Why Is the Alpine Flora Comparatively Robust against Climatic Warming?

Körner, Christian; Hiltbrunner, Erika

doi:10.3390/d13080383

Cited by 79 publications

(68 citation statements)

References 82 publications

(121 reference statements)

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“…To our best knowledge, this study is the first to provide a mechanistic explanation of the range limit of two alpine species. The The Carex-Nardus study underlines the key role of microtopography and microclimate in the distribution of alpine plant species (Körner & Hiltbrunner, 2021). In general, microtopography is a much better predictor for soil temperatures than elevation (Scherrer & Körner, 2010;Wundram et al, 2010).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Low winter temperatures and divergent freezing resistance set the cold range limit of widespread alpine graminoids

Büren

Hiltbrunner

2022

Journal of Biogeography

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Aim “Where and why does a species exist” is a fundamental question in ecology. However, the actual range limits of alpine plant species are largely unexplored and unexplained. We aim at identifying the cold range limits of the two most abundant alpine graminoid species on acidic soils that intermingle in mosaics of high‐elevation habitats across the European Alps. Location Alpine grasslands in the Swiss Alps. Taxon Carex curvula (Cyperaceae) and Nardus stricta (Poaceae). Methods We assessed temperature 3 cm below ground, closest to the plant meristems, year‐round as well as snow cover duration, soil chemistry and vegetation characteristics at high spatio‐temporal resolution at 115 microsites. Field data were combined with various freezing resistance analyses in plant individuals at 38 microsites by employing mixed regression models. Results Carex and Nardus segregated across different microsites. Season length, growing degree hours and soil chemistry did not demarcate the two species' ranges, while their distribution was strongly affected by soil minimum temperature in winter. Carex occurred at sites with and without protecting snow cover and resisted low soil temperatures (−13°C). Nardus was absent at microsites with snow cover duration < 5 months and soil minimum temperatures below −5°C. During the growing season Carex had a higher leaf/shoot freezing resistance (lethal temperature for 50% of the leaf tissue LT50: −16.1°C) than Nardus (−13.3°C). Shoot apices tolerated lowest temperatures: Carex −30°C, Nardus −24°C. Though, a vital shoot apex alone did not ensure regrowth after winter, but intact vessels and roots were required, all less freezing tolerant than apical meristems and young leaves. Main conclusions The cold range limits of these widespread alpine graminoids are evidently set by thermal extremes in winter. Microtopography, thus snow distribution pattern, in concert with the species' freezing resistance explains the cold edge of the fundamental niche of these two species.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Low winter temperatures and divergent freezing resistance set the cold range limit of widespread alpine graminoids

Büren

Hiltbrunner

2022

Journal of Biogeography

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“…Today, Erica expansion might lead to considerable species replacement, local extinction, and a significant decrease in species richness, especially those endemics across the massif. In many mountain ecosystems, the topography of the steeper slopes may cause small-scale climatic heterogeneity and range of adjacent thermal niches allowing the coexistence of species with differing environmental tolerances in smaller areas 4 , 74 , 75 . However, in the Bale Mountains, due to the plateau's relatively flat topography, the role of microrefugia might not be significant.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Environmental change factors such as geographic barriers that limit dispersal, topography, microrefugia, aspect, and local relief can blur these bioclimatic factors. Therefore, species may not occupy all suitable sites in the future [e.g., 4 , 74 , 75 ]. Besides, the effects of orography related precipitation and resource diversity may influence species distribution patterns.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ericaceous vegetation of the Bale Mountains of Ethiopia will prevail in the face of climate change

Kidane

Hoffmann

Jaeschke

et al. 2022

Sci Rep

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Climate change impacts the structure, functioning, and distribution of species and ecosystems. It will shift ecosystem boundaries, potentially affecting vulnerable ecosystems, such as tropical Africa's high mountain ecosystems, i.e., afroalpine ecosystems, and their highly susceptible uniquely adapted species. However, ecosystems along these mountains are not expected to respond similarly to the change. The ericaceous woody vegetation, located between the low-elevation broadleaf forests and high-elevation afroalpine vegetation, are anticipated to be affected differently. We hypothesize that projected climate change will result in an upward expansion and increasing dominance of ericaceous vegetation, which will negatively impact the endemic rich afroalpine ecosystems of the extensive Sanetti plateau. Hence, we modeled the impact of future climate change on the distribution of ericaceous vegetation and discussed its effect on bordering ecosystems in the Bale Mountains. We applied four familiar correlative modeling approaches: bioclim, domain, generalized linear methods, and support vector machines. We used WorldClim’s bioclimatic variables as environmental predictors and two representative concentration pathways (RCPs) of the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report climate change scenarios, namely RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 for future climate projection. The results indicate increased ericaceous vegetation cover on the midaltitude of northwestern and northern parts of the massif, and the Sanetti plateau. We observed upward range expansion and increase of close ericaceous vegetation in midaltitudes, while receding from the lower range across the massif. Moreover, the current ericaceous vegetation range correlates to the temperature and precipitation trends, reaffirming the critical role of temperature and precipitation in determining species distributions along elevational gradients. The results indicate the high likelihood of considerable changes in this biodiversity hotspot in Eastern Africa.

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“…For example, an alpine carex, Carex curvuIa is a very slow-growing rhizomatous sedge and can have a life span of 2000 years (Steinger et al, 1996). The range of temperature variations that this alpine flora can sustain (i.e., breath of thermal niche) is exceeding the worst climate warming scenarios (Körner & Hiltbrunner, 2021), suggesting that the time of emergence would be prolonged for those species. Those complex life-history traits are not exclusive to the plant kingdom, and further work focusing on how age, stage, and trait structure affect the dynamics of populations and potentially dampen or amplify the climate-driven variability in population (e.g., cohort resonance, Bjørnstad et al, 2004), will provide fundamental insights to theoretical and applied research of the detection of anthropogenic climate change.…”

Section: Population Structurementioning

confidence: 99%

Detecting climate signals in populations across life histories

Jenouvrier

Long

Coste

et al. 2022

Global Change Biology

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Climate impacts are not always easily discerned in wild populations as detecting climate change signals in populations is challenged by stochastic noise associated with natural climate variability, variability in biotic and abiotic processes, and observation error in demographic rates. Detection of the impact of climate change on populations requires making a formal distinction between signals in the population associated with long-term climate trends from those generated by stochastic noise. The time of emergence (ToE) identifies when the signal of anthropogenic climate change can be quantitatively distinguished from natural climate variability. This concept has been applied extensively in the climate sciences, but has not been explored in the context of population dynamics. Here, we outline an approach to detecting climatedriven signals in populations based on an assessment of when climate change drives population dynamics beyond the envelope characteristic of stochastic variations in an unperturbed state. Specifically, we present a theoretical assessment of the time of emergence of climate-driven signals in population dynamics (ToE pop ). We identify the dependence of ToE pop on the magnitude of both trends and variability in climate and also explore the effect of intrinsic demographic controls on ToE pop . We demonstrate that different life histories (fast species vs. slow species), demographic processes (survival, reproduction), and the relationships between climate and demographic rates yield population dynamics that filter climate trends and variability differently. We illustrate empirically how to detect the point in time when anthropogenic signals in populations emerge from stochastic noise for a species threatened by climate change: the emperor penguin. Finally, we propose six testable hypotheses and a road map for future research.

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Why Is the Alpine Flora Comparatively Robust against Climatic Warming?

Cited by 79 publications

References 82 publications

Low winter temperatures and divergent freezing resistance set the cold range limit of widespread alpine graminoids

Low winter temperatures and divergent freezing resistance set the cold range limit of widespread alpine graminoids

Ericaceous vegetation of the Bale Mountains of Ethiopia will prevail in the face of climate change

Detecting climate signals in populations across life histories

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