The Experts below are selected from a list of 360 Experts worldwide ranked by ideXlab platform
Wilfried Thuiller - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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A dynamic eco-evolutionary model predicts slow response of Alpine Plants to climate warming
Nature communications, 2017Co-Authors: Olivier Cotto, Damien Georges, Wilfried Thuiller, Johannes Wessely, Günther Klonner, Max Schmid, Stefan Dullinger, Frédéric GuillaumeAbstract:Withstanding extinction while facing rapid climate change depends on a species' ability to track its ecological niche or to evolve a new one. Current methods that predict climate-driven species' range shifts use ecological modelling without eco-evolutionary dynamics. Here we present an eco-evolutionary forecasting framework that combines niche modelling with individual-based demographic and genetic simulations. Applying our approach to four endemic perennial plant species of the Austrian Alps, we show that accounting for eco-evolutionary dynamics when predicting species' responses to climate change is crucial. Perennial species persist in unsuitable habitats longer than predicted by niche modelling, causing delayed range losses; however, their evolutionary responses are constrained because long-lived adults produce increasingly maladapted offspring. Decreasing population size due to maladaptation occurs faster than the contraction of the species range, especially for the most abundant species. Monitoring of species' local abundance rather than their range may likely better inform on species' extinction risks under climate change.
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accounting for tree line shift glacier retreat and primary succession in mountain plant distribution models
Diversity and Distributions, 2014Co-Authors: Bradley Z Carlson, Damien Georges, Julien Renaud, Anne Delestrade, Antoine Rabatel, Christophe F Randin, Niklaus E Zimmermann, Philippe Choler, Wilfried ThuillerAbstract:Aim To incorporate changes in Alpine land cover (tree line shift, glacier retreat and primary succession) into species distribution model (SDM) predictions for a selection of 31 high-elevation Plants. Location Chamonix Valley, French Alps. Methods We fit linear mixed effects (LME) models to historical changes in forest and glacier cover and projected these trends forward to align with 21st century IPCC climate scenarios. We used a logistic function to model the probability of plant establishment in glacial forelands zones expected to become ice free between 2008 and 2051–2080. Habitat filtering consisted of intersecting land cover maps with climate-driven SDMs to refine habitat suitability predictions. SDM outputs for tree, heath and Alpine species were compared based on whether habitat filtering during the prediction period was carried out using present-day (static) land cover, future (dynamic) land cover filters or no land cover filter (unfiltered). Species range change (SRC) was used to measure differences in habitat suitability predictions across methods. Results LME predictions for 2021–2080 showed continued glacier retreat, tree line rise and primary succession in glacier forelands. SRC was highest in the unfiltered scenario (−10%), intermediate in the dynamic scenario (−15%) and lowest in the static scenario (−31%). Tree species were the only group predicted to gain overall range by 2051–2080. Although Alpine Plants lost range in all three land cover scenarios, new habitat made available by glacier retreat in the dynamic land cover scenario buffered Alpine plant range loss due to climate change. Main conclusions We provide a framework for combining trajectories of land cover change with SDM predictions. Our pilot study shows that incorporating shifts in land cover improves habitat suitability predictions and leads to contrasting outcomes of future mountain plant distribution. Alpine Plants in particular may lose less suitable habitat than standard SDMs predict due to 21st century glacier retreat.
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retreat and primary succession in mountain plant distribution models
2014Co-Authors: Bradley Z Carlson, Damien Georges, Julien Renaud, Anne Delestrade, Antoine Rabatel, Niklaus E Zimmermann, Philippe Choler, Wilfried ThuillerAbstract:Aim To incorporate changes in Alpine land cover (tree line shift, glacier retreat and primary succession) into species distribution model (SDM) predictions for a selection of 31 high-elevation Plants. Location Chamonix Valley, French Alps. Methods We fit linear mixed effects (LME) models to historical changes in forest and glacier cover and projected these trends forward to align with 21st century IPCC climate scenarios. We used a logistic function to model the probability of plant establishment in glacial forelands zones expected to become ice free between 2008 and 2051–2080. Habitat filtering consisted of intersecting land cover maps with climate-driven SDMs to refine habitat suitability predictions. SDM outputs for tree, heath and Alpine species were compared based on whether habitat filtering during the prediction period was carried out using present-day (static) land cover, future (dynamic) land cover filters or no land cover filter (unfiltered). Species range change (SRC) was used to measure differences in habitat suitability predictions across methods. Results LME predictions for 2021–2080 showed continued glacier retreat, tree line rise and primary succession in glacier forelands. SRC was highest in the unfiltered scenario (� 10%), intermediate in the dynamic scenario (� 15%) and lowest in the static scenario (� 31%). Tree species were the only group predicted to gain overall range by 2051–2080. Although Alpine Plants lost range in all three land cover scenarios, new habitat made available by glacier retreat in the dynamic land cover scenario buffered Alpine plant range loss due to climate change. Main conclusions We provide a framework for combining trajectories of land cover change with SDM predictions. Our pilot study shows that incorporating shifts in land cover improves habitat suitability predictions and leads to contrasting outcomes of future mountain plant distribution. Alpine Plants in particular may lose less suitable habitat than standard SDMs predict due to 21st century glacier retreat.
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broad scale adaptive genetic variation in Alpine Plants is driven by temperature and precipitation
Molecular Ecology, 2012Co-Authors: Wilfried Thuiller, Stephanie Manel, Nadir Alvarez, Rolf Holderegger, Ludovic Gielly, Felix Gugerli, Pierre Legendre, Pierre TaberletAbstract:Identifying adaptive genetic variation is a challenging task, in particular in non-model species for which genomic information is still limited or absent. Here, we studied distribution patterns of amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLPs) in response to environmental variation, in 13 Alpine plant species consistently sampled across the entire European Alps. Multiple linear regressions were performed between AFLP allele frequencies per site as dependent variables and two categories of independent variables, namely Moran’s eigenvector map MEM variables (to account for spatial and unaccounted environmental variation, and historical demographic processes) and environmental variables. These associations allowed the identification of 153 loci of ecological relevance. Univariate regressions between allele frequency and each environmental factor further showed that loci of ecological relevance were mainly correlated with MEM variables. We found that precipitation and temperature were the best environmental predictors, whereas topographic factors were rarely involved in environmental associations. Climatic factors, subject to rapid variation as a result of the current global warming, are known to strongly influence the fate of Alpine Plants. Our study shows, for the first time for a large number of species, that the same environmental variables are drivers of plant adaptation at the scale of a whole biome, here the European Alps.
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Forecasting changes in population genetic structure of Alpine Plants in response to global warming.
Molecular Ecology, 2012Co-Authors: Flora Jay, Wilfried Thuiller, Stephanie Manel, Nadir Alvarez, Rolf Holderegger, Pierre Taberlet, Eric Y Durand, Olivier FrançoisAbstract:Species range shifts in response to climate and land use change are commonly forecasted with species distribution models based on species occurrence or abundance data. Although appealing, these models ignore the genetic structure of species, and the fact that different populations might respond in different ways because of adaptation to their environment. Here, we introduced ancestry distribution models, that is, statistical models of the spatial distribution of ancestry proportions, for forecasting intra-specific changes based on genetic admixture instead of species occurrence data. Using multi-locus genotypes and extensive geographic coverage of distribution data across the European Alps, we applied this approach to 20 Alpine plant species considering a global increase in temperature from 0.25 to 4 °C. We forecasted the magnitudes of displacement of contact zones between plant populations potentially adapted to warmer environments and other populations. While a global trend of movement in a north-east direction was predicted, the magnitude of displacement was species-specific. For a temperature increase of 2 °C, contact zones were predicted to move by 92 km on average (minimum of 5 km, maximum of 212 km) and by 188 km for an increase of 4 °C (minimum of 11 km, maximum of 393 km). Intra-specific turnover-measuring the extent of change in global population genetic structure-was generally found to be moderate for 2 °C of temperature warming. For 4 °C of warming, however, the models indicated substantial intra-specific turnover for ten species. These results illustrate that, in spite of unavoidable simplifications, ancestry distribution models open new perspectives to forecast population genetic changes within species and complement more traditional distribution-based approaches.
Christian Korner - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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species specific and environment induced variation of δ13c and δ15n in Alpine Plants
Frontiers in Plant Science, 2015Co-Authors: Rolf T W Siegwolf, Yang Yang, Christian KornerAbstract:Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope signals in plant tissues integrate plant-environment interactions over long periods. In this study, we hypothesized that humid Alpine life conditions are narrowing the scope for significant deviations from common carbon, water and nitrogen relations as captured by stable isotope signals. We explored the variation in δ13C and δ15N in 32 plant species from tissue type to ecosystem scale across a suite of locations at c. Two thousand five hundred meter elevation in the Swiss Alps. Foliar δ13C and δ15N varied among species by about 3–4‰ and 7–8‰ respectively. However, there was no overall difference in means of δ13C and δ15N for species sampled in different plant communities or when bulk plant dry matter harvests of different plant communities were compared. δ13C was found to be highly species specific, so that the ranking among species was mostly maintained across 11 habitats. However, δ15N varied significantly from place to place in all species (a range of 2.7‰) except in Fabaceae (Trifolium alpinum) and Juncaceae (Luzula lutea). There was also a substantial variation among individuals of the same species collected next to each other. No difference was found in foliar δ15N of non-legumes, which were either collected next to or away from the most common legume, T. alpinum. δ15N data place Cyperaceae and Juncaceae, just like Fabaceae, in a low discrimination category, well separated from other families. Soil δ15N was higher than in Plants and increased with soil depth. The results indicate a high functional diversity in Alpine Plants that is similar to that reported for low elevation Plants. We conclude that the surprisingly high variation in δ13C and δ15N signals in the studied high elevation Plants is largely species specific (genetic) and insensitive to obvious environmental cues.
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Alpine plant life functional plant ecology of high mountain ecosystems
1999Co-Authors: Christian KornerAbstract:1 Plant ecology at high elevations.- The concept of limitation.- A regional and historical account.- The challenge of Alpine plant research.- 2 The Alpine life zone.- Altitudinal boundaries.- Global Alpine land area.- Alpine plant diversity.- Origin of Alpine floras.- Alpine growth forms.- 3 Alpine climate.- Which Alpine climate.- Common features of Alpine climates.- Regional features of Alpine climates.- 4 The climate Plants experience.- Interactions of relief, wind and sun.- How Alpine Plants influence their climate.- The geographic variation of Alpine climate.- 5 Life under snow: protection and limitation.- Temperatures under snow.- Solar radiation under snow.- Gas concentrations under snow.- Plant responses to snowpack.- 6 Alpine soils.- Physics of Alpine soil formation.- The organic compound.- The interaction of organic and inorganic compounds.- 7 Alpine treelines.- About trees and lines.- Current altitudinal positions of climatic treelines.- Treeline-climate relationships.- Intrazonal variations and pantropical plateauing of Alpine treelines.- Treelines in the past.- Attempts at a functional explanation of treelines.- A hypothesis for treeline formation.- Growth trends near treelines.- Evidence for sink limitation.- 8 Climatic stress.- Survival of low temperature extremes.- Avoidance and tolerance of low temperature extremes.- Heat stress in Alpine Plants.- Ultraviolet radiation - a stress factor.- 9 Water relations.- Ecosystem water balance.- Soil moisture at high altitudes.- Plant water relations - a brief review of principles.- Water relations of Alpine Plants.- Desiccation stress.- Water relations of special plant types.- 10 Mineral nutrition.- Soil nutrients.- The nutrient status of Alpine Plants.- Nutrient cycling and nutrient budgets.- Nitrogen fixation.- Mycorrhiza.- Responses of vegetation to variable nutrient supply.- 11 Uptake and loss of carbon.- Photosynthetic capacity of Alpine Plants.- Photosynthetic responses to the environment.- Daily carbon gain of leaves.- The seasonal carbon gain of leaves.- C4 and CAM photosynthesis at high altitudes.- Tissue respiration of Alpine Plants.- Ecosystem carbon balance.- 12 Carbon investments.- Non-structural carbohydrates.- Lipids and energy content.- Carbon costs of leaves and roots.- Whole plant carbon allocation.- 13 Growth dynamics and phenology.- Seasonal growth.- Diurnal leaf extension.- Rates of plant dry matter accumulation.- Functional duration of leaves and roots.- 14 Cell division and tissue formation.- Cell size and plant size.- Mitosis and the cell cycle.- From meristem activity to growth control.- 15 Plant biomass production.- The structure of Alpine plant canopies.- Primary productivity of Alpine vegetation.- Plant dry matter pools.- Biomass losses through herbivores.- 16 Plant reproduction.- Flowering and pollination.- Seed development and seed size.- Germination.- Alpine seed banks and natural recruitment.- Clonal propagation.- Alpine plant age.- Community processes.- 17 Global change at high elevation.- Alpine land use.- The impact of altered atmospheric chemistry.- Climatic change and Alpine ecosystems.- References (with chapter annotation).- Taxonomic index (genera).- Geographical index.- Color plates.- Plant life forms.- The Alpine life zone.- Environmental stress.- The human dimension.
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Alpine plant life
1999Co-Authors: Christian KornerAbstract:1 Plant ecology at high elevations.- The concept of limitation.- A regional and historical account.- The challenge of Alpine plant research.- 2 The Alpine life zone.- Altitudinal boundaries.- Global Alpine land area.- Alpine plant diversity.- Origin of Alpine floras.- Alpine growth forms.- 3 Alpine climate.- Which Alpine climate.- Common features of Alpine climates.- Regional features of Alpine climates.- 4 The climate Plants experience.- Interactions of relief, wind and sun.- How Alpine Plants influence their climate.- The geographic variation of Alpine climate.- 5 Life under snow: protection and limitation.- Temperatures under snow.- Solar radiation under snow.- Gas concentrations under snow.- Plant responses to snowpack.- 6 Alpine soils.- Physics of Alpine soil formation.- The organic compound.- The interaction of organic and inorganic compounds.- 7 Alpine treelines.- About trees and lines.- Current altitudinal positions of climatic treelines.- Treeline-climate relationships.- Intrazonal variations and pantropical plateauing of Alpine treelines.- Treelines in the past.- Attempts at a functional explanation of treelines.- A hypothesis for treeline formation.- Growth trends near treelines.- Evidence for sink limitation.- 8 Climatic stress.- Survival of low temperature extremes.- Avoidance and tolerance of low temperature extremes.- Heat stress in Alpine Plants.- Ultraviolet radiation - a stress factor.- 9 Water relations.- Ecosystem water balance.- Soil moisture at high altitudes.- Plant water relations - a brief review of principles.- Water relations of Alpine Plants.- Desiccation stress.- Water relations of special plant types.- 10 Mineral nutrition.- Soil nutrients.- The nutrient status of Alpine Plants.- Nutrient cycling and nutrient budgets.- Nitrogen fixation.- Mycorrhiza.- Responses of vegetation to variable nutrient supply.- 11 Uptake and loss of carbon.- Photosynthetic capacity of Alpine Plants.- Photosynthetic responses to the environment.- Daily carbon gain of leaves.- The seasonal carbon gain of leaves.- C4 and CAM photosynthesis at high altitudes.- Tissue respiration of Alpine Plants.- Ecosystem carbon balance.- 12 Carbon investments.- Non-structural carbohydrates.- Lipids and energy content.- Carbon costs of leaves and roots.- Whole plant carbon allocation.- 13 Growth dynamics and phenology.- Seasonal growth.- Diurnal leaf extension.- Rates of plant dry matter accumulation.- Functional duration of leaves and roots.- 14 Cell division and tissue formation.- Cell size and plant size.- Mitosis and the cell cycle.- From meristem activity to growth control.- 15 Plant biomass production.- The structure of Alpine plant canopies.- Primary productivity of Alpine vegetation.- Plant dry matter pools.- Biomass losses through herbivores.- 16 Plant reproduction.- Flowering and pollination.- Seed development and seed size.- Germination.- Alpine seed banks and natural recruitment.- Clonal propagation.- Alpine plant age.- Community processes.- 17 Global change at high elevation.- Alpine land use.- The impact of altered atmospheric chemistry.- Climatic change and Alpine ecosystems.- References (with chapter annotation).- Taxonomic index (genera).- Geographical index.- Color plates.- Plant life forms.- The Alpine life zone.- Environmental stress.- The human dimension.
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acclimation of leaf dark respiration to temperature in Alpine and lowland plant species
Annals of Botany, 1995Co-Authors: Anne Larigauderie, Christian KornerAbstract:Acclimation to temperature in terms of dark respiration by leaves is a missing link in current efforts to predict the effects of global warming on plant communities. We studied the acclimation of Plants from Alpine or lowland areas and asked two questions: (1) do Plants acclimate to a change in temperature and does acclimation depend on the Plants' origin; and (2) have Alpine Plants adapted to low temperatures by respiring faster than lowland Plants at any given temperature? Nineteen Alpine and corresponding lowland species, collected in Switzerland, were grown at 10 and 20°C for 5 weeks. Night-time leaf dark respiration rates were measured at the growth temperature of each plant. Acclimation patterns ranged from full to no acclimation. Full acclimation to temperature, defined as the equality between respiration measured at 20°C of Plants grown at 20°C and respiration measured at 10°C of Plants grown at 10°C, occurred in only three out of 19 species. Dark respiration of leaves was stimulated by a 10 K warming, but on average, by about 50% less than predicted by the instantaneous temperature response, i.e. Q10. Acclimation did not depend on the Alpine or lowland origin of the plant, but rather on its genus. Prostrate Alpine Plants displayed the lowest acclimation potential. We conclude that predictions at the community level cannot be made based on single species because of the variety observed in the respiration responses.
Stephanie Manel - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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combining niche modelling and landscape genetics to study local adaptation a novel approach illustrated using Alpine Plants
Perspectives in Plant Ecology Evolution and Systematics, 2015Co-Authors: Sébastien Lavergne, Jonathan Rolland, Stephanie ManelAbstract:Abstract Understanding the factors that shape adaptive genetic variation across species niches has become of paramount importance in evolutionary ecology, especially to understand how adaptation to changing climate affects the geographic range of species. The distribution of adaptive alleles in the ecological niche is determined by the emergence of novel mutations, their fitness consequences and gene flow that connects populations across species niches. Striking demographical differences and source—sink dynamics of populations between the centre and the margin of the niche can play a major role in the emergence and spread of adaptive alleles. Although some theoretical predictions have long been proposed, the origin and distribution of adaptive alleles within species niches remain untested. In this paper, we propose and discuss a novel empirical approach that combines landscape genetics with species niche modelling, to test whether alleles that confer local adaptation are more likely to occur in either marginal or central populations of species niches. We illustrate this new approach by using a published data set of 21 Alpine plant species genotyped with a total of 2483 amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLP), distributed over more than 1733 sampling sites across the Alps. Based on the assumption that alleles that were statistically associated with environmental variables were adaptive, we found that adaptive alleles in the margin of a species niche were also present in the niche centre, which suggests that adaptation originates in the niche centre. These findings corroborate models of species range evolution, in which the centre of the niche contributes to the emergence of novel adaptive alleles, which diffuse towards niche margins and facilitate niche and range expansion through subsequent local adaptation. Although these results need to be confirmed via fitness measurements in natural populations and functionally characterised genetic sequences, this study provides a first step towards understanding how adaptive genetic variation emerges and shapes species niches and geographic ranges along environmental gradients.
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broad scale adaptive genetic variation in Alpine Plants is driven by temperature and precipitation
Molecular Ecology, 2012Co-Authors: Wilfried Thuiller, Stephanie Manel, Nadir Alvarez, Rolf Holderegger, Ludovic Gielly, Felix Gugerli, Pierre Legendre, Pierre TaberletAbstract:Identifying adaptive genetic variation is a challenging task, in particular in non-model species for which genomic information is still limited or absent. Here, we studied distribution patterns of amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLPs) in response to environmental variation, in 13 Alpine plant species consistently sampled across the entire European Alps. Multiple linear regressions were performed between AFLP allele frequencies per site as dependent variables and two categories of independent variables, namely Moran’s eigenvector map MEM variables (to account for spatial and unaccounted environmental variation, and historical demographic processes) and environmental variables. These associations allowed the identification of 153 loci of ecological relevance. Univariate regressions between allele frequency and each environmental factor further showed that loci of ecological relevance were mainly correlated with MEM variables. We found that precipitation and temperature were the best environmental predictors, whereas topographic factors were rarely involved in environmental associations. Climatic factors, subject to rapid variation as a result of the current global warming, are known to strongly influence the fate of Alpine Plants. Our study shows, for the first time for a large number of species, that the same environmental variables are drivers of plant adaptation at the scale of a whole biome, here the European Alps.
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Forecasting changes in population genetic structure of Alpine Plants in response to global warming.
Molecular Ecology, 2012Co-Authors: Flora Jay, Wilfried Thuiller, Stephanie Manel, Nadir Alvarez, Rolf Holderegger, Pierre Taberlet, Eric Y Durand, Olivier FrançoisAbstract:Species range shifts in response to climate and land use change are commonly forecasted with species distribution models based on species occurrence or abundance data. Although appealing, these models ignore the genetic structure of species, and the fact that different populations might respond in different ways because of adaptation to their environment. Here, we introduced ancestry distribution models, that is, statistical models of the spatial distribution of ancestry proportions, for forecasting intra-specific changes based on genetic admixture instead of species occurrence data. Using multi-locus genotypes and extensive geographic coverage of distribution data across the European Alps, we applied this approach to 20 Alpine plant species considering a global increase in temperature from 0.25 to 4 °C. We forecasted the magnitudes of displacement of contact zones between plant populations potentially adapted to warmer environments and other populations. While a global trend of movement in a north-east direction was predicted, the magnitude of displacement was species-specific. For a temperature increase of 2 °C, contact zones were predicted to move by 92 km on average (minimum of 5 km, maximum of 212 km) and by 188 km for an increase of 4 °C (minimum of 11 km, maximum of 393 km). Intra-specific turnover-measuring the extent of change in global population genetic structure-was generally found to be moderate for 2 °C of temperature warming. For 4 °C of warming, however, the models indicated substantial intra-specific turnover for ten species. These results illustrate that, in spite of unavoidable simplifications, ancestry distribution models open new perspectives to forecast population genetic changes within species and complement more traditional distribution-based approaches.
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history or ecology substrate type as a major driver of patial genetic structure in Alpine Plants
Ecology Letters, 2009Co-Authors: Nadir Alvarez, Stephanie Manel, Peter Schönswetter, Andreas Tribsch, Conny Thielegenter, Rolf Holderegger, Pierre Taberlet, Sabine Brodbeck, Myriam Gaudeul, Ludovic GiellyAbstract:Climatic history and ecology are considered the most important factors moulding the spatial pattern of genetic diversity. With the advent of molecular markers, species historical fates have been widely explored. However, it has remained speculative what role ecological factors have played in shaping spatial genetic structures within species. With an unprecedented, dense large-scale sampling and genome-screening, we tested how ecological factors have influenced the spatial genetic structures in Alpine Plants. Here, we show that species growing on similar substrate types, largely determined by the nature of bedrock, displayed highly congruent spatial genetic structures. As the heterogeneous and disjunctive distribution of bedrock types in the Alps, decisive for refugial survival during the ice ages, is temporally stable, concerted post-glacial migration routes emerged. Our multispecies study demonstrates the relevance of particular ecological factors in shaping genetic patterns, which should be considered when modelling species projective distributions under climate change scenarios.
Zhenxi Shen - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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effects of enhanced uv b radiation on plant physiology and growth on the tibetan plateau a meta analysis
Acta Physiologiae Plantarum, 2017Co-Authors: Zhenxi ShenAbstract:Uncertainties about the response of plant physiology and growth to enhanced UV-B radiation cause uncertainty to predict how plant production will vary under future radiation change on the Tibetan Plateau. Here, we used a meta-analysis approach to test the influence of UV-B radiation on plant physiology and growth. This hypothesis was tested by investigating the response of Plants, which was expressed by some measurable variables. Enhanced UV-B radiation decreased plant biomass, plant height, basal diameter, leaf area index, maximal PSII efficiency, and Chl a+b, but increased intercellular CO2 concentration, malondialdehyde (MDA), hydrogen peroxide, superoxide anion radical, peroxidase, ascorbate peroxidase, proline and UV-B absorbing compounds. The effect of enhanced UV-B radiation on net photosynthesis rate (P n ) increased with mean annual precipitation and experimental duration. The effect of enhanced UV-B radiation on MDA decreased with experimental duration. The effect of enhanced UV-B radiation on superoxide dismutase (SOD) increased with the magnitude of enhanced UV-B radiation. Forests rather than grasslands exhibited a positive response of SOD and a negative response of P n to enhanced UV-B radiation. Therefore, the effect of enhanced UV-B radiation on Alpine Plants varied with ecosystem types. Local climate conditions may regulate effects of enhanced UV-B radiation on Alpine Plants.
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response of Alpine Plants to nitrogen addition on the tibetan plateau a meta analysis
Journal of Plant Growth Regulation, 2016Co-Authors: Zhenxi ShenAbstract:To identify the general effects of nitrogen addition on Alpine Plants, we used a meta-analysis approach to synthesize 599 observations from 51 studies on the Tibetan Plateau. Nitrogen addition significantly increased plant height by 19.0 %, plant biomass by 29.7 %, graminoid aboveground biomass by 89.8 %, and sedge aboveground biomass by 75.6 % but significantly decreased legume aboveground biomass by 34.5 %, forb aboveground biomass by 23.8 %, and species richness by 11.2 %. The effect of nitrogen addition on aboveground plant biomass and plant height increased with increasing the nitrogen addition rate. The effect of nitrogen addition on plant height increased with increasing mean annual precipitation but decreased with increasing mean annual temperature. Our findings suggested that the effect of nitrogen addition on Alpine Plants varied with plant functional types and nitrogen addition rate. In addition, climatic warming and precipitation changes may regulate the response of Alpine Plants to nitrogen addition on the Tibetan Plateau.
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a meta analysis of the effects of experimental warming on plant physiology and growth on the tibetan plateau
Journal of Plant Growth Regulation, 2015Co-Authors: Gang Fu, Zhenxi Shen, Zhiming Zhong, Xianzhou Zhang, Yuting ZhouAbstract:Uncertainties about the response of plant photosynthesis and growth to elevated temperature make it difficult to predict how plant production will vary under future climatic warming in Alpine regions. Here, we used a meta-analysis approach to synthesize 272 observations from 27 studies on the Tibetan Plateau. Warming significantly increased aboveground biomass by 19.1 % (95 % CI 6.0-40.7 %), belowground biomass by 26.7 % (95 % CI 3.0-87.5 %), and net photosynthetic rate (P (n)) by 13.6 % (95 % CI 9.7-17.7 %). The increase of P (n) was attributed to the increases in stomatal conductance, apparent quantum yield, chlorophyll content, non-photochemical quenching of chlorophyll fluorescence, soluble sugar, and peroxidase. A decoupling of plant photosynthesis and leaf N concentration occurred. Our findings imply that global warming may have a stronger effect on the Alpine Plants on the Tibetan Plateau than the global average. Our findings provided a better understanding of the physiological responses of Alpine Plants to future climatic warming.
Philippe Choler - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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the rich sides of mountain summits a pan european view on aspect preferences of Alpine Plants
Journal of Biogeography, 2016Co-Authors: Manuela Winkler, Philippe Choler, Karl Hulber, Andrea Lamprecht, Klaus Steinbauer, Jeanpaul Theurillat, Frank T Breiner, Siegrun ErtlAbstract: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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accounting for tree line shift glacier retreat and primary succession in mountain plant distribution models
Diversity and Distributions, 2014Co-Authors: Bradley Z Carlson, Damien Georges, Julien Renaud, Anne Delestrade, Antoine Rabatel, Christophe F Randin, Niklaus E Zimmermann, Philippe Choler, Wilfried ThuillerAbstract:Aim To incorporate changes in Alpine land cover (tree line shift, glacier retreat and primary succession) into species distribution model (SDM) predictions for a selection of 31 high-elevation Plants. Location Chamonix Valley, French Alps. Methods We fit linear mixed effects (LME) models to historical changes in forest and glacier cover and projected these trends forward to align with 21st century IPCC climate scenarios. We used a logistic function to model the probability of plant establishment in glacial forelands zones expected to become ice free between 2008 and 2051–2080. Habitat filtering consisted of intersecting land cover maps with climate-driven SDMs to refine habitat suitability predictions. SDM outputs for tree, heath and Alpine species were compared based on whether habitat filtering during the prediction period was carried out using present-day (static) land cover, future (dynamic) land cover filters or no land cover filter (unfiltered). Species range change (SRC) was used to measure differences in habitat suitability predictions across methods. Results LME predictions for 2021–2080 showed continued glacier retreat, tree line rise and primary succession in glacier forelands. SRC was highest in the unfiltered scenario (−10%), intermediate in the dynamic scenario (−15%) and lowest in the static scenario (−31%). Tree species were the only group predicted to gain overall range by 2051–2080. Although Alpine Plants lost range in all three land cover scenarios, new habitat made available by glacier retreat in the dynamic land cover scenario buffered Alpine plant range loss due to climate change. Main conclusions We provide a framework for combining trajectories of land cover change with SDM predictions. Our pilot study shows that incorporating shifts in land cover improves habitat suitability predictions and leads to contrasting outcomes of future mountain plant distribution. Alpine Plants in particular may lose less suitable habitat than standard SDMs predict due to 21st century glacier retreat.
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retreat and primary succession in mountain plant distribution models
2014Co-Authors: Bradley Z Carlson, Damien Georges, Julien Renaud, Anne Delestrade, Antoine Rabatel, Niklaus E Zimmermann, Philippe Choler, Wilfried ThuillerAbstract:Aim To incorporate changes in Alpine land cover (tree line shift, glacier retreat and primary succession) into species distribution model (SDM) predictions for a selection of 31 high-elevation Plants. Location Chamonix Valley, French Alps. Methods We fit linear mixed effects (LME) models to historical changes in forest and glacier cover and projected these trends forward to align with 21st century IPCC climate scenarios. We used a logistic function to model the probability of plant establishment in glacial forelands zones expected to become ice free between 2008 and 2051–2080. Habitat filtering consisted of intersecting land cover maps with climate-driven SDMs to refine habitat suitability predictions. SDM outputs for tree, heath and Alpine species were compared based on whether habitat filtering during the prediction period was carried out using present-day (static) land cover, future (dynamic) land cover filters or no land cover filter (unfiltered). Species range change (SRC) was used to measure differences in habitat suitability predictions across methods. Results LME predictions for 2021–2080 showed continued glacier retreat, tree line rise and primary succession in glacier forelands. SRC was highest in the unfiltered scenario (� 10%), intermediate in the dynamic scenario (� 15%) and lowest in the static scenario (� 31%). Tree species were the only group predicted to gain overall range by 2051–2080. Although Alpine Plants lost range in all three land cover scenarios, new habitat made available by glacier retreat in the dynamic land cover scenario buffered Alpine plant range loss due to climate change. Main conclusions We provide a framework for combining trajectories of land cover change with SDM predictions. Our pilot study shows that incorporating shifts in land cover improves habitat suitability predictions and leads to contrasting outcomes of future mountain plant distribution. Alpine Plants in particular may lose less suitable habitat than standard SDMs predict due to 21st century glacier retreat.