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

Michelsen, Ottar; Syverhuset, Anne Olga; Pedersen, Bård; Holten, Jarle Inge

doi:10.3390/d3010091

Cited by 35 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…Venn et al (2012) found that species numbers of shrubs and graminoids increased whereas number of herbs decreased at mountains in Australia. Similarly, Michelsen et al (2011) found increased abundance of some shrubs and graminoids in Dovrefjell, Norway. In our study, we predicted higher species numbers in all functional groups except seedless plants.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 72%

“…According to Gottfried et al (2012), the Dovrefjell mountain region differed from other European mountains in rate of vegetation change, being the only region where thermophilous species had not increased. The degree of climate change has been relatively moderate in this region compared to other European regions (Michelsen et al 2011;Wehn et al 2012), as well as compared to other mountain regions along the coast-inland transect in central Norway (Tveito and Dyrrdal 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 73%

“…Similarly, Odland et al (2010) resurveyed 13 mountain summits in a mountain area south of Jotunheimen (37 years after the initial survey) and documented an increase in species richness on all summits. Michelsen et al (2011) found changes in vegetation composition at three out of four summits in a study from Dovrefjell (7 years after the initial survey), but only one of the summits showed an increase in species richness. According to Gottfried et al (2012), the Dovrefjell mountain region differed from other European mountains in rate of vegetation change, being the only region where thermophilous species had not increased.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…at meso-scale the gradients define the lower limits of the alpine zone and at micro-scale the gradients define micro refuges (Carlson et al 2013). Even though several studies have already documented vegetation change in several mountain areas (Odland et al 2010;Michelsen et al 2011;Gottfried et al 2012), we have little knowledge about the joint effect of the multi-scalar abiotic drivers on vegetation distribution. Thus, there is a need to learn more about the effect of these multiple and multi-scalar factors on vegetation to establish cognition about the potentials for migration and local extinctions in changing climates.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Alpine vegetation along multiple environmental gradients and possible consequences of climate change

Wehn

Lundemo

Holten³

2014

Alp Botany

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Alpine plant communities are being subject to climate change, resulting in the need for plants to adapt to new conditions. In this study, we investigated changes in vascular plant diversity along a coast-inland gradient in central Norway. At four different mountains, species were registered in 100 m 2 plots, laid out from the forest line to the summit. In addition, plots were grouped into snow cover duration (short, medium, and long) and aspect (North, South, East, and West). We documented richness and spatial turnover of species and functional groups (trees and tall shrubs, dwarf shrubs, herbs, graminoids, and seedless plants) along the different gradients using glm and RDA. Thereafter, we included variables from climate scenario models in the derived glm's to estimate how species richness and the distribution of these groups could be impacted by future climate change. Our results show that there are significant changes in species and functional groups along the regional gradient. Further, also local variation due to altitude and snow cover duration influenced species distribution and composition. Predictions of future vegetation showed an increase in species richness compared to present, with most changes occurring in areas of long and medium snow cover duration. We predicted the main changes to occur at lower altitudes. Here, dwarf shrubs and graminoids were expected to increase the most in number of species, whereas species of trees and tall shrubs were expected to increase the most in proportion.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 72%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 73%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Alpine vegetation along multiple environmental gradients and possible consequences of climate change

Wehn

Lundemo

Holten³

2014

Alp Botany

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“…Decrease in species number was rarely recorded during the monitoring of the Central Alps (Gottfried et al, 1998;Grabherr et al, 2001;Walther et al, 2005), with the exception of the decline of nival and subnival species resulting from the expanding growth of alpine species (Klanderud and Birks, 2003;Pauli et al, 2007). Increase of species richness at lower altitudes was also recorded (Michelsen et al, 2011). The percentage of newcomer species was highest on the southern slope, except for the subnival zone, with the highest number of newcomer species toward the western compass direction (Figure 3).…”

Section: Indicator Speciesmentioning

confidence: 96%

Monitoring of vascular plant diversity in a changing climate in the alpine zone of the Central Greater Caucasus

Gigauri¹,

Akhalkatsi²,

Nakhutsrishvili³

et al. 2013

Turk J Bot

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Short-term changes in plant species number, cover, frequency, and composition were studied along an altitudinal gradient crossing 4 GLORIA summits (from 2240 m to 3024 m a.s.l.) from the treeline ecotone to the subnival zone in the Central Caucasus. Large-scale (summit area) and small-scale (16 plots of 1 m 2 /summit) patterns were monitored in 2001. Recording was repeated in 2008. During the monitoring period, the average soil temperature and growing-degree days did not significantly increase. After 7 years, a revisitation of the summit area revealed a considerable increase of species richness, especially at the lower alpine zone (CP1 and CP2 summits). At a small scale (1 m 2 ), species richness also increased at the lower summit (from 12.5 ± 2.87 to 15.5 ± 3.12 species on the CP1 summit). The cover of 17 species significantly decreased, while that of 5 increased. There were significant linear relationships between species richness and altitude and climatic variables. The main newcomers were species from the lower altitudinal zones and their percentage was highest on the southern slope. Endemics and cold-adapted species were not seriously endangered. In the Central Caucasus we do not consider climate warming as the primary driver of the changes of plant richness and competition.

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Subtle changes in plant diversity in the Bavarian Alps over the past eight decades

Zettlemoyer,

Munck,

Poschlod

et al. 2024

Ecology and Evolution

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Historical resurveys represent a unique opportunity to analyze vegetation dynamics over longer timescales than is typically achievable. Leveraging the oldest historical dataset of vegetation change in the Bavarian Alps, Germany, we address how environmental conditions, vegetation composition, and functional diversity in the calcareous grasslands of the Schachen region have changed across different elevational ranges over an 83‐year timeframe. We document changes in regional average temperature and precipitation. We use indicator values (IV) for species' ecological preferences and their palatability to grazers to infer local conditions (temperature, soil moisture/fertility, and grazing regime). We further estimate changes in temporal beta‐diversity and functional trait community composition between historical (1936) and contemporary (2019) surveys in two elevational (subalpine and alpine) belts. Both subalpine and alpine sites became drier; subalpine sites also became warmer with more palatable plants. Species occurrence and abundance in the Schachen region has not changed substantially over time despite changing macroclimate and local environmental conditions under anthropogenic change. Yet these grasslands have experienced several “invisible” changes in functional composition over the past 80 years. As the Schachen has become drier, species with traits related to drought tolerance and animal‐based dispersal have increased in dominance. Specifically, in alpine sites, community‐weighted means revealed that with low fecundity, higher potential for endo‐ and epizoochory (seed dispersal via animal gut and fur, respectively), higher foliar frost tolerance, and deeper dormancy increased in dominance. Similar trends were found for increasing dominance of low fecundity, epizoochorous species in subalpine sites. Vegetation data from resurveying historical plots in combination with changes in local conditions, classic biodiversity indices, and functional trait indices can provide more holistic insights into changes in the environment and potential impacts of those environmental changes on long‐term plant community and functional diversity.

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

Cited by 35 publications

References 52 publications

Alpine vegetation along multiple environmental gradients and possible consequences of climate change

Alpine vegetation along multiple environmental gradients and possible consequences of climate change

Monitoring of vascular plant diversity in a changing climate in the alpine zone of the Central Greater Caucasus

Subtle changes in plant diversity in the Bavarian Alps over the past eight decades

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