species Composition and In Abundance Of Single Spmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Changes in species composition have also been observed, with an increased occurrence of dwarf shrubs and graminoids [27,28], and an increase of viviparous and hemiparasitic species [27]. On the other hand, Chapin et al [29] report decreased species richness as a response to experimental warming in Arctic tundra over a nine year period, associated with strong dominance of Betula.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Impact of Climate Change on Recent Vegetation Changes on Dovrefjell, Norway

et al. 2011

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Abstract:The ongoing climate warming has been reported to affect a broad range of organisms, and mountain ecosystems are considered to be particularly sensitive because they are limited by low temperatures. Meteorological data show an increased temperature for the alpine areas at Dovrefjell, Norway, causing a prolonged growing season and increased temperature sum. As part of the worldwide project Global Observation Research Initiative in Alpine Environments (GLORIA), the short-term changes in vascular plant species richness, species composition of lichen and vascular plant communities, and abundance of single species were studied at four summits representing an altitudinal gradient from the low alpine to the high alpine zone. During the period from 2001 to 2008, an increase in species richness at the lowest summit, as well as a change in the composition of vascular plant communities, was found at the two lowest summits. The results also indicate an increase in abundance of some shrubs and graminoids and a decline in the cover of some species of lichens at the lowest summit. These changes are in accordance with climate induced changes reported in other studies, but other causes for the observed vegetation changes, in particular changes in grazing and trampling pressure, cannot be ruled out. OPEN ACCESSDiversity 2011, 3 92

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“…Alpine and subalpine peatlands at mid-and low-altitudes are drying and regressing as a consequence of earlier annual disappearance of the snow cover and thereby diminishing supply of meltwater in the late summer (Kullman 2004a(Kullman , 2007aCannone et al 2007). Some sloping fens are converted into species-rich meadow communities, while flatter mires are increasingly colonized by grasses, e.g.…”

Section: Current Changes In Alpine Vegetationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The most clear-cut signals originate from pristine alpine regions (Pauli et al 2001;Kullman 2002Kullman , 2007aWalther et al 2005;Cannone et al 2007;Seimon et al 2007;le Roux and McGeoch 2008;Kullman and Ö berg 2009). A general concern, is that status quo of mountain habitats and ecosystems is threatened and that projected future warming might cause extensive biodiversity and ecosystem loss in high mountains worldwide (Theurillat and Guisan 2001;Bakkenes et al 2002;Schröter et al 2005;Pauli et al 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Richer, Greener and Smaller Alpine World: Review and Projection of Warming-Induced Plant Cover Change in the Swedish Scandes

Kullman

2010

AMBIO

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Alpine plant life is proliferating, biodiversity is on the rise and the mountain world appears more productive and inviting than ever. Upper range margin rise of trees and low-altitude (boreal) plant species, expansion of alpine grasslands and dwarf-shrub heaths are the modal biotic adjustments during the past few decades, after a century of substantial climate warming in the Swedish Scandes. This course of biotic landscape evolution has reached historical dimensions and broken a multi-millennial trend of plant cover retrogression, alpine tundra expansion, floristic and faunal impoverishment, all imposed by progressive and deterministic neoglacial climate cooling. Continued modest warming over the present century will likely be beneficial to alpine biodiversity, geoecological stability, resilience, sustainable reindeer husbandry and aesthetic landscape qualities. These aspects are highlighted by an integrative review of results from long-term monitoring of subalpine/alpine vegetation in the Swedish Scandes. This forms the basis for some tentative projections of landscape transformations in a potentially warmer future. Notably, these results and projections are not necessarily valid in other regions and differ in some respects from model predictions. Continued monitoring is mandatory as a basis for generation of more realistic vegetation and ecosystem models.

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Unexpected impacts of climate change on alpine vegetation

Cited by 266 publications

References 18 publications

Trends in Population Size of Rare Plant Species in the Alpine Habitats of the Ukrainian Carpathians under Climate Change

Trends in Population Size of Rare Plant Species in the Alpine Habitats of the Ukrainian Carpathians under Climate Change

The Impact of Climate Change on Recent Vegetation Changes on Dovrefjell, Norway

A Richer, Greener and Smaller Alpine World: Review and Projection of Warming-Induced Plant Cover Change in the Swedish Scandes

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