Disentangling anthropogenic drivers of global change impacts on alpine plant species composition: Alps versus Mediterranean mountains
Abstract
Globally, ecosystems have been subjected to dramatic anthropogenic changes in the last decades. A promising approach to identify and quantify the consequences of these changes and their temporal development on biodiversity patterns is long-term monitoring. In this respect, the GLORIA (Global Observation Research Initiative in Alpine Environments, www.gloria.ac.at) network provides a unique dataset on changes in occurrence and abundance of alpine plants based on standardized monitoring on mountain summits all over the world. Monitoring of European summits showed that changes in biodiversity patterns were indeed related to rising temperatures, but climate change impacts on local occurrence and abundance of alpine plant species differed significantly between the temperate and the Mediterranean biome. Rising species numbers in the Alps contrast with significant species declines on southern European mountains. Long-term monitoring has so far focussed on changes in temperature and snow cover duration as the most important drivers of these changes, whereas a thorough investigation of other factors, belonging to various Earth subsystems, such as water relations, geomorphology, land-use changes and pollution, and their interactions is crucial but still missing. To assess the relative effect of these factors on the observed changes in the biosphere and their mutual dependencies across Europe, an integrative approach combining excellence from various fields of global change research and local expert knowledge is crucial. We aim at identifying areas with a particular high risk of biodiversity losses as well as potential refugia allowing plant species to persist under predicted climate change. To this end, we will operate at two spatial scales. The first level constitute local summits where temperature, water potential and nitrogen deposition are measured, and changes in vegetation and grazing pressure are recorded. On the regional level we will compare solar radiation and topography derived from satellite images, climate parameters and their projections into the future under different climate change scenarios, nitrogen deposition and major land-use changes in the two contrasting biomes.
keywords biodiversity climate change alpine plant species nitrogen deposition land use
Publikationen
Project staff
Manuela Winkler
Priv.-Doz. Dr. Manuela Winkler
manuela.winkler@boku.ac.at
Tel: +43 1 47654-83163
Project Leader
01.03.2015 - 28.02.2019
Manfred Bardy-Durchhalter
Mag. Manfred Bardy-Durchhalter
manfred.bardy-durchhalter@boku.ac.at
Tel: +43 1 47654-83162
Project Staff
01.03.2015 - 28.02.2019
Katrin Euller
Mag.a Katrin Euller
katrin.euller@boku.ac.at
Tel: +43 1 47654-83163
Project Staff
01.03.2015 - 28.02.2019
Andrea Lamprecht
MMag. Dr. Andrea Lamprecht
andrea.lamprecht@boku.ac.at
Tel: +43 1 47654-83161
Project Staff
01.03.2015 - 28.02.2019
Harald Pauli
Priv.-Doz. Mag. Dr. Harald Pauli
harald.pauli@boku.ac.at
Tel: +43 1 47654-83160
Project Staff
01.03.2015 - 28.02.2019
Klaus Steinbauer
Mag.rer.nat. Klaus Steinbauer
klaus.steinbauer@boku.ac.at
Tel: +43 1 47654-83161
Project Staff
01.03.2015 - 28.02.2019
BOKU partners
External partners
Fondation J.-Marcel Aubert
Jean-Paul Theurillat
partner
International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies / Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Chania_x000D_
George Mazakis
partner
Interdisciplinary Mountain Research, Austrian Academy of Sciences
Martin Rutzinger, Harald Pauli
partner
University of Innsbruck, Institut für Botanik, AG Hydrobotanik
Brigitta Erschbamer
partner
Department of Botany, University of Granada
Joaquín Molero-Mesa
partner
Department of Biosciences and Territory, University of Molise
Angela Stanisci
partner