The alpine treeline under changing land use and changing climate: Approach and preliminary results from continental Norway

Abstract

X)4. Tlie alpine treeliiic uudcr changing ;^ land use and changing ciimate: Approach and preliminary res-tilts from conlineiital Norway. Ntirsk GfOf; This siLidy aims al improving the comprehcnsi aniicipiilcd warmer fuiiire. The miiin prohlem impact, two driving Ibrces which have boih cii an inferdisL'iplinary approach has heen [ranspo gical and atljiisied dcndriiecoliigical inelhods. I n oi tiie alpine treeiine. partly as ;i means ol' prtijecting landscape evolution in an () he solved is to distinguish effccls and responses oC cliniaie change and human ised an increase in the idtluiJe ol' the alpine treeiine over the pasi century. Thus, cd to the Norwegian mountains, comhining socio-geographical, landstape ecoloreliminarv resiilis presented tor tht ctmtinenial Norwegian mountain region Viiga. Oppland, prove the treelitie to he in a regeneration siage after u pcritHl ol' major human forced depression. Climatic conditions al ihe treeiine and growlh raics of hirchcs indicate that [he Ireeline is not at its distribution limil. Consistent grazing pressure and dense vegetation cover is the most likely explanation.

A comparison of influences of cattle, goat, sheep and reindeer on vegetation changes in mountain cultural landscapes in Norway

“…During the last century these cultural mountain landscapes have changed due to abandonment of traditional farming approaches (Antrop, 2005). In subalpine areas, forests have expanded into open semi-natural habitats (Bender, Boehmer, Jens, & Schumacher, 2005;Didier, 2001;Olsson, Austrheim, & Grenne, 2000;Vandvik & Birks, 2001) and the altitudinal position of the forest line has changed (Hofgaard, 1997;Löffler et al, 2004;Sitko & Troll, 2008). The actual ecotone from forest to non-forested areas may be at lower altitude than predicted based on the local climate because long-term grazing by domestic animals has lowered the forest line.…”

Indicators of species richness at the local scale in an alpine region: a comparative approach between plant and invertebrate taxa

“…In alpine areas a better understanding of the relationships within alpine species richness of various taxa could help to guide conservation plans, as well as the selection and design of representative reserves for alpine species (Howard et al 1998;Bragazza 2009). Furthermore, the consequences of present changes in alpine habitats, like the abandonment or intensification due to changes in land use or due to the effects of climate change, have to be monitored for biodiversity (MacDonald et al 2000;Löffler et al 2004).…”

Treelines—Approaches at Different Scales

“…Not least, many treelines are not natural and many natural climatic treelines are not in balance with the current climate (e.g., [5,11,27,69,83,[115][116][117]). The after-effects of postglacial treeline history (cf.…”