Vascular plant richness along an elevation gradient at Monte Velino (Central Apennines, Italy)

Theurillat, Jean‐Paul; Iocchi, Marco; Cutini, Maurizio; Marco, Giovanni De

doi:10.21426/b628110003

Cited by 14 publications

(32 citation statements)

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“…Because the differences of the areas between summits sections were previously eliminated by using the residuals of a linear regression between species richness and section areas in the analyses, we can be confident of both trends. A similar decrease was previously Proportion of species (Theurillat et al 2003;Erschbamer et al 2006), in the Apennines (Stanisci et al 2005;Theurillat et al 2010) and in Scandinavia (Bruun et al 2006).…”

Section: Species Richness Of Vascular Plants Along the Altitudinal Grsupporting

confidence: 84%

“…Rahbek 1995;Theurillat et al 2003;Stanisci et al 2005;Grytnes et al 2006;Theurillat et al 2010). Different studies have shown that, when the complete gradient is considered, the species-richness curve is hump-shaped with elevation with a maximum in the lower half of the gradient, but it shows a monotonic decrease with latitude (Rahbek 1995;Rahbek 2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Subalpine-nival gradient of species richness for vascular plants, bryophytes and lichens in the Swiss Inner Alps

Vittoz

Camenisch²,

Mayor

et al. 2010

Bot. Helv.

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In the European GLORIA project, 12 summits (treeline to nival belt) were inventoried in three regions of Switzerland: two in the Swiss National Park Graubünden and one in Valais. Vascular plants were recorded in all three regions and bryophytes and lichens were recorded only in Valais. On each summit, vegetation and temperature data were sampled using sampling protocols for the GLORIA project (Global Observation Research Initiative in Alpine environment) on large summit sections and in clusters of four 1 9 1-m quadrats. We observed a general decrease of species richness for all three systematic groups with increasing elevation in the summit sections, but only for vascular plants in the quadrats. In Valais, there was higher species richness for vascular plants than for bryophytes and lichens on the lower summits, but as the decrease in species richness was less pronounced for cryptogams, the latter were more numerous than vascular plants on the highest summit. Vascular species showed a clear shift of the dominant life form with elevation, with chamaephytes replacing hemicryptophytes. Bryophytes and lichens showed a weak trend among the life forms at the summit section scale, but a stronger shift of the dominant forms was seen in the quadrats, with cushion replacing turf bryophytes and crustaceous replacing fruticose lichens. Altogether, these results sustain the temperature-physiographic hypothesis to explain the species richness decrease along the altitudinal gradient: the harsh climatic conditions of the alpine-nival belts act as a filter for species, but the diminishing diversity of microhabitats is also an important factor. Because cryptogams depend more on humidity than temperature and more on smaller microhabitats than vascular plants, the decrease of species richness is more gradual with elevation for bryophytes and lichens. Responsible editor: Sonja Wipf. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (Keywords Altitude Á Aspect Á Diversity Á Elevation range Á Life forms Á Switzerland Gradient subalpin-nival de la richesse spécifique des plantes vasculaires, bryophytes et lichens dans les Alpes internes en SuisseRésumé Dans le cadre du projet européen GLORIA, 12 sommets (de la limite de la forêt à l'étage nival) ont été inventoriés dans trois régions de Suisse: deux dans le Parc national suisse (Grisons) et une en Valais. Les plantes vasculaires ont été étudiées dans les trois régions alors que les bryophytes et lichens n'ont été considérés qu'en Valais. Le protocole du projet GLORIA (Global Observation Research Initiative in Alpine environment) a été utilisé sur tous les sommets, avec des inventaires sur de grandes sections sommitales et sur des groupes de quatre carrés de 1 9 1 m. Nous avons observé une diminution générale de la richesse spécifique dans les trois groupes systématiques pour une altitude croissante dans les sections, mais pour les plantes vasculaires seules dans les carrés. En Valais, il y avait davantage de plantes vasculaires que de lichens et de bryophytes sur les ...

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Section: Species Richness Of Vascular Plants Along the Altitudinal Grsupporting

confidence: 84%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Subalpine-nival gradient of species richness for vascular plants, bryophytes and lichens in the Swiss Inner Alps

Vittoz

Camenisch²,

Mayor

et al. 2010

Bot. Helv.

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“…The observed decrease of species richness along increased elevation supports the hypothesis put forward by Körner (2011). Reduction of the potential growth area and increase of the terrain slope with increased elevation would be plausible explanations of the concomitant reduced species richness with increased elevation (Grytnes, 2003;Theurillat et al, 2011). Moreover, a steeper terrain is more susceptible to erosion.…”

Section: Variation Of Species Richness and Cover Percentage With Elevsupporting

confidence: 75%

Early Evidence of Shifts in Alpine Summit Vegetation: A Case Study From Kashmir Himalaya

et al. 2020

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Under the contemporary climate change, the Himalaya is reported to be warming at a much higher rate than the global average. However, little is known about the alpine vegetation responses to recent climate change in the rapidly warming Himalaya. Here we studied vegetation dynamics on alpine summits in Kashmir Himalaya in relation to in situ measured microclimate. The summits, representing an elevation gradient from treeline to nival zone (3530-3740 m), were first surveyed in 2014 and then re-surveyed in 2018. The initial survey showed that the species richness, vegetation cover and soil temperature decreased with increasing elevation. Species richness and soil temperature differed significantly among slopes, with east and south slopes showing higher values than north and west slopes. The re-survey showed that species richness increased on the lower three summits but decreased on the highest summit (nival zone) and also revealed a substantial increase in the cover of dominant shrubs, graminoids, and forbs. The nestedness-resultant dissimilarity, rather than species turnover, contributed more to the magnitude of β-diversity among the summits. High temporal species turnover was found on south and east aspects, while high nestedness was recorded along north and west aspects. Thermophilization was more pronounced on the lower two summits and along the northern aspects. Our study provides crucial scientific data on climate change impacts on the alpine vegetation of Kashmir Himalaya. This information will fill global knowledge gaps from the developing world.

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“…() found that climatic variables such as temperature and potential evapotranspiration were by far the most important predictors of vascular plant species richness on a country‐wide scale in the Austrian Alps. Elevation gradients in species richness have also been associated with climatic gradients and particularly gradients of solar energy received, as well as with species–area relationships, since the available area decreases with increasing elevation (Grabherr et al ., ; Lomolino, ; Grytnes, ; Theurillat et al ., , ; Bruun et al ., ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moser et al (2005) found that climatic variables such as temperature and potential evapotranspiration were by far the most important predictors of vascular plant species richness on a country-wide scale in the Austrian Alps. Elevation gradients in species richness have also been associated with climatic gradients and particularly gradients of solar energy received, as well as with species-area relationships, since the available area decreases with increasing elevation (Grabherr et al, 1995;Lomolino, 2001;Grytnes, 2003;Theurillat et al, 2003Theurillat et al, , 2011Bruun et al, 2006). The strong match between patterns of thermal input and plant species diversity in the temperate biome (Table 2) might be related to the growing season that usually starts around the summer solstice in the alpine zone.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The rich sides of mountain summits – a pan‐European view on aspect preferences of alpine plants

Winkler

Lamprecht

Steinbauer

et al. 2016

Journal of Biogeography

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115

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Aim In the alpine life zone, plant diversity is strongly determined by local topography and microclimate. We assessed the extent to which aspect and its relatedness to temperature affect plant species diversity, and the colonization and disappearance of species on alpine summits on a pan‐European scale. Location Mountain summits in Europe's alpine life zone. Methods Vascular plant species and their percentage cover were recorded in permanent plots in each cardinal direction on 123 summits in 32 regions across Europe. For a subset from 17 regions, resurvey data and 6‐year soil temperature series were available. Differences in temperature sum and Shannon index as well as species richness, colonization and disappearance of species among cardinal directions were analysed using linear mixed‐effects and generalised mixed‐effects models, respectively. Results Temperature sums were higher in east‐ and south‐facing aspects than in the north‐facing ones, while the west‐facing ones were intermediate; differences were smallest in northern Europe. The patterns of temperature sums among aspects were consistent among years. In temperate regions, thermal differences were reflected by plant diversity, whereas this relationship was weaker or absent on Mediterranean and boreal mountains. Colonization of species was positively related to temperature on Mediterranean and temperate mountains, whereas disappearance of species was not related to temperature. Main conclusions Thermal differences caused by solar radiation determine plant species diversity on temperate mountains. Advantages for plants on eastern slopes may result from the combined effects of a longer diurnal period of radiation due to convection cloud effects in the afternoon and the sheltered position against the prevailing westerly winds. In northern Europe, long summer days and low sun angles can even out differences among aspects. On Mediterranean summits, summer drought may limit species numbers on the warmer slopes. Warmer aspects support a higher number of colonization events. Hence, aspect can be a principal determinant of the pace of climate‐induced migration processes.

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Vascular plant richness along an elevation gradient at Monte Velino (Central Apennines, Italy)

Cited by 14 publications

References 0 publications

Subalpine-nival gradient of species richness for vascular plants, bryophytes and lichens in the Swiss Inner Alps

Subalpine-nival gradient of species richness for vascular plants, bryophytes and lichens in the Swiss Inner Alps

Early Evidence of Shifts in Alpine Summit Vegetation: A Case Study From Kashmir Himalaya

The rich sides of mountain summits – a pan‐European view on aspect preferences of alpine plants

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