Snowbeds are more affected than other subalpine-alpine plant communities by climate change in the Swiss Alps

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Version: Final published version
Serval ID
serval:BIB_70666D267921
Type
Article: article from journal or magazin.
Collection
Publications
Institution
Title
Snowbeds are more affected than other subalpine-alpine plant communities by climate change in the Swiss Alps
Journal
Ecology and Evolution
Author(s)
Matteodo M., Ammann K., Verrecchia E., Vittoz P.
ISSN-L
2045-7758
Publication state
Published
Issued date
2016
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Volume
6
Pages
6969-6982
Language
english
Abstract
While the upward shift of plant species has been observed on many alpine and nival summits, the reaction of the subalpine and lower alpine plant communities to the current warming and lower snow precipitation has been little investigated so far. To this aim, 63 old, exhaustive plant inventories, distributed along a subalpine-alpine elevation gradient of the Swiss Alps and covering different plant community types (acidic and calcareous grasslands; windy ridges; snowbeds), were revisited after 25 to 50-years. Old and recent inventories were compared in terms of species diversity with Simpson diversity and Bray-Curtis dissimilarity indices, and in terms of community composition with Principal Component Analysis. Changes in ecological conditions were inferred from the ecological indicator values.
The alpha-diversity increased in every plant community, likely because of the arrival of new species. As observed on mountain summits, the new species led to a homogenisation of community compositions. The grasslands were quite stable in terms of species composition, whatever the bedrock type. Indeed, the newly arrived species were part of the typical species pool of the colonised community. In contrast, snowbed communities showed pronounced vegetation changes and a clear shift towards dryer conditions and shorter snow cover, evidenced by their colonisation by species from surrounding grasslands. Longer growing seasons allow alpine grassland species, which are taller and hence more competitive, to colonise the snowbeds.
This study showed that subalpine-alpine plant communities reacted differently to the on-going climate changes. Lower snow/rain ratio and longer growing seasons seem to have a higher impact than warming, at least on plant communities dependent on long snow cover. Consequently, they are the most vulnerable to climate change and their persistence in the near future is seriously threatened. Subalpine and alpine grasslands are more stable and, until now, they do not seem to be affected by a warmer climate.
Keywords
Colonisation, cover-changes, diversity, Ecological indicator values, grasslands, homogenisation, re-survey study, semi-permanent plot, snowmelt, Switzerland
Open Access
Yes
Create date
30/06/2016 16:07
Last modification date
20/08/2019 14:29
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